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M@'s Pico v. Mantis


M@!

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Put together a 5.5 AIO N. Wennerae tank for a Pico contest over at DFWMAS.org and decided to post the build here too. The Mantis will be sharing a cube with me at work.

 

The tank is a 5.5 gallon with a 1.5 gallon AIO section. Lighting will be a budget build DIY setup from parts I had laying around.

 

Tank De-rimmed and False Wall built

Photo1-11.jpg

 

Pump Installed

Photo1-10.jpg

 

Aquascape

Photo1-12.jpg

 

Sand in and Media Rack

IMG_0204.jpg

 

DIY LED

lights.png

 

Wet and ready for Livestock

IMG_0239.jpg

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Added some corals and a peppermint shrimp.

 

Zoas - Green ring, purple head, yellow mouth, name?

zoa1.png

 

More zoas

zoa2.png

 

Nuc Greens

neon.png

 

Peppermint Shrimp - Mantis meal :o

pep.jpg

 

FTS - 4/18

fts-2.png

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It has arrived!

mantis.png

 

Peppermint doesn't know what he has coming!

FTS4-24.png

 

Already found a cave. Pretty sure it is plotting to kill me.

hole.jpg

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Islandoftiki

Nice looking Mantis! Is this your first one?

 

Mine has been working his way through dwarf cerith snails. He's stackin' 'em up like cordwood in front of his cave. How's that peppermint holding up? Have they met yet?

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Thanks, I can't wait for his first molt to see what color he turns. I had an Oerstedii for a few years.

 

Peppermint is good so far. He went and checked out the Mantis but he was to busy building his cave to care. I love how they decorate their death cave with remenents. :lol: I ordered a clean up crew for my 30g from reef cleaners so I have plenty of dwarf cerinths.

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Nice Mantis. He will find the peppermint. My old mantis ate 2 of them. As soon as the peppermint steps in front of the cave....SMACK! All over..

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Nice Mantis. He will find the peppermint. My old mantis ate 2 of them. As soon as the peppermint steps in front of the cave....SMACK! All over..
Thanks. I can only hope this happens while I'm at work. I'm sure I'm going to come to work one morning with shrimp remnants floating in the tank. Nothing exciting today, he just hid in his cave all day.

 

Only problem with a work tank is it makes me want to say late. :P

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Islandoftiki
Thanks. I can only hope this happens while I'm at work. I'm sure I'm going to come to work one morning with shrimp remnants floating in the tank. Nothing exciting today, he just hid in his cave all day.

 

Only problem with a work tank is it makes me want to say late. :P

 

He'll probably hide out for a week or so. Mine hid a lot at first, but now he's comfortable and comes out all the time.

 

Now, he's constantly doing something. Like stealing the nice blue xenia... grrrr. If it's in his cave, there's no way I can get it out short of tearing the whole tank apart. It probably won't live long in total darkness. Hmmmm, maybe I could siphon it out... I think he'd come unglued if I messed with his cave. Probably fill the tank with upper-cuts!

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xDetroitMetalx

I had a Wennerae that looked similar to yours. He was really awesome and ate 3 Peps once. Well... He decided to redo his home one day and then I didn't see him for a week. I decided to investigate and his cave collapsed, trapped and killed him :(

 

Then I bought a Peacock Mantis which is still alive. He nailed my dad's thumb once and drew a good amount of blood. My dad yanked back and the mantis was dug in so far it was attached to his thumb and flew out of the tank on the floor. He hasn't been the same sense. He was very aggressive, now he's a big wimp.

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Islandoftiki

Oh man, that's wild. I don't think my little guy hits hard enough to draw blood. I'm not going to test the theory, but I'm pretty sure my fiance will. She's fearless... plus she gets bit often enough by her parrots and it doesn't bother her. She wants to try feeding it by hand. I'll be sure to video that!

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xDetroitMetalx

My dad's hit was much harder than when it hit me. When the peacock hit me it didn't stab me, it was only a test hit, But, it left a big welt on my knuckle.

 

Looking at all your mantis tanks is killing me.... Fish... Or mantis.... hmmmmmm

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Islandoftiki
Looking at all your mantis tanks is killing me.... Fish... Or mantis.... hmmmmmm

 

Mantis AND fish. If you have a small smasher, you can probably have an inexpensive fish, too. Just feed the mantis well and give him lots of dwarf certith snails (aka: snacks). I'm pretty sure mine would tolerate a fish that stayed in the middle of the water column.

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Mantis AND fish. If you have a small smasher, you can probably have an inexpensive fish, too. Just feed the mantis well and give him lots of dwarf certith snails (aka: snacks). I'm pretty sure mine would tolerate a fish that stayed in the middle of the water column.
+1, when I had my Oerstedii he lived with a mollie. He got lazy after a while and would only eat frozen. I could have kept any fish with him.

 

I came to work today and the peppermint was demolished! I wish I could have seen the death match but at least I know he is eating. :P

 

Today he expanded his cave to the back of the tank, boo! He is still really shy. I hope he becomes more active soon or I might just have to add another mantis and have a real death match!

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Islandoftiki
+1, when I had my Oerstedii he lived with a mollie. He got lazy after a while and would only eat frozen. I could have kept any fish with him.

 

I came to work today and the peppermint was demolished! I wish I could have seen the death match but at least I know he is eating. :P

 

Today he expanded his cave to the back of the tank, boo! He is still really shy. I hope he becomes more active soon or I might just have to add another mantis and have a real death match!

