The Mantis Tank Thread

[travisurfer]

Alright, here we go. Seek cartoons for cool names. Less upkeep compared to my two clowns. Waterchanges once a week normally. To be honest I dont really test my water but whenever I check it with my crappy test strips everything is good except I may have low ph. Anyway, sandbed is clean except for my cyano which has come back so I will have to get a come water before I can use chemiclean again. I keep a constant supply of snails so everything generally stays clean. For a 5g with a small mantis, it shouldnt cost too much to replace snails. If a broke kid in highschool can afford it, so can you. Any other questions?

[Anachronos]

Just got back from vacation.

 

Thanks for the updates.

[travisurfer]

Thanks. Not too many updates. Cozmo is still recovering from his molt so I may not have any real updates for awhile.

[travisurfer]

Well, I saw Cozmo today for the first time since the molt. All I saw were his googley eyes sticking out from a recessed cave.

[travisurfer]

I saw the rest of him this morning and all looks good. I just have to do the chemiclean thing again to get rid of my cyano and then I will get some updates. The coralline is really coming along too.

[Argent]

woo woo!

[travisurfer]

lol, I have to go out and get some more water today too. Once it gets all cleaned up I will get some pics.

[travisurfer]

Heard a nice pop this morning so I think he is back in action. Right now I have at least 3 baby snails, a long stringy worm, and tons of large and small pods. The pods are everywhere!

[Argent]

we need pics!

[travisurfer]

Can you wait till late Monday early Tuesday? My tank looks like absolute crap right now since I am treating with chemiclean again and I ran out of filter floss. Cozmo is still looking good. He is already busy make his tunnels wider.

[Anachronos]

Glad to here he's back in action!

[travisurfer]

Thanks. He's hungry too.

[travisurfer]

Cozmo is uber active today. I will get some pics today, just gotta clean the glass with his favorite toy, the magfloat. duh, duh, duuuhn.

[Anachronos]

Ha, reminds me of a friend's yellow tang who would attack the magfloat.

[travisurfer]

Did you see the attack sequence?

[travisurfer]

Any ideas for putting a fish in this tank? Im not sure if I want one yet, but it has to be smallish and inexpensive. I was leaning towards some kind of damsel.

[travisurfer]

Cozmo is going after the largest margarita snail in the tank. Its been awhile but he keeps on hitting it. He may have bitten off more than he can chew. Its in a wierd spot of the tank but I will post a few pics in a sec.

[travisurfer]

Yay, finally some pics.

Here he is going after mister snail:

And then he first notices me after seeing a couple flashes:

Ahh. he's coming after me

Then he "retreats" only to hide in the cave to catch me off guard:

The last one is also the first good photo of my turbo snail. He cleans absolutely everything. Sand, rocks, and glass. The astrea in the sand there was a meal a couple days ago.

[schaadrak]

You should train him to be hand-fed.

Or you could just tell people he is and let them try.

[travisurfer]

Step right up, step right up. Heres your chance to hand feed a rare stomatopod. Discover the thrill of such an amazing creature. Then, whack! First customer gets off with a broken nail and a bloody finger.

[Argent]

I wouldn't want to hand feed that beastie with YOUR hand -- let alone mine. I'll go with the wooden skewers or straw method if I get one.

[travisurfer]

I cut the end of a straw off at an angle so there is a small point. Skewer the shrimp on there and watch him tear it right off.

[schaadrak]

you could feed him with this

and make him work for his food.

[Argent]

I love this part

 

0390B_SubmarineRegular price: $89.00Sale price: $8.95

[schaadrak]

I saw that too. I've seen these for $10 in the mall. Maybe there selling ten of them.