Video of my journey setting up a mantis shrimp tank!

[HingleMcCringleberry]

I had a lot of fun making this video. Let me know if you enjoy. The tank has been up and running for about 4 months now and I’m pretty proud of it. The video is mostly of the mantis shrimp and his funny antics. But it also shows the chronological evolution of the tank since the day I brought it home. Let me know what you think!

 

 

[seabass]

Goji is very cute... but vicious.

[sadie]

I had no idea they were so big!!  Cool video.

[HingleMcCringleberry]

4 hours ago, seabass said:

Goji is very cute... but vicious.

I was worried the tank would be too small but it hasn’t seemed to bother goji at all. He only cares about his burrow. There’s about 6 inches of substrate. And when I set up the tank I added the rocks first. Most of the rock is actually below the sand. I built the rock structure so that a thin flat rock covers the bottom of the tank. Then I built a large hollow section on top of it. I left one opening to the hollow area that was centered at the perfect viewing spot. Finally I filled the entire hollow section with smal rocks and sand. And then filled in the rest of the substrate around the rickwork as well.

 

when I added goji he quickly searched for a place to build a burrow and quickly found cave submerged in the sand. Then I watched him excavate it and decorate it as he pleased. I like to think he is more comfortable in his burrow since he thinks he made it all himself. 

 

Regardless he constantly decorates and readjust his home and shows no signs of restlessness or lethargy. Although the tank may be small I think I nailed it making a home the mantis doesn’t want to escape or abandon.

 

he also doesn’t break the glass when he strikes it. I’ve tested it lots for my peace of mind. 

[seabass]

58 minutes ago, HingleMcCringleberry said:

I was worried the tank would be too small

It's a pretty big bio-load for a small tank.  However, if you keep up on your water changes, it'll probably be alright.

 

1 hour ago, HingleMcCringleberry said:

There’s about 6 inches of substrate.

There's a potential for it to collect a lot of detritus over time.  Sand bed maintenance will become increasingly important.

[HingleMcCringleberry]

2 hours ago, seabass said:

It's a pretty big bio-load for a small tank.  However, if you keep up on your water changes, it'll probably be alright.

 

There's a potential for it to collect a lot of detritus over time.  Sand bed maintenance will become increasingly important.

Yeah I agree. I went for a gravel size somewhere between crushed coral and sand. And water changes of course.

 

I also bought the protein skimmer that matches the tank. It doesn’t work well. But with the amount of organically dissolved in the water it actually fills the cup with thick waste pretty regularly. 

 

My main strategy though is using algae instead of coral. I decided to decorate the tank with plants (literally most of it chaeto) to naturally remove the phosphates and nitrates. They’re thriving and looking pretty nice.

 

the nitrates in the tank remain higher than I would tolerate in a reef tank with coral. But they’re not high enough to be a concern to fish and inverts. No signs of stress so far so I hope my design continues to work well.