4.5 Gallon Pico Reef

[SkiFletch]

Hah, wen't on a bit of a re-decorating spree did he?

 

[chrissaysyes]

WOW...you should see it this morning...he busted all the airstones off the back and used the pieces to plug holes in his caves....his cave looks like a giant hollow decorator crab.

 

[SkiFletch]

hahaha, yeah they tend to do that

 

[chrissaysyes]

He busted my sun coral up into several pieces to use as filler as well...dont think I'll be feeding it anymore...would be kind of neat if it survived as several little heads. He also buried my frogspawn, a chunk of star polyps, an aiptasia nem, and ate the last astrea snail that was in that tank...what a jerk I love him! hah...probably going to drop him one more astrea tonight then no more snails until February.

 

[nanocubeking]

Little monster! Sounds like your gonna have some fun with this one.

 

[Lynden]

If Canada sucks, it's because stomatopods.com won't ship there.

 

[chrissaysyes]

ouch. I need to have a maintenance day on his tank real soon. Little plastic bits all over the substrate from him busting up air stones. Netted most of them but geez. I also got some great pics of him today, I'l get them up asap.

 

[mvough]

First time I got to go in this forum again since holidays and this was the first thing I wanted to see. I have to say that this is getting to be one awesome looking pico. I know 'tis late but sorry for the loss of that mantis...and the sun coral...and most importantly the air-stones...sneeky little guy . I hope you do get to upload the pics you took recently as I'm again looking forward to seeing the awesome progress.

 

[chrissaysyes]

Actually the sun coral is doing pretty well!

 

[craigybaby37]

This thread is soooo damn good an makes me wanna set up a mantis nano myself.

At my LFS there is a small acrylic tank they sell thats about 6 gallons......it has a fitted lift up lid lid with all the filtration in the back of the tank u know the type i meen?? The tank has 24watt T5 lighting will that be enough for keeping a peacock mantis or something similar??

Does anyone know of anywhere in the uk i can get a mantis from??? ill defo ask my LFS if they can get me one.

And am i right in hearing that feeding is 1 time a week with de-frosted silver side and once a week with live food like a snail or crab if u can do it???

And are they very noisy as the tank will be set up in my room???

 

[chrissaysyes]

6g is enough for a small one likee mine, Im wishing I had started with a 12g cube. Also, full grown peacocks require around 30g or so. Check out my peacock profile in the TFF species index. Silversides turned out to be a no-no. I feed this one a snail a week, and a pellet a day.

 

[craigybaby37]

How big are they likely to get in captivity and how long would it take to get to full size???

Thanks for letting me know about the silver side ill make sure thats not fed if i do get a mantis.

As for the snails what type is it you feed it?? and do you get a load and keep them in your normall marine tank and pick 1 out when its feeding time???

 

[connorsbala]

How big are they likely to get in captivity and how long would it take to get to full size???

Thanks for letting me know about the silver side ill make sure thats not fed if i do get a mantis.

As for the snails what type is it you feed it?? and do you get a load and keep them in your normall marine tank and pick 1 out when its feeding time???

As chris said, he's written plenty of info in the saltwater inver profile section

 

[chrissaysyes]

Im not really sure just how quickly they grow in captivity. It is however possible for them to reach around 7 inches. Ive kept lobsters and cray fish before and if they grow at the same speed as them...probably 1.5" a year? It also depends on how often and how much you feed them. Overfeeding can lead to overgrowth and a shorter life span. As for the snails, I've fed him both nassarius and astrea. Im sure there is a cheaper alternative but these are all I have on hand. Yes, I take them out of the largest marine tank. I usually order them in intervals of 25 because I like to keep my Chocolate Chip Star tank stocked with a nice amount of small nassarius snails for Chippy to snack on I get those of off ebay, but then Im in the US so Im not sure if the UK ebay will have as many sellers offering marine snails in bulk for cheap? Possibly more than here. If you want to keep a mantis in a tank that small then I would highly recommend finding yourself N. Wennerae. Only thing is theyre native to my neck of the woods so Im not sure how easy it would be to find one. Maybe try emailing the guys at tampabaysaltwater.com and see if they have any advice on finding a seller in your area. Wouldnt be suprised if they did.

 

[chrissaysyes]

Oh and as a quick update...I really need to get some pics tonight...you guys have to see what he's done with the rocks in the tank. Noone at my house believes that I didnt help him. He seems to have his engineering down so solid that he actually digs out underneath rocks so that the rocks will topple in whichever direction he likes. He has toppled the front of the cave and made a rock move over so that his cave no longer opens facing the room, it now opens facing the dark side of the room. He's brilliant. Also, he tidied up a lot and buried a lot of the debris and rubble he's created, and he seems to be more at home and stay in his cave more as the corals are all much more inflated and healthy looking...except for the ricordea he has smooshed...hoping it will try and move itself. The sun coral he smashed looks fine, probably going to do a big feeding tomorrow for the corals, hoping he wont interfere too much.