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Ralph's Painted Angler Cube


NirvanaandTool

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NirvanaandTool

Teaser of some new pics. Need to edit a few more in PS.

 

FTS

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G. Viridis. He's shy :o

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I'm still working on getting the color right. I'll see what I can do on the rest. Never knew pics under LEDs could be so damn hard lol

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NirvanaandTool

Thanks man. I love these little thumb splitters. Each one has their own personality.

The Chiragra isnt afraid of anything and will eat anything. He even tries grabbing brine and mysis out of the water column when I feed the chromis.

The Viridis is very shy and only likes certain foods. Yet after he gets comfortable he gets very bold and will leave his cavity in the rock.

 

Do any of your local fish stores ever get mantis shrimp in? Scope around and find yourself a stomatopod of your own!

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NirvanaandTool

2 Pics of the G. Chiragra. Got around to doing some quick editing on them to correct the colors somewhat. I really need to mess around in Photoshop to get em better

 

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My tank isn't running yet,but out of 5 lfs none have them though a few can get them in

 

Ah well that's good that they can get them in. When you start to cycle, I'd go around and try to have them order you one. The species probably will be hit or miss (my Chiragra came in labelled as a Peacock) but at least you will get a mantis and wont have to pay to ship it.

I've generally found the lead time to having one ordered at a LFS can be kind of long as they find one for you.

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NirvanaandTool

Fixed my color issue. Corrected my WB on my DSLR by setting a custom WB. Pictures turned out much better colorwise. Some are not as focused as I'd like but my major limiting factor is my 18-55mm kit lens. I need to upgrade my lens soon.

 

Got 4 new corals - 3 new SPS frags and 1 new zoa. Decided to give SPS another shot.

 

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These were the best out of 68 pics. No post processing done. The color is pretty dead on so I didnt feel the need to mess with them.

 

Big improvement over the purple glowing pictures right? lol

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  • 3 weeks later...
NirvanaandTool

Made some stops at the LFS the past 2 weeks and added some new corals. Tricolor ric, purple/green acan, goniopora, new zoa frag. Also added 3 jumbo nassarius & a large tiger conch for sand sifting. Mantis killed off all the little nassarius so my sandbed was getting kinda funky.

 

Disclaimer.... Not my best work. Not thrilled with 1/2 of these.

 

FTS.

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Acans and the new Conch. He's pretty big so he might get moved over to my brother's 120g tank

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Old Acan on Left, New Acan on the right. Not the clearest pic

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New Zoa frag - kinda a meh pic but you get the idea.

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Blasto frag nice and open. Gotta find a spot for it in the rockwork.

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New Tricolor Ricordea

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Side Profile of the rockwork

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Blastomussa Merletti frag - not the clearest

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New Goni frag. LOVE the color

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Close-up

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No Mantis pics. He didnt come out til after I broke down the tripod.

I took a vid during feeding, need to upload it and see what it looks like.

 

Thanks for looking!

-Ralph

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  • 1 month later...
NirvanaandTool

Thanks :)

I do have some sort of a clean up crew. Mostly hermits and a few larger snails & that conch. I just have to replace it periodically. Lately the mantis has been preoccupied picking off small Chromis (RIP little guys) so most of the CUC is still kicking.

But I also have a skimmer, healthy fuge with chaeto & caulerpa & do 25-35% water changes a week.

 

Found him picking off a snail a few weeks ago.

 

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LeftyNom2_8-31-11 by ralphreef, on Flickr

 

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LeftyNom1_8-31-11 by ralphreef, on Flickr

 

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LeftyNom_8-31-11 by ralphreef, on Flickr

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Why do you keep putting things in the tank that the Mantis will eat? Doesn't that cost a lot of money?

 

place a order from reefcleaners for say a 10 gal quick crew and thats food for a month or 2 if not more.

 

Great tank, the frags look nice and the pic progression is fun.

I find that this hobby tends to mingle with the photography hobby.

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NirvanaandTool
Why do you keep putting things in the tank that the Mantis will eat? Doesn't that cost a lot of money?

 

So the mantis can hunt natural prey. They need to use their smasher arms or they lose them in molts.

It really doesnt cost that much - maybe 10-15$ every couple weeks on snails. He doesnt take one every day - maybe 1-2 per week depending on how much I feed him.

 

Plus I need the snails to clean algae in the tank. These guys have lasted from when I started the tank in July so I can't complain. Definitely got my money's worth there.

 

place a order from reefcleaners for say a 10 gal quick crew and thats food for a month or 2 if not more.

 

Great tank, the frags look nice and the pic progression is fun.

I find that this hobby tends to mingle with the photography hobby.

 

Lately I've been sticking with going to my LFS when I stock up on snails. My mantis tends to not like hermits so they are all still kicking so I only need a few snails here and there to restock. The quick crew idea will likely be used when I start up my peacock tank though. My major problem with the quick crews are the mantis will likely only eat the nerites cause of how small ceriths are. Even my smaller mantis in the fuge ignores ceriths. Probably too much work for not enough meat.

 

Thanks for the compliments. Yea this hobby really does mingle well with photography, almost too much cause you get sucked into DSLRs and then need fancy lenses to take better pics of your inhabitants.

 

I took a few more pics yesterday when I saw Lefty had taken down the last Aestea snail last night. Down to 1 lone turbo.