 

The last thing to go through that peppermint's head was probably his ar$e hole. Such is life in the ocean. It's a brutal place to live.

 

I wouldn't worry. Mine moved to the back of the tank for a while, but ultimately decided the front of the tank was the most advantageous place to be. If you have a specific cave spot you want him to live in, try piling a bunch of coral rubble around it. He will use the rubble to customize it to his liking. As soon as I piled rubble around the front of my desired mantis location, he moved right in. As bad-ass as they are, they like to have their tails covered. The smashy parts are in front after all. They're most vulnerable from behind.

 

Think of it this way. If you were still a kid and wanted to build a bad-ass fort that nobody could get into, how would you set it up? Now give your mantis the tools to build that fort. They also like to cover the entrance to their fort at night.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Unfortunately the mantis went through a tough molt and didn't make it. I was a little discouraged after it's death but I placed an order for two oerstedii over the weekend. I decided to add some more rock and also picked up a blue devil and an emerald crab to add some life while I wait for the mantis. One mantis will be going in my pico at work and one will stay at home in a 6 gallon I setup.

 

Latest FTS - Not as clean of an Aquascape but I think it will be better for the mantis.

MayFTS.jpg

 

6G setup

_MG_0193-1.jpg

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albertthiel

There is a large listing with pics on http://www.fragoutpost.com/frags-by-category/5 and you may very well find it there .... probably Palythoa but check ...

 

Albert

 

 

Added some corals and a peppermint shrimp.

 

Zoas - Green ring, purple head, yellow mouth, name?

zoa1.png

 

More zoas

zoa2.png

 

Nuc Greens

neon.png

 

Peppermint Shrimp - Mantis meal :o

pep.jpg

 

FTS - 4/18

fts-2.png

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Sorry to hear about your Mantis not making it. That sucks.

 

Looking forward to seeing the new ones though when they arrive. Keep us posted.

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Thanks, I think it was just really bad timing. He was probably getting ready to molt right when he shipped. Shipping, new environment, molt equals bad news.

 

My reef2go order shipped today. Now I just need to cross my fingers for this weather die down over night.

 

There is a large listing with pics on http://www.fragoutpost.com/frags-by-category/5 and you may very well find it there .... probably Palythoa but check ...

 

Albert

Thanks, I'll definitely check that out.

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Mantis came in yesterday. One was the size of my thumbnail! omgomgomg Really too small to even get a picture of. I guess I just throw some mysis in the tank and hope he eats??

 

Other one was a couple inches. Haven't seen him since he hit the tank. Hopefully he will come out in a few days.

 

Sorry for the crappy pic, my good camera was at work and I had the lights low for acclimation.

 

Photo1-17.jpg

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albertthiel

They like to hide especially if they feel threatened and burrow into crevices in the rocks, behind them etc. and often in spots where you cannot see them.

 

They are active at night when the lights are out and may then come out but be careful as you probably already know that they are voracious and will kill most of what is in the tank especially small ones where they can easily get to what they are preying on ... and they have been know to break and bust thin glass aquariums ... FWIW ... as a side note they have extremely good vision but the exact reason for that is not quite totally understood although some suggest that it is to allow them to recognize prey (but that could be anecdotal info)...

 

Albert

 

 

Mantis came in yesterday. One was the size of my thumbnail! omgomgomg Really too small to even get a picture of. I guess I just throw some mysis in the tank and hope he eats??

 

Other one was a couple inches. Haven't seen him since he hit the tank. Hopefully he will come out in a few days.

 

Sorry for the crappy pic, my good camera was at work and I had the lights low for acclimation.

 

Photo1-17.jpg

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Nice looking new Mantis!

 

Keep us posted on how he does, and don't worry if you don't see him right away.

 

If you really wanted, you could put some scallops, or shrimp or something on skewer and coax him out. See if he is hungry.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well added another mantis to my ever crowing tank collection. I picked up what I believe is a Peacock along with a 20L yesterday. She is very reclusive and probably about 5" or so. Hopefully she will warm up a little bit and venture out a bit more. I'll add pics of the setup tomorrow.

 

All the other tanks are chugging along. My baby mantis in my 5 gallon seems to be doing well. He was out and about for short period. I think he was about to molt. After he ran around a little crazy he closed off his cave. I haven't seen him in a few days but I have seen new tunnels.

 

He is so small it's hard to get a pic. This is the best I could do. babymantis.jpg

 

Haven't seen the other Oerstedii in the 6.6 gallon. I hope he is just hiding in the back.

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albertthiel
Well added another mantis to my ever crowing tank collection. I picked up what I believe is a Peacock along with a 20L yesterday. She is very reclusive and probably about 5" or so. Hopefully she will warm up a little bit and venture out a bit more. I'll add pics of the setup tomorrow.

 

All the other tanks are chugging along. My baby mantis in my 5 gallon seems to be doing well. He was out and about for short period. I think he was about to molt. After he ran around a little crazy he closed off his cave. I haven't seen him in a few days but I have seen new tunnels.

 

He is so small it's hard to get a pic. This is the best I could do. babymantis.jpg

 

Haven't seen the other Oerstedii in the 6.6 gallon. I hope he is just hiding in the back.

 

Besides the Mantis what else do you have in the tank and what are you feeding it/them if I may ask

 

Albert

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