Rollermonkey Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 The most pampered peacock mantis, ever. Quote Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted November 21, 2013 Author Share Posted November 21, 2013 I drained the tank and brought it upstairs this evening... And the stand is done. Another day or so and it will be ready for the tank... I never expected it to come out this nicely. I have to give a big thanks to my friend Bill for helping me with the finish cabinetry work. The trim on the tank matches the architectural style of the house. Simple and elegant. I'm really happy with the choice of satin black for the finish. You could literally support a car on this thing. It's hell-bent for stout. 1 Quote Link to comment
Lamilvelo Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 Agreed that stand looks really nice. Off topic question but what type of birds do you have in the background there? Also really looking forward to this tank getting wet Quote Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted November 21, 2013 Author Share Posted November 21, 2013 Agreed that stand looks really nice. Off topic question but what type of birds do you have in the background there? Also really looking forward to this tank getting wet We have one Congo African Grey and one Timneh African Grey. They're both goofballs. 1 Quote Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 "Hellbent for stout". Not sure what you mean but I'm sure it could support a keg of stout. What's especially awesome is pour a shotglass of raspberry Chambourd into a mug of chocolate stout. Don't actually mix it though- tastes like chocolate covered raspberries. Hm. I'm thirsty. 1 Quote Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted November 22, 2013 Author Share Posted November 22, 2013 "Hellbent for stout". Not sure what you mean but I'm sure it could support a keg of stout. What's especially awesome is pour a shotglass of raspberry Chambourd into a mug of chocolate stout. Don't actually mix it though- tastes like chocolate covered raspberries. Hm. I'm thirsty. Haha, a good friend of mine taught me that trick a couple years ago! Good stuff! Ok, the stand is in place and leveled! I'm putting 1/4" foam core under the tank, because why not? I love overkill. And here we are. Ready for water! Quote Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted November 22, 2013 Author Share Posted November 22, 2013 What's wet, salty tasting and sexy? This tank! 2 Quote Link to comment
ll_maynard_ll Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 Can't wait to see it wet and mantified. Did I read you are putting a LED setup over this? Edit: Sorry, I guess it is wet, so just mantified then. Quote Link to comment
NanoTopia Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 You've done an amazing job on this so far, it's going to be a fun tank to watch. Quote Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted November 22, 2013 Author Share Posted November 22, 2013 Can't wait to see it wet and mantified. Did I read you are putting a LED setup over this? Yes. After a lot of research and thought, I've come to the conclusion that this tank is to be lighted. The shell rot that peacock mantis experience is more related water quality than to lighting. The current line of thinking is that if you can keep your water quality excellent that you can light a peacock mantis tank. Since I have never had any problem keeping excellent water quality in all of my tanks (unless I specifically do otherwise in the case of the pest tank), I don't imagine this to be any issue at all. This tank will have an amazing filtration system. So, we're going to be going with a Maxspect Razor Nano 16k. I'm stealing all of the gear, corals and rock from my 10 gallon mixed reef. MP10, Reefkeeper lite, and the Tunze Osmolator ATO are all going on this tank and I'll sell off or shelve the 10 gallon tank, light and other stuff. It's going to be the best tank yet. We're planning to bring Chuck's tank out into the living room where the 10 gallon tank is so we can appreciate him more. Quote Link to comment
ll_maynard_ll Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 Sounds amazing. I'm sure you will pull it off. Oh, and good for Chuck, he doesn't seem to get as much air time. Quote Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted November 22, 2013 Author Share Posted November 22, 2013 Sounds amazing. I'm sure you will pull it off. Oh, and good for Chuck, he doesn't seem to get as much air time. He gets plenty of attention, but it's hard to compete with Betty. She's over-the-top interactive. By far and away the most interactive mantis I've ever seen. Hopefully Chuck will become a little more interactive when he's in the living room... across from Betty's tank. They can threat posture at each other. 1 Quote Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted November 22, 2013 Author Share Posted November 22, 2013 Ok, home from work and getting busy! I overshot my salinity by a bit and had to drain some salt water and replace it with RO/DI. We're now at 1.025, which matches all of the other tanks. Temperature is about 80 degrees. I'm going to lower to 78 degrees once the official heater is in the tank. I'm using my saltwater mixing heaters for the moment. I cut away the vinly from the back of the tank in the area that will be the chaeto refugium so I can light it from behind. Also, the live sand just went in. I installed the mechanical filters (sponges and filter pads). I'm running about 4x the normal amount of filter pad to help clear the water as quickly as possible. Once the water clears, I'll install Betty's new den and start getting ready to move things over from the other tanks. Stay tuned! 3 Quote Link to comment
