ninjafish Posted December 27, 2005 Author Share Posted December 27, 2005 Awsome Video!!!! Music is perfect! Thanks! I wasn't sure if the music was going to work or not but I kinda cut up the scenes a bit so it seemed faster paced. b'crusher, Haha sweet. I noticed that most mantis keepers swore by them and it is true, they make for a great pet! ram man, I really tried to get some footage of some snail attacks but Ike was just not cooperating whenever I had the camera out. For my next project I plan on getting footage of him and an emerald crab.... - Chad Link to comment
Fishfreak218 Posted December 27, 2005 Share Posted December 27, 2005 For my next project I plan on getting footage of him and an emerald crab....- Chad Cant wait to see that one! Fight, Fight, Fight, Fight, Fight ... Link to comment
ninjafish Posted December 28, 2005 Author Share Posted December 28, 2005 Thanks guys! Link to comment
ninjafish Posted January 7, 2006 Author Share Posted January 7, 2006 I shared this story on Reef Central and wanted to see what everyone here thought... Ike hadn't been fed for a few days and was getting hungry so yesterday I picked up 5 small hermit crabs and dropped them into the tank. Ike grabbed one right away and pulled it into his cave but after only a couple hits, he was already back out grabbing the next one. Before I knew it, all but one (one got away) were gone. I looked inside his cave and saw that all four hermit crabs were placed side by side upside down so that their openings were facing up instead of down. Ike was hanging motionless from the ceiling and staring right inside the shell openings. It looked like he was just waiting for one of the hermit crabs to come out and try and right itself. I watched this for about a minute and Ike was perfectly still the whole time. I couldn't stick around because I had to get home but I am looking forward to what I find when I get back on Monday. At first I thought that Ike was too lazy to do any smashing and was just going to wait them out. After I posted in the mantis forum on Reef Central, another g. smithii keeper told me that he just observed the same thing when he put 10 blue legs in his tank. That got me thinking about a possible explaination for this behavior. 10 blue legs is a lot to feed, and 5 is the most that I have ever put in the tank at one time... Perhaps this is a "food storage" mechanism that the mantis has developed. When I feed him a couple crabs, he busts them open and eats them. Maybe when you feed them more crabs than they can eat at once, they imobilize them on their backs to keep them until it is time to eat again. Maybe in the ocean, if they let a meal get away just because they weren't hungry at the time, they wouldn't be able to guarantee when the next meal would come along... What do you think? Does that sound possible? - Chad Link to comment
Sebea Posted January 7, 2006 Share Posted January 7, 2006 I'm no mantis expert, but I wouldn't doubt that Ike was 'storing' his food. It's pretty cool, I think these animals are smarter than most people think. I'm anxious to hear what you find on Monday. Link to comment
ninjafish Posted January 8, 2006 Author Share Posted January 8, 2006 Aaron, You bet bud. I'll let you know what I find. - Chad Link to comment
ninjafish Posted January 12, 2006 Author Share Posted January 12, 2006 hey fish - just had a couple of quick questions for you... -what "exactly" do you use to clean your starphire glass? -and i checked out an old thread of yours, your 20 gallon starphire to be exact. was that tank built by inter-american as well? if so, do you remember what the cost was? and was it polished and ground or neither? would you happen to have an old picture of the tank? (as you can probably tell, i've always admired your tanks) thanks in advance for the replies Jon, I use an algae magnet to clean the glass. Not a mag float (don't like 'em) but I will get you the exact model tomorrow when I get back to work. I just use paper towel and ro/di water to clean the outside. As for my old 20gal (miss that tank), it was also built by inter-american at a cost of $200 if I remember correctly. It was neither ground nor polished and still looked great. If I was to do it over, I might pay for polishing on the top edge but it isn't worth it to polish the edges that are siliconed IMO. I managed to find a couple old photos on another website: http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/46130main1.jpg http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/46130main2.jpg I hope this answers you questions. It was good to hear from you. - Chad Link to comment
