zhark Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 Helloooooo after lurking on NR for a while I've decided to upload my tank and start a thread. It's been up for about 10 months and I've had the mantis in it for about 1 month. This pico is my first saltwater tank and it's been doing very well. I'm aware that the blood fire shrimp doesn't suit the pico but shops in HK don't do refunds and mine is so bold and aggressive that I wouldn't recommend it for other tanks, as it has killed several gobies, shrimps etc. In the future I'd like to complete my ric garden and maybe try Zoanthids again. My previous ones were all decimated by zoa pox. FTS Feb 2015 Light Ghetto two light fixture made in Hong Kong (8W LED + 3W LED) Corals Red rhodactis mushroom green rhodactis mushroom 2 types of unknown ricordea unkown acan lord left over GSP Inverts Blood fire shrimp Pistol shrimp Mantis shrimp (Pseudosquilla ciliata orange variant) Electric blue hermit Zebra hermit Hitchhiker emerald crab Hitchhiker brittle stars and asterina stars Turban snail 5 nerite snails Anemones Green grape bubble tip anemone Bali blood red anemone xs carpet anemone Macro algae Dragon breath algae Wild kelp in the sump My tank has undergone quite some change. FTS August 2014 FTS January 2015 Perished radioactive dragon eye colony in 2014 Crocea clam 2014 Current half tank shot march 2015 Dragon breath macroalgae macro shot Photogenic swimmer crab (removed) Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 and a pic of your mantis? lotsa mantis lovers here!! Link to comment
zhark Posted March 12, 2015 Author Share Posted March 12, 2015 He's still a little shy and he doesn't take food straight off the tongs yet. Starting to come out more Got some Sun corals, acclimated much faster than I anticipated! Opened up and accepted food in bright light in an hour. Side Shot Top down shot (anyone know how I can avoid taking a picture of the reflection of the LEDs as well?) FTS Link to comment
HighEndOfTheLow Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 nice looking tank and gorgeous mantis shrimp. Link to comment
zhark Posted March 12, 2015 Author Share Posted March 12, 2015 nice looking tank and gorgeous mantis shrimp. Thanks! The left side of my tank is a lil empty, any suggestions? I've been thinking of adding a duncan or acan lord on the left top rock. Link to comment
HighEndOfTheLow Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 A nice frog spawn? or a Kenya tree / Colt coral to give movement? Link to comment
Roland-Berlin Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 I like your work and the pics you made. Please go on and let us participate in your reef growth. I have never seen a mantis shrimp in reality. Merchants in germany do not have them often in their stocklist, although they are such interesting and beautyfull dwellers. I am curious, how your reef will develop. Link to comment
Mr. Microscope Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 He's still a little shy and he doesn't take food straight off the tongs yet. Starting to come out more Wow! Beautiful specimen! to Nano-Reef! Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 What species? never saw that color and she's gorgeous. Love her color. Mine was originally maroon, then now green w/ light blue at the top of her legs, but I wonder what she'd look like if put under a brighter light like yours. She can change some w/ her environment. When my tank was full of green macro, she changed to that. Link to comment
zhark Posted March 13, 2015 Author Share Posted March 13, 2015 A nice frog spawn? or a Kenya tree / Colt coral to give movement? Might try my luck with frogspawn but I didn't have much luck with torch corals, so I'm not too sure about it. Aren't kenya trees/colt corals very invasive? Don't want to be overgrown with them :c Thanks for the ideas though! I like your work and the pics you made. Please go on and let us participate in your reef growth. I have never seen a mantis shrimp in reality. Merchants in germany do not have them often in their stocklist, although they are such interesting and beautyfull dwellers. I am curious, how your reef will develop. Thanks, I love your 0.7 gallon too! Shops in fish street in Hong Kong have begun stocking many mantis shrimps, especially the smaller species and peacock mantis. Wow! Beautiful specimen! to Nano-Reef! Thanks What species? never saw that color and she's gorgeous. Love her color. Mine was originally maroon, then now green w/ light blue at the top of her legs, but I wonder what she'd look like if put under a brighter light like yours. She can change some w/ her environment. When my tank was full of green macro, she changed to that. It's a orange variant of Psuedosquilla ciliata, it stays rather small ≥80mm. I don't think mine changes with the environment, can I see yours? That sounds pretty awesome. Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 She's 2' and will only get to like 2.5. She started out at .5" like this. Oerstedeii variety. Said mine likes grassy, foliage areas so maybe that's why. You can see more videos in my thread Dueling Mantids. She'll be 2 yrs old this Oct and is still growing slowly. Now she's.... Link to comment
