My Lysiosquillina maculata.

[gozermantis]

He is 4.5 inches and is currently in a 30g with a 6.5 inch sandbed. It had about 2 inches of coral rubble on the bottom since i added the sand after and you can see he got to that as well... he is amazing owned 3 peppermint shrimp last night and today and now eying up a damsel that i threw in there. I added some more sand to his burrow are and he used it and now is 2 inches higher than it is in these shots. Here are the pics.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y27/da9_chinga/Maculata4.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y27/da9_chinga/Maculata3.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y27/da9_chinga/Maculata2.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y27/da9_chinga/Maculata1.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y27/da9_chinga/Maculata.jpg

Enjoy!
-Adam

[twiggyb]

Beautiful!

[gozermantis]

thanks man he is still awesome even tho he sits in his burrow all day still an amazing specimen.

[young doz]

full tank shot

[twiggyb]

what kind of sand is that with all that nice pink?

[gozermantis]

just some sand i picked up at a lfs from natural ocean company i believe said pink above upc on the bag i assume they have diff types.

[twiggyb]

It looks awesome, I haven't ever seen any sand around here like that. Puts a nice look to the tank, especially with that fine looking mantis it has burried in it.

[gozermantis]

thanks man i appreciate it.

[Thurge]

Such a cool animal. Love the set up, especially the pinks in the sand.

[chasekwe]

Natural Ocean Company = Nature's Ocean maybe? That's a substrate company that carries "Pink" sand. Called Samoa Pink Sand, looks a lot like yours.

[gozermantis]

Natural Ocean Company = Nature's Ocean maybe? That's a substrate company that carries "Pink" sand. Called Samoa Pink Sand, looks a lot like yours.

That's it I couldn't remember if it was natural or nature's ocean thanks man it is the Samoa pink sand.

[Koshmar]

Ohhh Dios mío! Beautiful! Would you mind posting your setup Gozer? One day I want to keep one of these guys but I'm a little puzzeled on the tank requirements and how they are implemented.

[gozermantis]

Well for now he is in a 30g with 6.5 inches of sand and 2 inches of coral rubble at the bottom didn't think he would go down that far but he did. So I will be redoing his tank after he molts cause he just went on a feeding frenzy and closed up today. I will be adding 3 more inches of sand to help him out a bit. Im running a 40g rated hob filter and a small 120gph powerhead and a 30g heater. Nothing crazy and he is doing great only plan on keeping him another couple inches or so..

[ocelli]

AWESOME man just awesome.

[Koshmar]

What about all the stuff about sand pressure on the tank. Is it just a standard 30 or reinforced? Also, do you have the tank divided or does the sand cover the whole tank? I dont know, the biggest problemas I have with keeping one are the amount of sand needed, the tank size for a fully grown one, and their incredibly long life span. Could you elaborate on these issues and how you handled them? Thank you Gozer!

[gozermantis]

yes when i get home tonight i will gladly write something up for you.

[Koshmar]

Oh thank you Gozer. You're the best. I know that some info is on Roy's list but its just not that detailed.

[gozermantis]

So far i have not noticed and issues with sand pressure. I have sand across the entire tank. As im sure you know they dont need a whole lot of room but reasons people use big tanks is for the thick glass and stronger seals to hold the pressure of the sand. I dont plan on putting more than 9 to 10 inches of sand in this 30g and when i get to around 8 i will divide it to use less sand cause it will start to worry me. It's a standard 30g. So when i the time comes i will put together a custom 40g or 50g tall tank with thicker acrylic and seal the crap out of it lol. I will most like likely use 1"-1.25" thick acrylic to build it.. When I do i'll do a write up on it with pictures.

[Koshmar]

Awesome. Thanks for the additional info. Yeah, the whole sand pressure thing worries me. I suppose when the time came I could order a custom tank like you said. I did that for my G. chiragra and the guy who ordered it for me said I couldnt break that thing with a hammer. Its kind of funny, even with a spearer you have to worry about the tank breaking. :)

[gozermantis]

i know lol... i don't know if i want to keep mine till it's full grown tho.. just going to see how things go as time progresses.

[MantisO_o]

Kudos his very nice :)