5 Gallon Mantis Tank

[craigybaby37]

So took a trip to my LFS today and spoke to them about getting a mantis shrimp for me and they said they should be able to get me one if i give them a ring tomorow and give them the specific name of what i am after. They will then ring there contact in indonesia and ask them to send 1 down for me

So with that good news i brought all the stuff needed to set up the tank. Brought a 24 litre or 5 gallon tank, 50 watt heater, 4kg or sand for the base and 3.5 kilos of liverock and also blagged a load of rubble for free to fill the first filter chamber.

Ive filled the first chamber with liverock which did have a huge black sponge that filled the whole chamber and the 2nd i have removed the bio balls but left in the caramic and carbon media and the 3rd chamber simply has the pump and heater in it.

Anyways heres a few pics of things now there set up. And i added a piece of liverock from my other tank to give this new 1 a little boost but ill remove it once its cycled.


[URL="http/img.photobucket.com/albums/v337/cra...13012008747.jpg"]http/img.photobucket.com/albums/v337/cra...13012008747.jpg[/URL]

[URL="http/img.photobucket.com/albums/v337/cra...13012008750.jpg"]http/img.photobucket.com/albums/v337/cra...13012008750.jpg[/URL]

 

[SkiFletch]

Well, the smaller varieties that won't need an upgrade in a tank that big are Neogonadactylus wennerae (carribean/florida) or Gonadactylus smithii (indo-pacific). Other Gonadactylus species are good but may eventually outgrow a 5g. Stay away from Odontactylus scyllarus (aka peacock mantis) unless you plan on upgrading the tank. Full grown O scyllarus can get to 6+" long and require a 30g tank

 

[craigybaby37]

thanks for the advice ski.......i am planning on gettin a Neogonadactylus wennerae with a bit of luck but as u said they are from carribean/florida and not indonesia where my LFS get there live rock from. wil have a look at the Gonadactylus smithii and see if i like them as ime guessing it will be a little easier to get one of them from the live rock supplier.

Dont know if you have read the other post of mine but ive got so carried away i totaly forgot about the false acrylic bottom to the tank doh......guess eveyrthing has to come out which i aint lookin forward 2.

 

[SkiFletch]

Hehe, yeah I saw that. From what I've read on these forums, G. smithii are much easier to procure than N. wennerae in the UK. The opposite is true for the US. Both are very similar in size, behavior, and habitat. Both are intelligent and generally interactive. Really the only thing that changes is color.

 

[craigybaby37]

I have read up about the 2 of them aswell and when i compared them both it was like you said in that they both behave the same etc and that the only thing thats different is the colour so ime gunna go for a G.smithii as i personally think they are just as nice.

Have made a template of the tank shape ready for the acrylic bottom.......ive been thinkin about when it comes to fitting it it wont be overly bad to do as its not like i have 20 gallons of water to get out as its only a 5 gallon tank. So 2 buckets for the water and rock and then a container to put the sand into and thats it.

When i fit the false bottom to the tank shall i put some spacers in made from the same acrylic so its not sitting directly on the glass and if the mantis should try its luck at digging through the bottom it will just crack thew acrylic and the void space below it will fill with water???

 

[craigybaby37]

Well i fitted the acrylic into the bottom of the tank tonight an i must say it was a lot easier getting everything out the tanks than i first imagined it would be.

Stopped of at a glass and plastic shop on the way home from work and got a 12" square peice of 5mm for a bargain price of £1 as it come from there scrap bin but was in perfect condition.

Ive fixed it in by putting clear silicone on the bottom of the tank then pressing it down onto it and this has left me a 2mm ish gap between the glass bottom and acrylic. Just gotta wait for the silicone to set and put everything back in the tank.

[URL="http/img.photobucket.com/albums/v337/cra...14012008751.jpg"]http/img.photobucket.com/albums/v337/cra...14012008751.jpg[/URL]

Heres a quick picture of the acrylic in the bottom of the tank.

Rang my LFS and gave them the scientific names of the mantis i am after and he is making some calls to there indoesia and miani suppliers to see what they can offer. He said it may be upto 2 weeks before he puts in another order but thats no probs and i can let the tank cycle nicely until i get the mantis.....i may even move 1 of my fish from my other tank in it to build up the bacteria a bit more.