FLIPbmw Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 I have a question. Do you develop an oily surface? Since nothing is agetating the surface very much, im just wondering. If you do, do you skim it soem how? Link to comment
ninjafish Posted January 12, 2006 Author Share Posted January 12, 2006 he has plenty of agitation...about 40x turnover with his eheim if i'm not mistaken. FLIP, Jon's right! If you want to see surface agitation, click on the video links Jon my glass on the 20gal was 1/2". A little thicker than I need but I have kids and wanted to be sure that hey couldn't break it - Chad Link to comment
ninjafish Posted January 13, 2006 Author Share Posted January 13, 2006 Jon, I initially modified a 20h by removing the top trim, cutting an overflow slot along the back, and building an external overflow box. Without the trim the glass bowed out a bit and I was so worried about it cracking that I couldn't sleep at night so I had my next one built properly. I don't think you will ever regret getting thicker glass but as long as you have trim on the top it shouldn't be as much of a concern. Also, I have gone over some old info that I had and realized that my glass was infact 3/8" and not 1/2" thick. 3/8" is all the strength you will need - and it will end up being one of the heaviest 20gals you've ever seen . Here is a link to the exact algae magnet that I use: http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=AS4415 I love it because it is very strong but the interior half of the magnet is only 3/8" thick so you can still slide it past rockwork that is very close to your glass. Cheers, - Chad Link to comment
ninjafish Posted January 14, 2006 Author Share Posted January 14, 2006 Glad I could help. Let me know how it goes bro Link to comment
ninjafish Posted January 15, 2006 Author Share Posted January 15, 2006 I ended up putting down a thin layer of aragonite. Last night I added a couple pieces of acro, a gorgonian, and some blastos. Now my livestock list is: mantis shrimp zoanthids (six of my best colors) button polyp colt pulsing xenia toadstool candycane frogspawn green monti digitata purple monti digitata orange monti caps pink bird's nest riccordia (green and orange) mushrooms (1 green, 1 blue, 1 red and 1 fuzzy) green star polyp purple acropora green acropora purple gorgonian green blastos small snail (as of last night.... might not be there anymore...) - Chad Link to comment
EnFuego Posted January 16, 2006 Share Posted January 16, 2006 you may have said this already, but how thick is the 12" cube? thanks. Link to comment
ninjafish Posted January 17, 2006 Author Share Posted January 17, 2006 you may have said this already, but how thick is the 12" cube? thanks. The sides are 5/16" and the bottom is 1/2" because of the bulkheads drilled so close together... - Chad Link to comment
ninjafish Posted January 20, 2006 Author Share Posted January 20, 2006 Oh ... Full Tank Shot! Hahaaha when Casabubu first posted I didn't realize what an FTS was I'm not too quick sometimes. Give me a day to snap another picture... FTS coming at ya. - Chad Link to comment
Sebea Posted January 20, 2006 Share Posted January 20, 2006 Chad, FTS!!! lol BTW, I'm setting up a cube like yours, just a tiny bit smaller. Link to comment
ninjafish Posted January 20, 2006 Author Share Posted January 20, 2006 Aaron, I just checked it out. Looks awesome! - Chad Link to comment
Sebea Posted January 20, 2006 Share Posted January 20, 2006 Thanks Chad! btw, what happened with Ike? Were the hermits all eaten when you returned? Link to comment
ninjafish Posted January 20, 2006 Author Share Posted January 20, 2006 Yup all four were eaten and it looked like they all had damage to their shells. The fifth one, that got away, was still hiding up on top of the birdsnest coral so I dropped it back down to the sand and Ike grabbed it. He broke a hole in the top of the shell (instead of the bottom like normal) and pulled the hermit crab out backwards... musta still been hungry... - Chad Link to comment
Sebea Posted January 20, 2006 Share Posted January 20, 2006 That's awesome! That was a pretty smart crab though, to get away from Ike. Link to comment
mickey85 Posted January 20, 2006 Share Posted January 20, 2006 Fish, what is the species of mushroom you have in that tank that's green with frills around the edges? I have those, and if I try to spot feed them, they close up like a ball...it's very strange. Link to comment
ninjafish Posted January 22, 2006 Author Share Posted January 22, 2006 mickey, To tell you the truth I have no idea what species it is. I have seen in closed up in a ball before too. I've never tried to spot feed it though... - Chad Link to comment
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