Acielot Posted May 10, 2013 Share Posted May 10, 2013 And I was just considering putting one of those in a tank That little sucker is sooooo fast that I am definitely going to get one now. Who needs any other species of mantis? Link to comment
BadCrab Posted May 10, 2013 Share Posted May 10, 2013 Awesome new videos Tiki. The coloring on your mantis is stunning. Brad and I are in search-mode for a Smithii for his tank - there's an LFS here (AquaTouch) that moves and cultures a large amount of liverock. They told us they get a couple mantis every other month, but they are usually Peacocks (which Brad is avoiding, he wants to try housing coral in the same tank.)They did have a P. ciliata available today, but as it's a spearer, we passed. He ended up ordering a G. ternatensis from BlueZoo late last night I think. Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted May 10, 2013 Author Share Posted May 10, 2013 They did have a P. ciliata available today, but as it's a spearer, we passed. He ended up ordering a G. ternatensis from BlueZoo late last night I think. P. Cilata is not a bad choice actually. It's like the smasher of spearers. It's kind of an oddball. It has the interactiveness of a smasher only with spears. You obviously can't keep fish with them, but it's a lot easier to have a clean up crew of snails. They're a very interesting species! Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted May 13, 2013 Author Share Posted May 13, 2013 It was an exciting weekend for the new peacock mantis. She met my fiance for the first time (she was in Hawaii for 3 weeks) and she got to meet our African Grey parrots. As I kind of expected, the parrots got a full threat display from the mantis, while the parrots where thoroughly uninterested in the her. My fiance named her, too. Betty. Her damsel fish has been named Barney. (Yes, it's a Flintstones reference) I added some of the rock from the 25 gallon mantis tank, along with some more rubble and some random shells from Hawaii that were also in the 25 gallon tank. Chuck doesn't build or use rubble at all. Betty immediately went to town building and moving the rubble around and checking out every new rock in the tank. She's also coming up to the glass when I stick my face up to the tank. Nitrates in the tank are well under control and the chaeto fuge is doing an awesome job. The chaeto has doubled in volume in the past week. Link to comment
BadCrab Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 Do certain species build? Or is it the individual mantis? It's my understanding that most spearers burrow into the sand bed. Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted May 13, 2013 Author Share Posted May 13, 2013 Do certain species build? Or is it the individual mantis? It's my understanding that most spearers burrow into the sand bed. Some species are more likely to build than others. My G. Ternatensis is the only I've seen that doesn't rearrange the tank and cover his den at night. He's also one of the only species that normally makes it's home in SPS coral colonies. Betty has been moving rocks around that are probably twice as heavy as her. She'll roll them if she has to. I should move all of her rocks around and do a time-lapse video of her rearranging the tank. Link to comment
BadCrab Posted May 13, 2013 Share Posted May 13, 2013 Interesting. Brad ordered a G. Ternatensis that was in stock at Blue Zoo (we are both aware of the ethical problems with their harvest, though) Wasn't aware they weren't interested in building though. I suggested to him trying to find a birdsnest host for the mantis - there's a very large one at Aqua Touch that has RTN on at least a third of it, wonder if he could snag it for cheap. Please do time-lapse some re-arranges, that sounds awesome. Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted May 13, 2013 Author Share Posted May 13, 2013 Interesting. Brad ordered a G. Ternatensis that was in stock at Blue Zoo (we are both aware of the ethical problems with their harvest, though) Wasn't aware they weren't interested in building though. I suggested to him trying to find a birdsnest host for the mantis - there's a very large one at Aqua Touch that has RTN on at least a third of it, wonder if he could snag it for cheap. Please do time-lapse some re-arranges, that sounds awesome. My G. Ternatensis is cool, I'd recommend setting Brad's up with a PVC burrow where the entrances are both facing the front of the tank so he has no choice but to stare out and be at least mildly interactive. The peacock is about ten times more interactive than Chuck. But keep in mind that individuals do vary quite a lot in personality and temperament. Your mileage will probably vary. Chuck will turn around and look at you if he's facing the other way and you knock on the side of the tank. He is usually hidden in the rockwork though. Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted May 14, 2013 Author Share Posted May 14, 2013 She's no longer showing any threat display towards the parrots. I was going to video tape it and then she was like, meh... Now, here's one that made me laugh a lot. Last night I was walking past her tank with our dinner on two plates. Just for fun, I showed them to her. She zipped out of her burrow and started swimming around like she does when she's going to be fed! No joke! I yelled to my fiance, "Look at this! Look at this! She knows it's food!" Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted May 17, 2013 Author Share Posted May 17, 2013 She's like a little puppy dog. She comes out of her burrow if I stop at the tank for a minute. Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted May 31, 2013 Author Share Posted May 31, 2013 Betty (the mantis) often comes out of her burrow to greet Ahnie (the African grey) when I bring them together to hang out. Of course, not today when the camera is rolling, because it's a big scary camera. Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted June 6, 2013 Author Share Posted June 6, 2013 Feeding time is always fun in the mantis tanks! Link to comment
BadCrab Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 That damsel is really brave, lol. Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted June 6, 2013 Author Share Posted June 6, 2013 That damsel is really brave, lol. I know, right? He gets chased away all the time. I'm just waiting for the day that she whacks him and solves the problem of him stealing bits of her food once and for all. She really doesn't like it when he nibbles on her krill. Link to comment
ccapasso Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 Nice video. That Damsel is really asking to be smacked by the Mantis Link to comment
eitallent Posted June 6, 2013 Share Posted June 6, 2013 Cute! She paddles her legs in time with the music in the feeding video. She is a dancing Mantis. Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted June 17, 2013 Author Share Posted June 17, 2013 Betty molted last week. She came out of her burrow on Friday just before we went camping for the weekend. She looks great. Her missing raptorial appendage is now a small 1/3 scale version. A couple more molts and it will be back to normal. Wouldn't it be cool if we could regenerate lost limbs? She's a little bigger and her coloration is much more vivid. The new raptorial appendage is a light red color. I'll try to get some better pictures of the new raptorial appendage when she decides to play nice for the camera. So far, I only have these poor quality pics. Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted June 18, 2013 Author Share Posted June 18, 2013 Here's a better picture of the new raptorial appendage: Link to comment
BadCrab Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 Speak for yourself! Only a few more molts and I'll get my gallbladder back! Take that science! Link to comment
eitallent Posted June 18, 2013 Share Posted June 18, 2013 Wow. It is awesome that she is growing her appendage. She will be good as new in no time. She is beautiful. Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted June 19, 2013 Share Posted June 19, 2013 Wow, she's a beauty and like a woman after chocolate in those videos- Damn it! GIVE IT TO ME!! Yanking it out of there. Link to comment
NirvanaandTool Posted June 19, 2013 Share Posted June 19, 2013 Awesome peacock. She looks super active and healthy. One day I'll get one. I need another mantis after not having one for about a year. Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted June 19, 2013 Author Share Posted June 19, 2013 She's so cute. Last night, I was showing her my car keys. She found them so interesting she had to come out of her den and up to the glass for a closer look. I'm going to have to come up with some aquarium safe unusual objects to put in there for her to explore. She's always curious when I show her new things. Link to comment
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