Brad's PicO III Mantis Tank

[Hobbesaurus]

Hello all!

 

This is my first post/tank/thread so please... be gentle

 

My IRL friend Zerogiest has somehow persuaded me to look at tanks, piqued my interest, and I'm off!

 

So here's what I'm planning to do...

 

 

Tank: PicOAquariums III Low-Iron 18x18x16 - 22g

Lighting: AquaIllumination Sol Super Blue on EXT Rail w/ New Controller

Flow: Ecotech Vortech MP10es

Heater: Cobalt Aquatics 100w Neo-Therm

Thermometer: ADA Glass Hang-On

Media: Filter Pad, Carbon

 

Filter: Tunze Comline 3162

Skimmer: Tunze Comline DOC 9004

Auto-Top-Off: Tunze Osmolator 3155

 

Rock: Cerameco VidaRock 'AT211' Grotto

Substrate: Tropic Eden Grand Select (5.5mm Tonga Reeflakes), Chunks of BRS Reef Saver for building material

Mag Cleaner: Vertex Triplex

 

Would like to get a Smithii Mantis I'm pretty sure but would like some feedback on what type of corals or other tank-mates would be best suited to join it.

 

 

 

VidaRock:

Side View 1 | Side View 2

[BadCrab]

Aww yeah. This is going to be one spoiled mantis.. So jealous.

[CarterNichols]

Stoked to watch this!

[fretfreak13]

Subscribed. You sure don't pick equipment like a noob! Lol most first time keepers go for the cheapest stuff. This is going to be very nice.

 

I also have a mantis. Have had four, but never a smithii.

[Deleted User 4]

You don't happen to be gay as well right? lol

 

Nice start off though. This'll be good.

[BadCrab]

Because all my friends have to be gay right XII?

 

Bigot.

[Deleted User 4]

Because all my friends have to be gay right XII?

 

Bigot.

 

No I was just curious lol.

 

Sorry if I delivered that question the wrong way to you.

[BadCrab]

What do you mean "you people"?!?

[Deleted User 4]

What do you mean "you people"?!?

 

I can't tell if you're offended or not, but if you are let me know. I can delete/retract my comments above.

[TristanC]

You don't happen to be gay as well right? lol

 

Nice start off though. This'll be good.

Yeah it's a law, sexual preference determines the gender of your friends.

 

 

What do you mean "you people"?!?

Hahaha

 

In all seriousness this is going to be one super badass tank, good choice in equipment. Zrogst must have pointed you in the right direction

[Hobbesaurus]

Somehow I've managed to stave off his gay advances long enough to remain straight. Somehow...

 

Pretty excited to get the tank started, ETA of about 3 weeks for the tank delivery. Will post updates things develop

[Passaggper]

Awesome! I can't wait to see this one!

[Drift Monkey]

Following along. Build threads like these make me miss my old mantis tank. These guys are my fav!

 

Anyone keep these guys in their mixed reefs...or is it just way too much trouble?

[BadCrab]

Brad, Tiki posted some good info on fish combos he's found that work in a mantis display here.

[Hobbesaurus]

 

Brad, Tiki posted some good info on fish combos he's found that work in a mantis display here.

Good info. I'd really like to have a clam in there as well but I'm afraid the mantis will go all Bruce Lee style on it.

[Islandoftiki]

As far as fish go, I'll offer up what info I know, which is mostly anecdotal with a little bit of empirical info.

 

I have two mantis tanks with fish, and know of at least a dozen more smasher mantis tanks that have fish in them. So far, I've only heard of the one or two stores of smasher mantis killing fish, and I don't know the details. General rule of thumb is that fish are usually ok with a smasher mantis until they aren't. Then you need a new fish.

 

Some thing to consider:

 

Choose fish that live in the upper water column. Stay away from fish that live on the sand bed or like to live in caves.

 

Choose inexpensive fish. I'm convinced that the chances of the mantis killing the fish are inversely proportional to the cost of the fish. One good option is the damsel fish. My experience is that mantis have little to no interest in damsels.

 

Ccapasso kept a firefish with his peacock and that worked well, too. My Yellow Clown Goby also works well as it stays at the upper part of the tank. I would imagine a sixline wrasse would also be a good choice. I'm sure there are many other good options, but I'd stick with cheaper fish if it were me.

 

As for clownfish, if you can keep them away from the mantis, you should be ok, but their wiggly movement do seem to pique the curiosity of mantis shrimp. My clown lives at the very top of the tank and rarely moves away from his mushroom. He never goes anywhere near the mantis, but the first day I got him, he decided he was going to hang out near the mantis den entrance and I had to place a net in front of the den entrance to keep Chuck from coming out since he showed a lot of interest in the clown. After the clown discovered the mushroom he wanted to hang out on, it's been no problem.