zhark Posted March 13, 2015 Author Share Posted March 13, 2015 She's 2' and will only get to like 2.5. She started out at .5" like this. Oerstedeii variety. Said mine likes grassy, foliage areas so maybe that's why. You can see more videos in my thread Dueling Mantids. She'll be 2 yrs old this Oct and is still growing slowly. Now she's.... That's so cool How long is their lifespan?? I was actually debating between a green mantis and this one at the shop. Link to comment
zhark Posted March 13, 2015 Author Share Posted March 13, 2015 Went to fish street today and got my hands on a nice purple and yellow yuma for around $19 USD (converted from HKD). It looks quite nice but hasn't opened up fully yet. I tried taking a picture under blue lights but it came out overly saturated.. I also saw a nice small gold and purple hammer mixed together as one frag. Didn't buy it then because I thought it wouldn't fit... turns out I do have enough space. anyways I plan to add it here if its still in the shop next week. Bonus pic of my mantis feasting on some chopped shrimp. It took me a three attempts of placing the shrimp outside his burrow for him to accept it. He kept shoving the other pieces away till the third one... maybe they were off or something. Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted March 14, 2015 Share Posted March 14, 2015 LOVE his mustard yellow color. Link to comment
zhark Posted March 14, 2015 Author Share Posted March 14, 2015 Amazing Thanks! LOVE his mustard yellow color. Me too! Is feeding once every two days good enough? Thinking of adding a halloween hermit in, would that be too much? I already have an electric blue and zebra hermit. Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted March 15, 2015 Share Posted March 15, 2015 The mantis will more than likely eat the hermit after bashing its shell in so I wouldn't personally get any. I don't feed mine that often as she shows less interest in food. But they're not all the same. If she doesn't want it go every 3. Link to comment
zhark Posted March 16, 2015 Author Share Posted March 16, 2015 The mantis will more than likely eat the hermit after bashing its shell in so I wouldn't personally get any. I don't feed mine that often as she shows less interest in food. But they're not all the same. If she doesn't want it go every 3. My mantis is a spearer and has left my other two hermits alone. It hasn't harmed any of my corals or shrimp either. It accepted food yesterday though! But, yeah I think two hermits is probably enough in the meantime. Link to comment
Snow_Phoenix Posted March 16, 2015 Share Posted March 16, 2015 Yep, they're spearers. I had one P. ciliata as a hitchiker in my big tank a very long time ago. It was brown and striated though, and hardly ever came out of the rock it was hiding in. Link to comment
zhark Posted March 30, 2015 Author Share Posted March 30, 2015 Good news!! My mantis started accepting frozen food, but only shrimp I also got some new acans, blastos and a gold torch (sadly doesn't look very gold under my crappy lights). Acans were a steal, rainbow ones from japan for 30 USD!!! Still don't really know how to use a DSLR or the settings... so some pics are out of focus or whiter/bluer than they actually are Pic dump: Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 I think you're doing really well with the photography so I don't know what you're talking about. Link to comment
zhark Posted March 31, 2015 Author Share Posted March 31, 2015 haha thanks I think you're doing really well with the photography so I don't know what you're talking about. Top down shot of the tank from this morning: Thinking about getting the new AI prime/ Maxspect celestial/ Nanoboxtide. Any thoughts/experiences with these lights? I've heard quite a few boxtides malfunction but the customer service is very good. Link to comment
Maniu Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 No personal experience with Al prime or Nanobox. I do own Celestial. For small tanks up to 12" cube it should be enough. Easy to setup. But I have seen Al prime and love wireless connectivity and other features. I think it might be a better choice. Nanobox has great reviews and top notch customer service. It is definitely an option to consider. Link to comment
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