jstuver Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 Love this tank and those majanos are awesome. I had some like them when I first started a few years ago but of course I listened to everyone and got rid of them they are awesome looking. Curious most mantis tanks I see only have stuff like majanos and what not in them, do mantis eat zoas? I have always been fascinated with mantis shrimp but could never not have the color in a tank:) Quote Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted July 16, 2012 Author Share Posted July 16, 2012 Love this tank and those majanos are awesome. I had some like them when I first started a few years ago but of course I listened to everyone and got rid of them they are awesome looking.Curious most mantis tanks I see only have stuff like majanos and what not in them, do mantis eat zoas? I have always been fascinated with mantis shrimp but could never not have the color in a tank:) Mantis shrimp are reef friendly. Some mantis can't handle the bright lights needed to sustain most corals, for example, the Peacock mantis can develop shell rot from bright lighting. Luckily, there are still many types of mantis that do just fine under bright reef lighting and can be kept with any coral you can think of. Mantis shrimp eat a diet of raw meaty seafoods that you can find at your local supermarket. Shrimp, clams, scalops, crab, etc. Anything that would be part of their normal diet in the wild. They're really easy to care for and fun to feed. Quote Link to comment
aquemeni5110 Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 Remember, Key to the success of a pico: 1. Dose with additives daily or weekly 2. Don't let evaporation catch you off guard 3. Keep your water changes on schedule 4. Clean your windows daily 5. Prone anything that overgrows 6. Don't overfeed 7. Keep filter sponge clean 8. Don't push beyond 8 hour lighting period. 9. Use chopstick to break up debris buildup on all four corners of tank 10. Watch an episode of Discovery channel "Tanked" to appreciate the size of your pico! Happy reefing! Good stuff Mike.. Btw, I've seen all the Tanked episodes. And a few Fish Tank Kings. Awesome Spec build! Digg the chiller setup and stand. Nice job. Quote Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted July 16, 2012 Author Share Posted July 16, 2012 Awesome Spec build! Digg the chiller setup and stand. Nice job. Thank you. The chiller has been working great to keep the tank below 80 degrees. I have it set to come on at 78.5 and I've never seen the tank get above 79.7 on the hottest days. Before the chiller, when I had it set up as a normal reef tank, it would easily hit 84+ degrees on a hot day without a fan. With a fan, evaporation became an issue. With this setup, evaporation is minimal. I was gone for the weekend and it went unattended from Friday at noon to Sunday around 5pm and only needed about a cup of water to top off. Quote Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted July 19, 2012 Author Share Posted July 19, 2012 I was starting to get concerned that I haven't heard or seen my mantis shrimp in 4 days so I disassembled the broken shell wall he built to cover an area that he had hollowed out. There he was. probably saying, "WTF? Do you know how long it took me to build that wall?" I fed him some mysis to make up for the intrusion. I ordered some clean-up crew for my 10 gallon to replace some of what the pistol shrimp killed. I also ordered a bunch of dwarf cerith snacks for the mantis. I'll keep them in the 10 gallon and add them as he depletes the stock in the 2 gallon. Quote Link to comment
ccapasso Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 He's going to start charging you a builders fee to rebuild his wall Quote Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted July 23, 2012 Author Share Posted July 23, 2012 He's going to start charging you a builders fee to rebuild his wall Yeah, no kidding. What's funny is that he must have gotten hungry and he tore down the wall himself on Sunday. I fed him a couple mysis shrimp. Later that evening, he had rebuilt the wall before bedtime. I'm pretty sure he molted. His meral spots are bright white now (they were almost invisible black before). I didn't get a look at the rest of him as he wouldn't come out of the hole all the way. Two majanos moved into his lower man-made cave. There has been a lot of growth in the tank as of late. By the time the contest ends, I doubt there will be a bare spot on any of the rocks. Quote Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted July 24, 2012 Author Share Posted July 24, 2012 Shadie decided to show himself finally. I took at quick video--here he is in the little area that he usually has walled up with shells. I'm pretty sure he molted. Notice how his meral spots are bright white now. 1 Quote Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted July 25, 2012 Author Share Posted July 25, 2012 I got a video of the little glut eating an entire armload of mysis shrimp. 1 Quote Link to comment