 

My recently acquired peacock lives with a blue damsel, and they are fine. The damsel sometimes shares the mantis den, which seems counter intuitive, but there's an exception to every rule with it comes to these critters. Every one is different.

[fretfreak13]

We have a peacock display with six damsels at the store I work at. Used to be seven. He took out a talbots. =)

[Islandoftiki]

Good info. I'd really like to have a clam in there as well but I'm afraid the mantis will go all Bruce Lee style on it.

 

Remember, mantis are masters of cost benefit analysis, if it's too much effort for the reward, they won't bother. I don't know, but if it were a big clam, I doubt the mantis would go after it, but nothing is guaranteed, and big clams are expensive. Big clams have thick shells that would take a lot of effort to crack. Also, you're probably going to put the clam at the top of the tank for better light, and probably out of the way of the mantis. Like clams, turbo snails have thick shells that are hard to crack and not worth the effort. Of course if you spent $70.00 on a nice clam, you'd probably discover you mantis has a taste for clams.

[Hobbesaurus]

 

Some thing to consider:

 

Choose fish that live in the upper water column. Stay away from fish that live on the sand bed or like to live in caves.

 

Choose inexpensive fish. I'm convinced that the chances of the mantis killing the fish are inversely proportional to the cost of the fish. One good option is the damsel fish. My experience is that mantis have little to no interest in damsels.

 

Thanks for the info, I'll definitely start with a cheaper option and see how it does.

 

As for the clam, I'm thinking ill give it a try and try to get one big enough to make the mantis say "to hell with that..."

[Hobbesaurus]

Subscribed. You sure don't pick equipment like a noob! Lol most first time keepers go for the cheapest stuff. This is y going to be very nice. I also have a mantis. Have had four, but never a smithii.

Well I figure if I was to go with cheaper gear I'm just going to want to upgrade as soon as it's setup; buying better off the bat will help me avoid that moment of regret.

[Drift Monkey]

Interesting choice with the Tropic Eden Grand Select. I don't think anyone on here uses it. I might give this a go...or maybe just use Caribsea Florida Crushed coral. It seems to be about the same grain size (5.5mm) and more readily available. The Tropic Eden is interesting, but I'm not sure I'd want to order 30lbs of it only to use a tiny amount of it. Maybe we can split a bag? haha

[timothybui]

This build sounds pretty exciting.

[Hobbesaurus]

Ok, so after a little wait, I come bearing updates!

 

I've tracked down a mantis for purchase and ended up going with G. Ternatensis off blue zoo after frustration of not finding a smithii (only to have them post one a few days later ). Shortly after making my purchase I began reading a little more into the species and found out about the unsavory cultivation practices. As unfortunate as they are my purchase had already been made; now I know for next time.

 

So I've been massing the packages with the lump sum arriving two days ago...

 

Before:

 

After:

 

 

Note the addition of an IP camera which I have some plans for

 

Chris mentioned the tank should be shipping out sometime this upcoming week, so now just waiting for that.

 

Along with Danny picked up wooden tool chest from Costco that we felt looked snazzy enough to house a fish tank

 

 

I've also fashioned a PVC tubing burrow which I intend to place under the Aquatech grotto...

 

 

With the grotto resting on top:

 

 

 

 

My wienerdog Hobbes checking things out:

 

I'm planning to cover the PVC tubing ends with either chunks of dry rock (that I plan to chisel holes through) or a coating of sand

 

In addition I've started stocking up on LPS coral to stock the tank with when it arrives. They're currently being stored in Danny's Solana until I've had a chance to get mine setup and cycled. Here's a couple I've picked up so far..

 

Frogspawn:

 

Wall Hammer:

 

Bubble:

 

Unforunately the bubble isn't looking nearly as happy as it does in this picture at the moment... Danny had a couple bastard emerald crabs that we think might have been chomping on it when we weren't looking. Crabs are now sitting in the sump and will likely feel retribution via the mantis when it arrives ... Will try to post some updated pictures of the bubble at some point.

 

Seeing as how I picked up a G. Ternatensis I feel it's going to be necessary to get some type of SPS colony going in the tank as well... Keeping my eye out for something that's relatively "easier" to keep than other SPS that the mantis can do it's thing in. I'm aware of it's habit of smashing corals and figure "if it makes it happy" then I've done a good job with the habitat and that's what counts.

 

As for tankmates to start I'm thinking a couple damelfish and a turbo snail (lol, we'll see)...

 

Will post more pictures when the tank arrives

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[RollaJase]

Wow, nice haul of goodies. This should be epic, can't wait until you get the tank .

[Hobbesaurus]

Wow, nice haul of goodies. This should be epic, can't wait until you get the tank .

Thanks, I'm pretty damn excited to say the least