 

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Lefty_9-14-11-1 by ralphreef, on Flickr

 

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Lefty_9-14-11-3 by ralphreef, on Flickr

 

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Lefty_9-14-11-2 by ralphreef, on Flickr

 

Judging from what I saw last night while he was feeding, I think I was right with my ID of a G. Chiragra. I saw white meral spots on the arms which is consistent with a Chiragra.

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NirvanaandTool

Thanks Hype. Wish I had a macro lens for better shots though.

 

Yea I feel like they need natural prey every now and then. They dont feed on pieces of shrimp and scallop on skewers in the wild lol

Plus its awesome to see him go to town on a snail :D

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  • 1 year later...
NirvanaandTool

Well I've been MIA for about a year and this tank has seen some changes...

In Jan 2012, the G Chiragra passed away. Did the mantis death move and found him on his back, legs moving and swimmerrettes going. A few hours later and he's being consumed by the hermit crabs that he let live.

RIP Lefty

 

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Lefty 12-9-11 by ralphreef, on Flickr

 

I was going to get another mantis (likely a P. Ciliata) but I decided on something different. An anglerfish.

 

Enter this little Glutton. Meet G - short for Giroux cause I'm a big fan of the Flyers now-captain. When I got him he was barely 1" long. Fed him guppy fry and small ghost shrimp til I trained him on frozen food.

 

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IMG_0318 by ralphreef, on Flickr

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Angler1 by ralphreef, on Flickr

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Angler1-19-12 by ralphreef, on Flickr

 

Those are from Jan 2012.

 

Growing up fast.

 

May 2012

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July 2012 (after 1 tank move)

 

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G-7-1-12 by ralphreef, on Flickr
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G 7/7/12 by ralphreef, on Flickr
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Tank 7-9-12 by ralphreef, on Flickr
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Fts 7-9-12 by ralphreef, on Flickr
Nov 2012 - During the next tank move - Now over 2" long and getting fat
Up close and personal
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Gggggggg by ralphreef, on Flickr
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G 11-16-12 by ralphreef, on Flickr
Dec 2012
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G 12-8 1 by ralphreef, on Flickr
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1220-3 by ralphreef, on Flickr
New FTS
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1220-4 by ralphreef, on Flickr
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1220-7 by ralphreef, on Flickr
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1220-8 by ralphreef, on Flickr
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FTS Feb 2013
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Fts by ralphreef, on Flickr
This past week (03-29-2013) - Now almost 3" long. (Terrible picture but it was the best I could get)
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Sorry to hear about your mantis :(. Mine passed away yesterday.

 

 

Oddly enough, I too have been contemplating getting a wrangler. If you don't mind, I have a few questions for you:

 

What are you feeding him?

 

How often are you feeding him?

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NirvanaandTool

Just saw about yours. Sorry to hear. I totally know what you are going through. I'm mantis-less now but thinking of getting a Smithii for a spare 10g I've got lying around.

 

Anglers or frogfish are awesome fish but definitely species tank worthy even more so than a mantis. They can swallow fish up to 2x the length of their body. CUC are safe from them though.

 

I started off feeding guppy fry and small live ghost shrimp and eventually trained him to take frozen food from a feeding stick. He eats jumbo mysis, small pieces of squid, shrimp, scallops, salmon, cod, silverside chunks & whatever other seafood I buy for myself. I feed 2-3 pieces of food Monday, Wednesday & Friday and then take the weekend off. Honestly the hardest part was training him onto frozen - he was pretty picky at first but now he eats frozen like a champ.

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Thanks for the reply.

 

I'm going to continue researching, but I'm pretty sure that is the route I'll go. Will post details/questions in my thread so as to not clutter yours. :) Although I'm sure I'll have more questions for you at some point soon.

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NirvanaandTool

Diver's Den typically has Wartskin and Painted anglers in pretty regularly. Just make sure you get one of those cause a close relative the Giant anglerfish (Antennarius commerson) is sometimes mistaken for the smaller Wartskin and Painted anglers when they are juveniles but grows to a giant 12" long and would need probably a 40-50g tank. I couldnt imagine what it would cost at the seafood market feeding a beast like that.


I'll subscribe to your thread and try to answer any questions the best I can. Good luck in your search!

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  • 2 weeks later...
NirvanaandTool

This tank may be angler-less soon.

G has developed a sort of lockjaw I think and can't create suction for feeding. He can open his mouth but it looks like the tongue is enlarged and is blocking the way. Hasnt eaten since Monday 4/8/13. No idea what caused this either - he gets a balanced diet of fresh seafood, silversides and jumbo mysis shrimp. My waspfish get the same diet and have no problems.

 

May have to put him out of his misery soon. Things aren't looking good.

 

:(

 

I may go back to mantis shrimp after this. Maybe my original plan of a Pseudosquilla ciliata.

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:(. Hopefully he gets better soon.

 

And...you can't go back to a Mantis now...I need another Angler person besides me :)...Although I wouldn't blame you if you did of course as they are awesome creatures!

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NirvanaandTool

Thanks man, I'm hoping he pulls through too. So far I've had success in force feeding him bits of mysis with the stealth stick. Still unknown what is affecting him though.

 

I'm unsure what I'll do. I need to try to focus on saving this guy rather than on the future.

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NirvanaandTool

He ate! He ate!

He legitimately ate on his own last night, suction and all. A small piece of silverside. Was force feeding him the previous week and I wonder if that made a difference.

 

The strike wasnt as strong as it normally is but hey, its a step in the right direction!

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