Tamberav Posted November 23, 2013 Share Posted November 23, 2013 He gets plenty of attention, but it's hard to compete with Betty. She's over-the-top interactive. By far and away the most interactive mantis I've ever seen. Hopefully Chuck will become a little more interactive when he's in the living room... across from Betty's tank. They can threat posture at each other. I Betty! Ivy is the same way. Always out in my face trying to check things out. I really need to try taking a video of her. I love your videos!!!! Quote Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted November 23, 2013 Author Share Posted November 23, 2013 Sneak peek... Betty's new den is in the tank. A couple pieces of live rock from the 20 and 10 gallon tanks. Two euphyllia corals and a couple mushrooms. About 1/2 cup of sand from the 10 gallon tank. I'll steal about 1/2 cup of sand from the 25 gallon tank tomorrow. Next thing to swap will be the MP10... The chaeto fuge is up and kinda running. I have a temporary light on it. Here's a quick picture... 1 Quote Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted November 23, 2013 Author Share Posted November 23, 2013 MP10 installed... And... we have waves going in the tank already. Quote Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted November 23, 2013 Author Share Posted November 23, 2013 InTank chaeto fuge basket with a temporary light: 1 Quote Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted November 23, 2013 Share Posted November 23, 2013 MP10 installed... And... we have waves going in the tank already. So I guess since your mantis is bigger it can handle the MP10. Excited to see how this evolves. I'll have to add a Koralia to each side of mine for extra motion later. Right now they're small and don't need as much, probably couldn't handle much- ha- it'd blow them across the tank smack into the gsp wall. Quote Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted November 23, 2013 Author Share Posted November 23, 2013 So I guess since your mantis is bigger it can handle the MP10. Excited to see how this evolves. Yeah, she's a good 5" or more long, and pretty beefy. I'll see how she does with it. Of course, the MP10 is fully adjustable, so I can make it work for her. I'm super excited about this tank. This is like taking all of the good things that you've learned and putting them together into one tank. The worst part comes tomorrow. Rockscaping... I might, "phone a friend" for help. Quote Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted November 23, 2013 Share Posted November 23, 2013 Yeah, she's a good 5" or more long, and pretty beefy. I'll see how she does with it. Of course, the MP10 is fully adjustable, so I can make it work for her. I'm super excited about this tank. This is like taking all of the good things that you've learned and putting them together into one tank. The worst part comes tomorrow. Rockscaping... I might, "phone a friend" for help. I can't wait to see what you come up with. I was kinda dreading scaping my 34 because the pieces were so beautiful w/ the growths on them. I'm excited for your tank. From Day 1 when I saw some of your vids on Betty, I was like... Boy what a prize she is. How long you been reefing? mantising? Quote Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted November 23, 2013 Author Share Posted November 23, 2013 I can't wait to see what you come up with. I was kinda dreading scaping my 34 because the pieces were so beautiful w/ the growths on them. I'm excited for your tank. From Day 1 when I saw some of your vids on Betty, I was like... Boy what a prize she is. How long you been reefing? mantising? She really is a prize. My first tank was a 2 gallon Fluval Spec that I started back in September of 2011. Here's my very first video of that tank: My first mantis came to me as I was setting up the Pest Tank for the 3 gallon and under pico contest (This is, by the way, that same tank from the above video). That was March of 2012. Funny story... I was transferring the chaeto from both the 10 gallon and the 20 gallon into the nuvo and I found a super tiny little baby pest crab in the chaeto of the 20 gallon tank's fuge. It went into the chaeto fuge of the Nuvo and I guess he'll be the sump monster! No idea what species. It was much too small to tell... smaller than a pencil eraser. Good luck little guy. Stay out of the main display! 1 Quote Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted November 23, 2013 Share Posted November 23, 2013 Yeah, I watched that before and remembered how the Xenia was just incredibly mesmerizing. Videos like that are inspiring. Quote Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted November 23, 2013 Author Share Posted November 23, 2013 Sneak peek of what I've been up to most of the day. The 10 gallon tank is empty save for the odd hermit crab that I keep finding and moving to the 25 gallon tank. I also moved the tuxedo urchin to that tank. Betty's tank is down to a couple bits of rubble and her tube. It's time to get the chemical filtration up and running on the new tank, then acclimate Betty to the new tank. Should be pretty easy since the salinity and temperature of the two tanks match exactly. 1 Quote Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted November 23, 2013 Author Share Posted November 23, 2013 Ok, here's the mechanical and chemical filtraton: Top level: Disposable filter pad, below that washable filter pad. Middle level: Chemipure elite. Bottom Level: Purigen and PolyBioMarine filter pad. Everything was thoroughly rinsed and is now in the tank. Quote Link to comment
Islandoftiki Posted November 23, 2013 Author Share Posted November 23, 2013 Here's a slightly better angle... 3 Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.