mantis freaks

[lionbacker54]

i just love this forum. my wife is always amazed at how much enthusiasm i have for my mantis shrimp, and my friends all think i'm crazy. even my local reefer friends, who like fish and corals, etc. so i sometimes think i am weird. then, i read this forum, and everyone else is as paranoid about their mantis shrimps, or obtaining their third or fourth mantis shrimp, or exhibiting some other stomatoholic behavior. and i feel like i'm not crazy. or at least, not alone in my craziness. :)

btw, the cyanobacter has been defeated! the secret? i followed the advice of you all and 1) fed my greedy clownfish less 2) decreased the light cycle. cleared up in two weeks.

[schudini]

You are not alone.

I have a dedicated 12g Nanocube in my office (2+ inch N. wennerae, male) and all my co-workers love to come in and watch (especially during feeding time, the old "it's horrible but I can't look away" response).

In my 20g reef at home, I added (yes, on purpose) a 3/4" unidentified smasher (female). I love watching her shenanigans and interaction with the other creatures.

[Thromgar]

Gotta love the little monsters.

[gozermantis]

this calls for a stomatoholic t shirt!

[CAMAKAZY]

Only have two dedicated mantis tanks. Guess you could say I am in denial, I think I'd like a spearer next.

[gozermantis]

been thinking about it too man. stomatopod.com has a lot of Pseudosquilla ciliata real sick looking.

[CAMAKAZY]

I looked up shipping from hong kong, if I did it right it was like 500-1000 u.s. depending on options.

[zmattie]

wow thats alot!

[lionbacker54]

will stomatopod.com even ship to HK? i thought i read that they won't ship international.

[gozermantis]

well he said from hong kong so maybe it cost to order from there not thru stomatopod.com

[CAMAKAZY]

No there is a member from hong kong who said he could get spearer mantis by the pound. So jokingly I said to get some but then saw the shipping. This was through UPS but there could be more viable options. I just looked it up on UPS to get an idea.

[micstarz]

I'm from Hong Kong!!!!

I wish I knew more reefers in Hong Kong...

[Koshmar]

Lionbacker, Your avatar is awesome! Much better pic of the Smithii, have you got a name yet?
Same to you gozer, when I have more time I'll try to get an avatar like you two.
Of course I consider myself a mantis freak. I mean I made up a song for my N. wennerae (little buddy Dallas), crazy.
(people start to back away slowly...)
Yeah, I give these guys way too much attention. I should be concentrating on school but you know how that goes. ;)
Three mantises are enough for me, and now that I've got this cuttle and its brothers and sisters on the way, I'm flat broke, I'll be begging people on the street for gas money before long.
If I could have done it all over again though, I would have bought Dallas and given him an entire 20 gallon long to himself and ended there. Don't get me wrong, I love my other two and wouldn't trade them for anything else, it's just that I've spent so much money that I could have used for oh I don't know, grad school...
Gozer, I would really just settle with what you have, believe me. I've found out that one mantis really is enough. Just wait until your mantises you have now pass on into the big fish bowl in the sky and then devote the new space to another species. Of course if you're rich and have a lot of space go for it, but for the average hobbiest I would say one mantis for one person. That's just my opinion though. I think I found the cure for stomatoholism, be thankful for what you have.... :rolleyes: Ya right buy more! :lol:

[lionbacker54]

koshmar, you are the ORIGINAL mantis freak and stomatoholic! i can't believe you made up a song about little buddy dallas. that is so awesome, and gives me automatic ammunition everytime someone says i'm crazy.

them: "you love mantis shrimps so much, i think you're crazy."
me: "oh yeah? well, at least i haven't made up a t-shirt yet (gozer) or made up a song about my mantis shrimp (koshmar)"
them: "yeah, i guess you're right"

:)

ps. did you say "cuttle"? as in cuttlefish?

[Koshmar]

Yes, cuttlefish, the cephalopod. I have a hatchling in my partitioned chiragra tank. Still alive thankfully and changing colors whenever I put my finger up to the glass. I'm constantly worrying about it though and the egg clutch. Tonight, as I was turning off Dallas' light, he gave me a meral spread! I think it was because I moved my hand up to the glass before he realized it was me. He did it really fast and once my face was near the tank he stopped, I just smiled and waved. :lol:
Yeah the song's really short, it's just a little tune that pops into my head when I think of Dallas:
Little Buddy Dallas, Little Buddy Dallas
Bestest Buddy in the world!
You'll never know how much I love you
Please don't take my finger away!
:D
Maybe I should make it longer one day, add some music in....

[lionbacker54]

did you get it as an egg? are you worried that the chiragra will kill it?

that song is too funny, btw. especially the last line about the finger...

[Koshmar]

Na, I doubt Chet is going to pull a Wolf and dive over the partition. I'm concerned because cuttles are supposively fragile and hard to keep. I just pulled a fireworm out of the same side which freaked me out a little bit. The newborn just hangs out at the bottom, I bought it when it was already hatched. The egg clutch I have hasn't had any hatch yet but they look really dark and I've heard from Animal Mother that they clear up a lot before they hatch. Crazy. I might have a mantis/cuttle tank soon if this one makes it.
The song was actually made up a long time ago about one of my coworkers except for the finger part and all. I just replaced some lines and the name to Dallas. :)