Mantis Murder Manor

[Ratvan]

TDS is 50 going in and 4 coming out the RODI unit, will replace the resin and flush the system when it arrives later this week. Also need to find where my test kits are they should have been here by now

[Ratvan]

Well conch lasted a while....

[Ratvan]

Ordered more mantis snacks...  clean up crew today, did a water change and cleaned the algae scrubber

 

Yeah the algae didn't form very good strands, might need to rough up that mesh. But the overall improvement in the display is great to see

 

 

[Ratvan]

The addition of the algae scrubber has definitely helped the tank, the BTAs are once again full and inflated. The Mini Maxi is slowly regaining its colours too. I just hope they settle somewhere

[Ratvan]

So this is the reason that I cannot keep a Clean up Crew intact, thinking about it however this must be the one original remaining Hermit Crab that i added as the first attempt of a CuC, photos taken during feeding time so the water is a little dirty.

 

The Clean up Crew goes for a walk, a little too near the Mantis Lair

 

Somehow she notices movement and pops out to investigate

 

She decides that the hermit is too close to the burrow, so moves out for a little run up

 

She Smacks, although in this case not very hard, just a little love tap and runs back to the burrow while the hermit legs it!

 

Also discovered today that spot treating Aiptasia is a nightmare when it comes to a Mantis tank, she kept punching the damn needle, but the work is complete and i have all finger intact 

 

 

As usual I will leave this an hour before siphoning out the remnants of the Aiptasia X and will also get the small amount of algae on the sand as the scrubber is still working incredibly well 

 

[Ratvan]

Decided that I would transfer the single surviving molly from the work tank to my home tank tonight. First attempt at trying to control the GHA that seems to be growing at a rapid rate at the moment. 

 

I also took the BTA's to my LFS today for £50 store credit. I was getting tired of fishing them out of the AIO section of the tank and couldn't sell them on the local forums due to lack of interest. 

 

I still want the MAxi Mini which is again looking good but thinking that perhaps a small Nem only Pico would be best for this specimen and keep this tank purely softies, macros and mantis (plus occasional snack) 

[Ratvan]

Firstly the award for longest living fish in the Mantis Murder Manor award is, the Molly.

 

Has done a decent job on the hair algae too, plus as you may have noticed I have finally admitted defeat and want to upgrade the stock pump, its been set up a year and with that tiny extra amount of flow and the Molly most of the algae has gone in 2 days. Have also decided that I would remove the algae scrubber now and see how much re appears with the fish and eventually a better looking cleaner display with an upgraded pump (Syncra Silent 0.5) 

 

I found another 2 BTA clones in teh AIO as well today, you may notice them, one on the rock on the photo above and one amongst the Xenia and Aiptasia, yeah thanks for that Nem

Once the heating issue in the little 2.5G Pico is resolved I will transfers these to that tank and see what i can do for them

 

Also found a Kenya Tree branch in the AIO too so I threw that back in

 

[Ratvan]

So Amazon have confirmed that the Syncra Silent 0.5 pump will arrive tomorrow, I decided on this pump over the 1.0 as many people using the higher GPH pump have said that they have too much flow and have to dial it back on the Fluval unless they have an Acro garden, which is not part of my plans. 

[Ratvan]

Fitted the pump and loving the additional flow that it provides and also is really quiet 👍

[Ratvan]

So its been a few days since i introduced the Molly to the tank, starting to think now that it might deserve a name...

Has done a sterling job on the algae so far and managed to avoid the Mantis Shrimp on a number of occasions

 

Hardly ever stops swimming

 

Or eating

 

Or just generally looking pretty

[Squid_reef]

Sounds like it does deserve one! So what's its name 😏 

[Snow_Phoenix]

14 hours ago, Ratvan said:

So its been a few days since i introduced the Molly to the tank, starting to think now that it might deserve a name...

