Pablo - The Purple Spot Mantis

[Dixon25]

After nuking my Nuvo 10 a few months ago, I wanted to do something different.

 

Having kept a peacock some years ago, I knew I wanted another mantis.

 

After consulting Roy's List, I chose a Gonodactylus smithii, or Purple Spot Mantis.

 

I sat on the waiting list for two months at Blue Zoo Aquatics, finally receiving June 9th.

 

To prepare his lair, I took various different sizes of rubble rock and pieced them together around a PVC frame. 

 

I left the mushrooms and zoanthids from the previous incarnation of the tank for aesthetics.

 

He's 3.5 inches in length and about the size of a finger.  Smaller than I imagined but perfect for this tank.  Dark green, with red markings.

 

He's been extremely active and seems very comfortable.  He rearranges his lair on a daily basis.

 

His diet has consisted of only hermits until this point but I'm going to start on shrimp pellets after this last batch disappears.

 

The last picture was one of the few times I caught him perched at the top.  He's pretty awesome.

 

   

 

Current tank specifics:

Nuvo 10 

HD Prime

Sicce 0.5

Custom Caddy (Floss/Chemipure)

Pablo - Purple Spot Mantis 

Turbo Snail (too big to fight, for now)

Nassarius Snail (too hard to catch, for now)

a few hermits

 

 

 

 

[Dixon25]

Pablo has made himself at home amongst the mushroom and zoanthids of the tank.

 

Most of the rubble rock has been drug into his home under the PVC pipes.  He uses it to board up the doors when he turns in for the night.  Fascinating to watch the daily routine.  The door is never built the same way twice.

 

He swims in and out of his home, the PVC pipe and rubble rock most of the day.  Up around 7:00 am, asleep by 8:00 pm for the most part.

 

I've tried to give him a few shrimp pellets but he wouldn't touch them.

 

He loves ricordias.  He's taken two into his den to keep for himself.

 

The Turbo is still untouched.  He's the King.  But Pablo caught the Nassarius slippin.  Knocked off half his tail in two smacks.  The Nassarius quickly disappeared below the sand when Pablo was dragging his breakfast back to the den.  I'm curious to see how long before the Nassarius reappears.

 

Two observations.  Hermits play dead during the day and move at night.  And, without any fish in a tank, the pod population is unbelievable.

 

[specore]

Nice specimen.  Really surprised the turbo didn't get it immediately though. 

[MrSquiggle]

On 6/27/2018 at 1:52 AM, Dixon25 said:

After nuking my Nuvo 10 a few months ago, I wanted to do something different.

 

Having kept a peacock some years ago, I knew I wanted another mantis.

 

After consulting Roy's List, I chose a Gonodactylus smithii, or Purple Spot Mantis.

 

I sat on the waiting list for two months at Blue Zoo Aquatics, finally receiving June 9th.

 

To prepare his lair, I took various different sizes of rubble rock and pieced them together around a PVC frame. 

 

I left the mushrooms and zoanthids from the previous incarnation of the tank for aesthetics.

 

He's 3.5 inches in length and about the size of a finger.  Smaller than I imagined but perfect for this tank.  Dark green, with red markings.

 

He's been extremely active and seems very comfortable.  He rearranges his lair on a daily basis.

 

His diet has consisted of only hermits until this point but I'm going to start on shrimp pellets after this last batch disappears.

 

The last picture was one of the few times I caught him perched at the top.  He's pretty awesome.

 

   

 

Current tank specifics:

Nuvo 10 

HD Prime

Sicce 0.5

Custom Caddy (Floss/Chemipure)

Pablo - Purple Spot Mantis 

Turbo Snail (too big to fight, for now)

Nassarius Snail (too hard to catch, for now)

a few hermits

 

 

 

 

Pretty awesome indeed.  How did his moults go?  We have a smithii that has blocked the entrance to his lair.  A large fist sized rock.  We hope he or she has enough room in the rock to moult.  Can you share your experiences regarding moulting?