Mantis build

othercents

Tang
M.A.S.C Club Member
#23
I haven't moved the mantis yet to the 5 gallon tank, and for some reason my wife thinks we should only have to have one tank and that the one tank should be able to have the mantis, seahorses, angel fish, and anything else she wants. I purchased the acrylic to build an AIO, but need to find a way to cut it straight since I only have a circular saw and don't have a table saw. I also never saw an ammonia spike in the 5G, so I'm not comfortable moving the mantis yet.

Sump with mantis rock:


New tank with some rock filter, and MJ400:
 

othercents

Tang
M.A.S.C Club Member
#24
My mantis went for a joyride into the pump side of my sump. Luckily he didn't make it into the pump itself. I had to fish him out of that side of the pump to place him next to his rock, but I think he has given up his den in the rock he came in. This is probably because he is about to molt, or just gotten use to the arrangements and decided to move. Whatever the case, I might need to move him into the new tank sooner than later.
 

othercents

Tang
M.A.S.C Club Member
#26
Yes, I can, but I have a gnawing desire to check everything 50 times before making a move. Because of that I think I'm going to run carbon first, and I just purchased one of these to reduce the clutter in the tank.



I'm also going to customize the top to fill the holes, so that the cat can't get to the water. This top will allow me to add a gravity top off above the new filter and increase the amount of gas exchange by drilling holes and adding a fan.

My PH test says the tank is running at 7.0, so I need to do a water change to fix that before moving the rock.
 

othercents

Tang
M.A.S.C Club Member
#28
I added about 20 dwarf ceriths into the tank and the mantis was happily cracking open snails before bed time. I really want to put a yellow clown goby into the 5g for a little color, but I think he will just become dinner. I guess I will wait to see if the mantis becomes more active around the tank instead of staying buried.
 

othercents

Tang
M.A.S.C Club Member
#30
Sweet, I tested my PH the other day and it had gone from under 7.5 to over 9. I was dosing marine buffer at about half what they recommended, but still got a massive swing. I haven't seen the mantis, but I have heard it recently. Hopefully I can turn the rock around, so I can see him from the front of the aquarium to keep an eye on him.
 

othercents

Tang
M.A.S.C Club Member
#32
Maybe I tested to soon after I used Marine Buffer and got a bad reading. I will test it tonight before I do my topoff. I saw the Mantis playing with his burrow the other day and I heard him on Saturday, but I wasn't home yesterday to hear anything. Maybe tonight there will be noise, or he could be molting.
 

othercents

Tang
M.A.S.C Club Member
#34
Mantis make popping noises when they are cracking snails open. I haven't heard him eating but that doesn't mean that he hasn't been active when I have been gone at work. I did a PH test yesterday and it was 8.3, so I'm on target for that tank. The salinity was 1.23 which I think is fine for a mantis tank. I can bump it back to 1.26 fairly easily if needed.
 

othercents

Tang
M.A.S.C Club Member
#39
emilyolivia;79867 said:
wow that a mantis .is there a mantis crab.that is a mantis.
Some people say crab because the mantis shimp has a hard crustacean shell, but it is more proper to say shrimp.

I haven't heard anything from my mantis in about a week, so I'm still concerned that it didn't make it after the transfer to the new tank. If I don't hear anything next I might purchase another and put it into the same aquarium.
 
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