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Biocube29 from mantis tank to Clown heaven
3 Attachment(s)
so i decided to make a mantis tank with other unwanted predators,
started with a 10g tank, ive got a 178 skimmer attacked to it for a ton of flow, so far inside theres 2 big gorilla crabs, (1.5" little one and 2" big one) i got some shots of the crabs, mantis is being brought down to calgary this weekend via a canreef friend so ill get seom pics of it when it arrives there a 20lbs bag of live sand, and about 10lbs of live rock, a large macro plant (dont know the name) bout 2lbs of crushed white coral pieces for looks..... n e ways heres the pics there in the order from when the tank started to the final, Ive im the process of transfering into a 29g Biocube and building a custom rock/foam rock wall see final pages oh, some of my close ups suck if u got advise on how to take pics id love to hear it :) |
k
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oh and if your in calgary and u end up getting bad HH so any type of crab let me know ill gladly drive out and grab it instead of u killing it.
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You can upload your pics to sites like photobucket.com and then attach the links they provide for the forum.
Interesting concept...I'll tag along ;) Maybe someday i'll catch the nasty crab that's in my tank...and you'll have yet another crab. :) all I know is he's White and fast! I affectionately call him, 'my little buddy', but really, i don't want him in there. |
easiest way to catch himm depending on size, take a shot glass, put his favotrite food in it and sink it inot the sand, he'll go in but cant swing and therfore cant get out :)......
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Photobucket is free to sign up on. You need it or some other image hosting site in order for your pics to be displayed in the thread like you want.
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tank
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ok
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rock
http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1279159553 http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1279159553 http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1279159553 the crushed coral http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1279159553 algae http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1279159627 the algae and main rock http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1279159627 side shot http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1279159627 Front tank show, this is the final product http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1279159627 one of th 2 crabs http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1279159627 |
White stuff!
That is some nice white stuff, what is it, and where can i get some?
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i acctually got it off ebay, just look up bleached white coral, and some will show up, it was a giant piece that i smashed, cant wait to get the mantis in here hes gunna love it
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Interesting concept I'll tag along... it could be like a gladiator ring at some point in the future...:lol: someone has some fish or hitchhiker they are going to flush and instead you add it to your tank... video the battles for me wont you :D
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ive been trying to get good photos of the crabs but my camera just isnt focusing, its getting clear shots of everything but the crabs lol, but oh well, ill keep trying heres a few, i gave them some scallops......turns out these guys are real vicious....the one ripped the others arm off and took it and the scallop lol
http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1279503617 u can really see the red eyes http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1279503649 http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1279503671 http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1279503691 |
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these are a lill better green, ill bait them out tomoro and get some good ones, this is the bigger guy, he has all his arms and legs lol
http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1279603568 http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1279603628 http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1279603645 |
right on :)
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new pics of big hairy nig
alright i baited the big crab out, (hes missing an arm the little one took it)
hes on his pearch eating some scallop, still trying to locate a mantis shrimp fo rthe tank but for now these guys add a lil humour http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1279676903 http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1279676926 http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1279676991 http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1279677030 http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1279677057 ok, green can u see the red in the eyes now :)? |
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Found a mantis!!!!!
i made a call today to red coral on a whim, and asked if by chance they found any mantis shrimp hh, turns out they had one, a black one with reddish tail, i jumped on it when i got him home and under proper lighting i realised how gorgeous he really is, i think hes a smithii (if anyone can tell me positive ID great)
NE ways heres some pics of him getting ready to be put in the tank, ill take more pics tonight http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1279744375 in the bag http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1279744408 you can see some of the colors http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1279744435 http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1279744453 not super clear but hes looking up so u can see the green/orange spots on his raptoral arms http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1279744528 let me know what u think |
im happy you found a mantis. that guy there is a Gonodactylaceus ternatensis. Quite suited for an aquarium but they get over 10cm so you will have to upgrade in the future. Good luck with the mantis.
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He looks awesome. I want one lol
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right on, thanx andrew for the ID, when he gets too big ill come down and get a 30g cube :) untill then ill keep posting my progress with him, still dont know a name,
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so far he is about 2 inchest long, real small, the gorilla crabs are bigger, a toonie for the larger and a loonie for the smaller (including legs) will he be alright i know later on he'll ear them but i dont want them to hurt hm at this stage in the game
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Updates
the macro algae i got is starting to grow like a weed so thats good maybe ill sell some :P the mantis is real timid so far so hes very hard to get shots of, hes almost wipped out my cleaning crew of 10 hermits lol so ill have to buy more, once he gets bigger and comes out more it'll be easier to get more pics, so untill then heres some shots of the crab, and my turbo snail "cooter"
http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1280369431 http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1280369451 "cooter" http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1280369475 the "one armed bandit" eating some scallop http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1280369495 http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1280369530 http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1280369547 |
I love the pics :D most posts are like one pic every 2 months... keep em coming, I like the bandit.