United417 Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 looks great! he sure is a skittish lil fella, i have a N. Oerstedii in a 5 gal reef currently, some LPS/zoas/shrooms/softies. lovin the setup though!keep up the good work Quote Link to comment
jgpico Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 I never thought that I would say this but I want majano's. This tank is SOOOO cool man, nice work. Quote Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted July 25, 2012 Author Share Posted July 25, 2012 looks great! he sure is a skittish lil fella, i have a N. Oerstedii in a 5 gal reef currently, some LPS/zoas/shrooms/softies. lovin the setup though!keep up the good work I know, right? Bad-ass mantis shrimp really would prefer to avoid conflict. I still want to see my fiance try to hand feed him. She said she would. I don't think he hits hard enough to break the skin. I'm so tempted to find out. Quote Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted July 28, 2012 Author Share Posted July 28, 2012 (edited) So, I'm watching TV tonight and I hear loud clicking from the pest tank. I grabbed my phone and shot this video of my mantis shrimp beating the living tar out of a rock. You do not want to get hit by this little guy. (The chatter in the background is our African Grey parrot, Dory) Edited January 19, 2014 by Islandoftiki Quote Link to comment
MeepNand Posted July 28, 2012 Share Posted July 28, 2012 Beating the living tar? It hit the rock twice. Dang, I was expecting something like a cat playing with it's food. 1 Quote Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted July 28, 2012 Author Share Posted July 28, 2012 Beating the living tar?It hit the rock twice. Dang, I was expecting something like a cat playing with it's food. He was hitting it for a while before I dug the phone out and got the video app going. So, here's a video of my mysis shrimp population in the tank: Quote Link to comment
MeepNand Posted July 28, 2012 Share Posted July 28, 2012 He was hitting it for a while before I dug the phone out and got the video app going. So, here's a video of my mysis shrimp population in the tank: Wow! That is a lot!. Quote Link to comment
altolamprologus Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 I love how that video's music is all happy and upbeat and the mantis vids have horror movie music. Nice touch Quote Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted July 29, 2012 Author Share Posted July 29, 2012 I love how that video's music is all happy and upbeat and the mantis vids have horror movie music. Nice touch Because mantis shrimp are spooky and stuff... Unlike Quote Link to comment
gonzalez78 Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Dude, love this tank. I have the same spec but right now its being used to keep my misbar occy and a few corals until i finish my 40B, maybe after i transfer everything i will steal your idea and keep a pest tank also since i love how those pest corals look. Quote Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted July 29, 2012 Author Share Posted July 29, 2012 Dude, love this tank. I have the same spec but right now its being used to keep my misbar occy and a few corals until i finish my 40B, maybe after i transfer everything i will steal your idea and keep a pest tank also since i love how those pest corals look. The funny thing is you will get more amusement and fun from the pest tank. I kid you not. I love my 10 gallon, but the 2 gallon pest tank is the crown jewel. Quote Link to comment
gonzalez78 Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 The funny thing is you will get more amusement and fun from the pest tank. I kid you not. I love my 10 gallon, but the 2 gallon pest tank is the crown jewel. sounds awesome i saw my lfs had a mantis shrimp last week and i can ask them to order me one also if they don't have any just have to ask the club member that works there from my reef club. i can't wait i will keep it next to my 40B and right next to my bed so i can talk to them i know i'm crazy but in this hobby its better to be a little crazy with the prices we pay for fish and corals. Quote Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted July 29, 2012 Author Share Posted July 29, 2012 Here's something new that's been slowly growing in the pest tank. It's finally big enough to get a decent picture of. It's some form of macro algae. It's not anything that I ever intentionally put in there, it's just a hitchhiker, but it's pretty cool looking. It has very little color. Mostly clear with a little green in it. If I could get enough of a close-up, you could see that it has very tiny horizontal stripes across the surface of the structure. I'll dig out the fancy camera and see if the super macro mode will get a picture of it close-up. Quote Link to comment
MeepNand Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 Can you put an fts on page 1? Quote Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted July 30, 2012 Author Share Posted July 30, 2012 Can you put an fts on page 1? Yeah, I'll do that in the next day or two when I post the FTS for the competition. Quote Link to comment
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