L. mac vs. sand shrimp (more carnage!)

[medellia]

here is my female L. maculata in her burrow--
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/568/149105burrow__Custom_.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/568/149105lurking__Custom_.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/568/149105strike__Small_.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/568/149105eating__Custom_.jpg

[Pea-brain]

neat. it took me a minute to realize how you had the tank set up. Forgive me if I'm wrong, but don't L. macs need burrows going straight up and down as long as they are in a simple "U" shape? Awesome either way though.

[medellia]

good question...you know, i am not sure if they need a vertical burrow vs. a diagonal burrow. maybe Dr. Roy has some more info on that? i would be very interested to find out.
when i first got them and set them up, i put the clear plastic tubing in there for burrows for them. it is hard to tell from the pics, but the sand layer is about 8" deep at the deepest point. so they do have the opportunity to burrow vertically if they need to. but when i introduced them to the tank, they went right into the plastic burrows and have not left. so either they don't mind the diagonal burrows, or are just too lazy to build another burrow..
i have had the pair a few months, and they have been doing great...eating and lurking and all that other cool mantis stuff. a few weeks ago, the female completed a perfect molt. the male is about 5", and the female is now 6". the tank i have them in is the 33 gal. Oceanic cube, which is over 20" tall. so i could provide a sand layer of over twice the length of the shrimp, if that would make them happier...however, i would like to continue to use the clear plastic tubing so i can watch them. i usually keep a sheet of black aquarium backing taped up over the female's burrow, so she has darkness most of the time. then, it is easy to remove the plastic if i want to check on her or take pics.
they are a definite male/female pair, but i have not seen much interaction between the two. when i introduced them, they looked at each other for a couple minutes, then went back into their burrows. i was kind of hoping that they would pair up, as it would be interesting to watch their behavior. i don't know why they have not paired up--maybe they are too young, or not compatible for some reason? i guess that would be another question for Dr. Roy...there is just not much info out on this species and not many people keep them, so i would appreciate any extra info or help :)

[justinl]

I would give them a deeper sand bed but still keep the clear plastic burrows... that was a cool idea. nice pics, sweet mantis!

[mattyice]

maybe they cant interact because the burrow is too small, i believe i remember Dr. Roy saying that the burrows he started to make for his L. Mac's have a bigger chamber with branches going up towards the top of the tank only a little bit, then he slowly adds more and more sand to the tank untill the burrow is the right height for the animals

[medellia]

thanks for the input, everyone--
sounds like a plan on the deeper sand bed, then. good point on the burrow possibly being too small--maybe some larger clear plastic tubing would work? i would definitely like to be able to watch them interact as a pair...

[mattyice]

the burrow should be at least enough space for the mantis to turn around in, it looks like that burrow is way too small and is barely big enough for the mantis to fit in, i would consider replacing it with a much larger diameter piece, i would take a 1 foot piece of 3" PVC glue on 3"-2" reducers on each side, the glue on 2" 90 degree elbows on each side at the angle you want the burrow at, if you want to view them i would take a saw and slice off part of the 3" chamber and cover the inside with sand (kept in place by either PVC glue or silicone thats cured) and then silicone it up to the glass and use the same technique with the black acrylic sheet taped to the glass, then keep the sand atthe level of where the 2" PVC elbows are and slowly add more sand as the male builds up the burrow, and i would actually switch to sand as i dont think that the mucus from the L. Maculata can get that larger stuff in your tank to stick together

[medellia]

that sounds like a good plan for the PVC tubing. i will start construction of their new burrow and deeper sand bed this weekend. the pics don't show it very well, but the tubing they have now is larger than it looks. over time, the crushed coral has worked its way down between the tubing and the side of the tank. so in the pics, you are only able to see the bottom half of the burrow. the tubing they have now is about 1.5", and they are able to turn around easily, but i still would like to give them a little more room. and i like the idea of cutting the side of the PVC pipe to give a viewing area--that would eliminate the problem of the sand falling down between the tubing and the glass.
by sand, do you mean like actual beach sand, or just very fine aragonite?
thanks for the advice :)

[mattyice]

fine aragonite is what i prefer to use for my peacock tank and it doesnt cloud up bad and my peacock can pick up nice amounts of it to move around so it does have some nice hold of its own

[Pea-brain]

I would give oolitic sugar grain aragonite for them. Then again, I want to put that in every tank I have. I love meh DSB! Okay, enough wierdness, but seriously, my P. ciliata has no prob snottin all over his sand and making a very smooth looking, very round looking hole leading under his rock. I see no reason to use anythings else.Even when I mess with my sand alot I don't kick up enough of a duststorm that I have trouble seeing. Excluding that time I was messing with my "modded" visijet skimmer, which had sand colapse into the output, cause a huge duststorm. Other than that...

[medellia]

sounds good...i will have to go pick up a bunch of fine aragonite then. this will be a fun project, and hopefully it will encourage the pair to burrow together...that would be neat :)

[justinl]

just make sure you rinse it very well. Otherwise you'll be dealing with dust clouds later.