Mantis Island

[Alexraptor]

It is said Mantis Island is a place of beauty and wonder, boasting a number of unique geographical features such as the "Forest of Stars", the "Jungle of Cheats" and of course the famous "Mante's Peak".

Mantis Island has a small but strong podpulation and is home to a small number of wildlife.

Strange multi-armed creatures reaching out to the sky to snatch food from the air, fierce looking but harmless fire snakes that lurk in the tunnels of despair that on occasion emerge to feed on the refuse of others.

 

 

But despite these wonders, Mantis Island is not as peaceful as it first appears.

For the podpulous live every day of their life in constant fear, always looking over their shoulders, ready to flee at a moments notice, or be dragged deep into the depths of the tunnels of despair.

They call it... the "Snips"... a fierce gigantic beast that dwells within the Island, since the dawn of time.

It is said this legendary monster has the strength to move the very mountain itself, and is imbued with the speed of the lighting god.

Many believe the "Snips" to actually be an evil god, cast out from his kingdom long ago by a higher power, and has since made Mantis Island his new kingdom.

 

So visitors beware, pray before you sleep that ye shall never see the face of the Snips, for no one may see it... and live.

 

[Islandoftiki]

Brilliant tank description! Welcome to the Mantis club!

[Islandoftiki]

By the way, what kind of mantis is it? How long has the tank been up? We want details! Many details!

[Alexraptor]

All rightee, here comes the details.

 

My mantis, Snips, is a Gonodactylus Smithii.

Came accross him when I had bought a new piece of live rock in December last year to replace the star polyp infested one that he later got to have.

Just as I had put the rock in the tank and finished re-aquascaping, I noticed a pair of glowing eyes peering right at me, and my blood kind of ran cold when I realized what it was.

But I managed to coax him out of the rock and put it back in, and decided to keep him and give him his own tank.

So ive had him about 5 months now and had him molt twice.

 

Day 1:

 

Tank itself is a 43 liter tank that is neighbour to another 43 liter tank.

Both tanks share a single 2x39w T5HO light fixture with a 6500k bulb and one actinic.

Heater is an "unbreakable" 50w Aquael Easyheater which even has an overheating switch control.

On the flow department the system is kind of overkill as I have a Tunze Nanostream 6015, which at 1800 liters per hour gives me a nearly 42x turnover rate.

 

A couple of feeding videos here, about 3 months apart.

[surgicalsense]

Love the feeding video ... so cute and tiny.

[ccapasso]

Welcome to the Mantis Club

 

G. Smithii are one of my favorites!

[Alexraptor]

Shrimp isnt the only thing a mantis can eat.

[ccapasso]

Shrimp isnt the only thing a mantis can eat.

 

 

Nice! Very interesting that he'd eat pellets.

[Islandoftiki]

Nice! Very interesting that he'd eat pellets.

 

Mine eats sinking pellets for shrimp, too.

[Islandoftiki]

Any updates?

[Rollermonkey]

Wow. That one is far less of a monster than people make them out to be.

[Alexraptor]

I kinda realised that its been quite a while since I posted anything anywhere.

 

Snips is doing very well and has grown considerably, molted again a couple of weeks ago, and if you compare with the early videos from last year with more recent ones, it shows.

 

[patback]

Lol, I loved the first post. I think a rule should be in place that everyone must story-tell their posts for now on.