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got a few picks of ther 2 armed crab and some of the mantis in his hole, ive gotten go to red coral today to pick up another clean up crew (hermits $2 each great deal) hes eaten 6 of the 10 i had lol, i also feed him cut up scallop every second day
http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1280672776 here the mantis eyes http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1280672776 comming out to see what kinda food i got http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1280672776 almost fully out minus tail u can see some of the colors, http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1280672776 |
That looks so cool I with they were reef safe :p
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they acctually are reef safe, there not as bad as everyone says they are, the most ud lose is the odd clean up crew (there cheap so who cares), specially if u keep him feed every second day, which is fun to do, aahope has a reef bio cube with one in it and its fine, and the local FS has a massive 100g reef with a smithii in it and ud never be able to tell, there really not that destructive (AS LOGN AS U GET A SMASHER) as spearers kill fish
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some frontal shots of Vader
http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1282359275
i taunted him out a lil with some food, hes gone throuhg 1 molt and has grown about an inch, hes about 2.5" long now, it'll be nice once he reaches full size at 4" so he wont hide so much http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1282359370 http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1282359397 http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1282359464 |
went out and got some more macro algae, i love the look of it and it helps clean the water and fight off micro algae, i also got a couple fish they are clown yellow gobys, only $7 each so if they get eaten i wont freak, plus there cool looking.
http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1282500133 http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1282500211 http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1282500226 http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1282500258 http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1282500372 http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1282500391 http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1282500471 |
29G biocube build/transfer
so i recently got a 29g biocube as the mantis is getting bigger and i got a good deal so i figured id get it b4 he outgrows the 10g, im in the process of building a custom back wall and gutting the back to make a refugium.....ill be posting pics as i progress, ill be setting up using 10g of the old water and 20g from Red coral along with turning it into a reef eventually n e ways heres the progress
Tank was dirty so im cleaning it in a vinegar bath http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1283798390 http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1283798401 stand was a lil rough so ill fix it right up http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1283798497 http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1283798527 The lights were both burned out, but considering how cheap i got it i was more then happy with spending $80 on 2 new ones http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1283798613 Start of the rock/foam DIY wall i cut out eggcrate into the shape of the back of the tank http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1283798540 cut holes out for the intake and outtake http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1283798577 i then cut out shapes goal was 3 ledges, top one will be for a Brain (always wanted one) middle one will be for a clam my gf wants to buy and bottom will be for n e thing else, maybe a favia not sure.... http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1283798740 inside FTS i put two pieces on the bottom in a right angle mannor that i will stack live rock on, to weigh down the wall and keep it stable and less likley to collapse http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1283798754 Side shot shows the 3 ledges http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1283798820 |
rock
just picked up 30lbs of dead rock from a fellow reefer, so im cleaning it in a bleach bath then ill scrub it with a wire brush then bake at 400 for an hour or more to make sure the bleach is all evaporated, 30lbs dry is alot more then wet so ima have to figure out a aquascape cause there ALOT of rock.....
http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1283807389 you can tell there was some fantastic coralline algae on this rock its to bad its been out of water for so long so its all dead and smelly http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1283807400 |
and its in the bath tub mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
wow you got big $#%^$%!:lol: |
the bath tub i only put 1 cup of bleach to loosen up the algae, i then used a bbq brush to scrap off as much die off as i could, then into the oven for 1 hour at 400, when it came out it was alot whiter. I dont want to take any chances so im going to do a full out clean on the rock its now in a 50/50 bleach bath (ina syrafoam container) for 2 days then ill drain and put in freshwater for 1 day, then a baking soda bath for 2 days (neutralises PH and removes bleach) then freshwater for 2 more days followed by a week of drying lol. so 2 weeks essentially to get this rock ready but by that time my refugeum lights and skimmer should have arrived and ill get this tank ready to roll.....
heres the 50/50 bleach bath http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1283816417 starting to get super white and clean, http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1283816430 |
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Im happy someone finally has the same views as me towards mantises. The one i have in my reef i dont even spot feed he just grabes scraps as they flot by. You really need to learn there specific tastes in food. My smithii will only hunt down crabs but leaves shrimps and snails alone so i keep him in there to pick off any hitch hikers that are gonna munch on coral. The only conflict i ever see is when he chases my orange spotted blenny out of his hole. Congrats on a great mantis and hopefully more people will start seeing the good sides of them. |
One thing about the rock wall... I hear of a lot of them that float. The best way to weigh them down is with tile, slate or marble slabs in the base of the structure. And compress the foam a bit as well... after you spray it on then you wait till it's started to dry then press it down to get some of the air out and take away some of the buoyancy.
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cool, thanx for the info green i try compressing it for sure, im also gunna be putting about 10lbs of rock on the wall so that should help weigh it down also
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I still recommend that you put either tile, slate, or marble on the base. Although I have seen people glue their rock wall to the glass and that works as well.
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went to ocean city today to grab some purigen and chemi pure, and i stumbled across this lil anemone it was SUPER cheap and i was going to eventually buy one, so i picked it up, its sitting in my edge right now untill i get the biocube set up, my clowns will love it
Green bubble tip bout the size of a loonie http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1283905012 http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/z...g?t=1283905028 |
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