 

[craigybaby37]

just a small update for you. things are all going to plan.

Temperature 80F
salinity 1.023
nitrite 0ppm
ammonia 0ppm
nitrate 10ppm
calcium 420ppm

Got a nice little outbreak of diatoms going on aswell heres a couple of pics.

http/img.photobucket.com/albums/v337/cra...18012008752.jpg

http/img.photobucket.com/albums/v337/cra...18012008753.jpg

Knowtised there is 3 small clear white sacks of stuff sitting on the sand bed an just wanna know if anywone can ID them for me??

http/img.photobucket.com/albums/v337/cra...18012008754.jpg

 

[craigybaby37]

Finally i have an update for you all.

Went to my LFS to get some liverock for my new main tank and to my supprise my mantis shrimp was in there for a few weeks. They had been so busy and forgotten to ring me and let me know it was in.

It cost me £17.95 and ime pretty sure its a gonodactylus smithii as it come from the indonisian ocean but its not fully coloured up yet but from pictures on the internet its about • similar.

Ill get some pictures tonight if i can but i managed to get a video of it about half hour of it being added to the tank of it catching its first meal

It realy is so funny to watch as i didnt realise they have such a personality, its already made its hom right in the middle of the rock work with burrows all over the show.

<a href="http/smg.photobucket.com/albums/v337/cra...antisshrimp.flv" target="_blank">http/smg.photobucket.com/albums/v337/cra...antisshrimp.flv</a>

 

[SkiFletch]

Awesome Mantis! You should totally post that link in the videos pin

As for an ID, what color is the meral spot? Yours could be a young Smithii, although I might also lean towards Gonadactylaceus falcatus too. Either way, nice shrimp

 

[craigybaby37]

cant say i know what colour they are as ive not looked out for them and i just had to look up on the internet what them parts actually are and if ime right they are the spots on top of the hammers it uses to kill its prey???

Now going to post a link in the video section.

Ime realy happy with the shrimp for sure now that i finally have it........one of the young lads in the LFS learned the hard way why they are called thumb splitters as when it came in with a delivery he fort he would just pick it up and put it in the holding net until i pickled it up. Bad move as he then discovered it split his thumb open.

will try and get some decent pictures tonight so i can try ID it a little better and is there any way of sexing them??

What other stuff can i fit the mantis then as so far ive found it likes crabs and there a 4 nassarius snails in the tank aswell will it eat them?? and will it eat brime shrimp and krill an things like that???

 

[SkiFletch]

It will eat frozen likely. Just be careful not to feed it too much as they can often bury food in the sandbed for storage, forget about it, and let it rot, leading to nice algae problems for you . Pieces of whole krill are a good idea, also clams/mussles even from the grocery store could work. Other live foods would consider cerith snails and small hermit crabs. That species is pretty small so probably wouldnt bother larger snails like turbos unless it got REALLY hungry.

Yes, the meral spots are the spots on their "elbows" for lack of a better term. The color there is the key to IDing them down to the species level. As for sexing them, there are apparently methods of doing this, but I don't know them.

 

[craigybaby37]

How often would u reccomend feeding does 3 times a week sound ok?? or shall i leave it for a few weeks and then start feeding 3 times a week as there is still 4 nassarius snails in the tank along with whatever it has left from the crab??

got some alright pictures a little while ago they aint the clearest in the world but give a good shot of the front of the mantis.

http/img.photobucket.com/albums/v337/cra...mp100308003.jpg

http/img.photobucket.com/albums/v337/cra...mp100308004.jpg

Finding the sex isnt important i was just qurious as to what it was.

Do you have any ideas of what else i could do or put in the tank to liven it up a little ??

 

[SkiFletch]

Leave it be to be honest. Eventually it will get used to you and realize that you mean food, then it'll come out more. They can be shy at small (especially the smaller type) but will become quite inquisitive over time. They are exceptionally intelligent though.

 

[craigybaby37]

yea it seems a little shy at the moment but is slowely getting used to me.......and they are definatly intelegent thats for sure last night i saw it dragging something out of one of the rocks and it was a small muscle shell which it has now used as a door to its burrow.

What do you think about the feeding 3 times a week??

 

[SkiFletch]

I think that's just what I would reccomend