Has done a sterling job on the algae so far and managed to avoid the Mantis Shrimp on a number of occasions

 

Hardly ever stops swimming

 

Or eating

 

Or just generally looking pretty

That's actually a gorgeous molly! I've been looking for a silvery one like yours for some time, but no luck so far. Most of the feeder mollies at my store are dalmations or a mix of random colors, and you can't pick feeders - they come as a scoop in a bag. 

[Ratvan]

15 hours ago, Squid_reef said:

Sounds like it does deserve one! So what's its name 😏 

It definitely needs to be a pun name,

 

 

Ebenezer Good? 

[Ratvan]

I can physically see her sizing up Ebenezer 🤣

[Ratvan]

I finally got the rock today, the reefer I got it from kept the smaller pieces in a heated and circulated bucket for me since his teardown and the larger pieces dry as I would have to transfer these to the Lionfish Lair in the office next week, already I am having to think how best to do this

 

 

Since i am not the main aquascpae builder I just plonked about three additional fist size pieces into the tank giving plenty of above cover for the substrate 

 

Also posting out mushroom corals today

[Ratvan]

Two cerith are for the Pico

 

[Kindanewtothis]

2 hours ago, Ratvan said:

I finally got the rock today, the reefer I got it from kept the smaller pieces in a heated and circulated bucket for me since his teardown and the larger pieces dry as I would have to transfer these to the Lionfish Lair in the office next week, already I am having to 

 

Also posting out mushroom corals today

Sorry to ask but what are those 3 bags?

[Ratvan]

Just now, Kindanewtothis said:

Sorry to ask but what are those 3 bags?

Top image was 2x Ceriths and 2x Nassarius 

2nd Image 4x Astrea Snails (guess they were out of Turbos)

3rd Image 2x Algae Hermits

[Kindanewtothis]

1 hour ago, Ratvan said:

Top image was 2x Ceriths and 2x Nassarius 

2nd Image 4x Astrea Snails (guess they were out of Turbos)

3rd Image 2x Algae Hermits

The 3 small bags looked like reefsafe cocaine!

[Ratvan]

1 minute ago, Kindanewtothis said:

The 3 small bags looked like reefsafe cocaine!

Oooooooh, those were mushroom corals that had come loose, so i wrapped up in wet kitchen roll in small baggies that i had around and popped them in a padded envelope and sent next day delivery 

[Ratvan]

@Kindanewtothiswhat happens with my mushrooms is this, they move around the rock leaving small parts of their foot about thr place spawning baby mushrooms.

 

Eventually they get crowded out so let go and free roam around until they gain a new purchase point on the rock

 

Or until someone in the UK wants a few 

[Murphs_Reef]

15 hours ago, Ratvan said:

@Kindanewtothiswhat happens with my mushrooms is this, they move around the rock leaving small parts of their foot about thr place spawning baby mushrooms.

 

Eventually they get crowded out so let go and free roam around until they gain a new purchase point on the rock

 

Or until someone in the UK wants a few 

Don't talk to me about these guys! They pop up everywhere man.. to the point I see them and instantly think.... Aips!! Get that fu..cker out..  

 

[Ratvan]

Today marks exactly a year since the tank got wet. I have had a few ups and downs with the tank as initially the plan was to keep it as stock as possible, which I have done with the lighting but with a limited Clean Up Crew and deadspots in the tank i needed to upgrade the return pump. So i went with the Syncra Silent 0.5 from Sicce, love this pump it is so quiet. 

 

Having done that and adding a Molly I noticed that the Green Hair Algae and Cyano on the sandbed have both reduced to almost non existent levels. Additionally adding the extra rock from an established system has not only given my water a much more clear quality but the Mantis is often out and about in the new liverock exploring, digging and stalking prey. I do feel bad that it took nearly 9 months for me to find some rock suitable for this tank but I am finally happy with the scape and looking forwards now to adding soft corals for some colour and movement in the tank. 

 

Couple of shots below showing Mantis Shrimp out and about 

 

[Ratvan]

She watches always.

 

[M. Tournesol]

Did it reach its full size?