My mantis tank.

[Kharn]

The fish store where I got my tanks made had a "crab" in a quarantine tank and it had a "4 sale" on it but no price, it LOOKED like a decorator crab and I thought it might be a bit of fun for Maximus but I never bought it. lol

[Dana42078]

Lol really? He left the sexy shrimp alone that long? I remember when I had to banish my cleaner shrimp out my reef tank they didn't move from the upper corner of the tank until they got ate lol. My GT hates any inverts equally lol. I'm waiting for him to get tired of the fish in there and spear them ha!

[Kharn]

Originally Posted by Dana42078

I'm waiting for him to get tired of the fish in there and spear them ha!

THAT would be an exceptionally rare sight for a smasher something that could be worth GOLD on camera!

[mndfreeze]

Yeah, like I said Googly is really picky it seems. He used to be a lot more agressive when I first got him to everything. I used to have to replace snails non-stop along with hermits and anything else.

Currently his tank mates are

Rescue yellow tang
Blue devil Damsel
Blue spotted watchman goby + tiger pistol
Candy cane pistol
Turbo, trochus, astrea, nassarius snails
Various hermits. Blue legged, common red reef, scarlets, left handed hermits.
Elephant snails (Scutus limpets)
Giant black brittle star
Tiger Tail cucumber

There was sexy shrimp, but he got one and the other jumped.

I really want to get a conch to help with the sand bed, hoping if I get a big enough one he will leave it be, but I'm not sure. I can't find anyone with experience on this one.

[Kharn]

Originally Posted by mndfreeze

Yeah, like I said Googly is really picky it seems. He used to be a lot more agressive when I first got him to everything. I used to have to replace snails non-stop along with hermits and anything else.

Currently his tank mates are

Rescue yellow tang
Blue devil Damsel
Blue spotted watchman goby + tiger pistol
Candy cane pistol
Turbo, trochus, astrea, nassarius snails
Various hermits. Blue legged, common red reef, scarlets, left handed hermits.
Elephant snails (Scutus limpets)
Giant black brittle star
Tiger Tail cucumber

There was sexy shrimp, but he got one and the other jumped.

I really want to get a conch to help with the sand bed, hoping if I get a big enough one he will leave it be, but I'm not sure. I can't find anyone with experience on this one.

Can't say much about smashers but I know spearers tend to "dislike" them only cause the conch doesn't care who it "p*sses off!" I have often seen my strombus snails (similar to conch) begin to creep up towards the entrance of either Leviathan or Morgoth only for the stomatopod to pop up really fast with a threatening display, when the snail isn't phased by it they will defensively strike it (last rapt closed) and because the snail is either stupid or loves to "p*ss off" stomatopods, it keeps creeping forward, at this point the large spearer comes out, picks the snail up in its claws and flings it away like some sort of upside down catapult.

I have lost 2 conch snails to Morgoth alone, mostly the snails faults for being relentless in there annoyance of Morgoth, they kept on trying to get down his burrow and they actually DID get down into it.....only to become a part of it. Morgoth sealed them in the walls of his burrow with his mucus trapping them and essentially killing them, even now when a window opens near where they were sealed in, I can see the tip or a part of the conch shell in the wall inside the burrow.

As far as snails and smashers go I can see a smasher just having a ball of fun with them constantly trying to figure out how to "crack the safe" it might take them a while but there consistency is thorough. I saw a lot of "cat and mouse" with Maximus and a Large Trochus (too big for even him to handle) when he realized initially that the snail is in a really tough shell he started to "hide" himself behind the snail, as the snail started to come back out thinking the threat is over, Maximus would quickly grab its footing with his maxil- lipedes, in the end this is how he got the snail out of its shell and into his tummy.

[Dana42078]

Wow I'm jealous mndfreeze. Maybe once I get the 40g up for him he will leave some more stuff alone. I think mine would kill a pistol shrimp. He would find a way....then again like I said its a small tank for his size.

Kharn I was always interested in what a spearer does when snails and crabs enter its burrow..... Catch a vid I'd love to see it.

[mndfreeze]

Well, the key was the mantis went in a week or two after the other stuff. My 14G was still limping along when my kids 20g cracked and needed emergency move to the new 40B still at 80% cycle. So the pistols had more then enough time to get buried and digging in the rock work. There was a thread with everyone speculating the pistol would try to kill the mantis but they live in the same rock outcrop and everything, never an issue. Only thing I notice is they keep the hole covered most of the time now, with the goby never really out of it. He is either scared shizzleleess of the mantis, or the tang. Seems more like the tang though.

Googly does not care about fish at all. In fact the other day I let a friend feed him his krill. The damsel came over and tried to steal it. Managed to get it off the skewer but googly grabbed the other side and they tug o war'd for it. Was hillarious looking. Googly never struck at the damsel.

Damsel used to even sleep in his hole in the 14G.

[Dana42078]

Lmao. My fish do the same but I make sure I put it on tight so they can't nibble it off. I'm pretty sure my fish know who it's for and when he comes out they scatter like roaches. I'd bet your goby is more scared of the tang than anything. Psh...if a pistol shrimp ever killed my GT that Mother would be the size of a lobster lol.

[Dana42078]

Got a vid uploading...i teased him out for a photo op and he wouldnt sit still

Not the best

[Dana42078]

Ok....next vid will have some kind of measurement tool...thinking masking tape....but after i teased him....he musta thought it was food because he ran around the tank for a good hour.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbSL6...1&feature=plcp

[Dana42078]

Seriously has wiped out my CUC...idk how he eats so much.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnAbS...ature=youtu.be

[TundraGuy]

Laziest mantis ever. I think the dottieback was more interested in the snail. Lol J/K nice timing on that vid. Your bids and pix are always so beautiful.

[Dana42078]

Originally Posted by TundraGuy

Laziest mantis ever. I think the dottieback was more interested in the snail. Lol J/K nice timing on that vid. Your bids and pix are always so beautiful.

Lol, I thought the same thing! I was thinking maybe he just didn't like the snail being there. That dotty back is a beast. He nips at snails all the time, almost killed my ORA yellow assessor when I had him in my reef tank.

Thanks for looking/watching as well.

[Dana42078]

Dunno how many ppl read this anymore but my GT went into hiding after killing most of the CUC that was in there. (molt time) Today i woke up and well....i think he's gone. 17 months I had him. Im seriously at a loss for words. First this week i lost a 2 year old mandarian that i hand fed, now this guy. Seems like shyt happens in bunches. What a shame.

[Dana42078]

I want to say it was a bad molt. Thanks for anyone who followed my thread.

Molt found in his burrow

[Kharn]

Well it looks like its a pritty grown up G.T. anyway....perhaps it was at the end of its time being full grown (I sense this in Maximus my freakishly large G.graphurus).

Its sad ='[

But at least it lived the remainder of its years in peace and in a place truly dedicated to itself....if that isn't mantis heaven on earth then nothing is quite frankly....

R.I.P. lil' buddy!

[TundraGuy]

So sorry. I always looked forward to your pix of him. Your skill with reefs shows in your pix of the mantis. Don't get discouraged

[Dana42078]

Originally Posted by Kharn

Well it looks like its a pritty grown up G.T. anyway....perhaps it was at the end of its time being full grown (I sense this in Maximus my freakishly large G.graphurus).

Its sad ='[

But at least it lived the remainder of its years in peace and in a place truly dedicated to itself....if that isn't mantis heaven on earth then nothing is quite frankly....

R.I.P. lil' buddy!

Originally Posted by TundraGuy

So sorry. I always looked forward to your pix of him. Your skill with reefs shows in your pix of the mantis. Don't get discouraged

Thanks guys. It means a lot.

[Kharn]

Because I tend to see my stomatopods (specifically the smashers due to there inquisitive and playful nature) as little puppies I a kin this to waking up one morning and seeing your new puppy dead on the floor...heart wrenching ='[

[Dana42078]

Originally Posted by Kharn

Because I tend to see my stomatopods (specifically the smashers due to there inquisitive and playful nature) as little puppies I a kin this to waking up one morning and seeing your new puppy dead on the floor...heart wrenching ='[

And that's why I post here for your support. Most ppl don't see mantis's in the same light as we do here. It's been a rough day to say the least. He will be forever missed.

[StephLionfish]

I'm so sorry, Dana I, too, felt like my mantis was a puppy. Took a piece out of me when she died. Your mantis had a good life with you.

[gnasher]

I'm sad to hear about this, so I can only imagine how you feel Dana. You have my condolences. Your guy was one of my favorite mantises on this forum and I always looked forward to seeing updates on this thread. At least you guys made a ton of good video together and you'll always have that to remember him by.

[gnasher]

Oh, and that mantis was no puppy Dana, you kept a lion.