Khowst's Killer build for the KILLER MANTIS!

As some of you know I have been kicking the idea around of a mantis tank for some time. Well a little bit down the road I have finally resourced enough to get me to the starting line.


First let me warm you up with a picture of my 75g as it is now :


I happened to come across a great deal on a used 30g from a fellow member of The S.E.A.S. (SEAS Local forum) The Saltwater Enthusiats Association of Springfield, MO. I got it with a Aquafuge w/skimmer & a 2 x T5 setup (lights not shown)


One step in the build here is I placed a piece of lexan in the bottom so I dont have to worry about Mr. Mantis trying to go godzilla thru the bottom of the tank.

Today was a big day for my looks like he is 70 year old mailman. About 100lbs of goodies showed up on the doorstep. 40lbs of sand & 40lbs of rock from marcorocks.com, as well as a box from Dr. Fosters with a couple maxijets, heater, thermometer, a new bulb for the aquafuge & a few other things.



I order the coarse sand from marcorocks & I have to say I like it. Its a little finer than the coralife substrate I got from the LFS. I went for 80lbs at the start so I can get a good sanbed for it to dig in. Bewteen the two I think I will yield a nice mix that wont be too hard to dig, but also not a dust could.




more to come.....................

 

Next up the FUN part! Opening the rock box!!! Here is where things got interesting to me. I have never before opened such well packed AND INDIVIDUALLY WRAPPED rocks:



Here is a shot of everything unwrapped & a snickers (lol) for size comparision. This is some really pourous rocks & must say I am quite happy. There was minimal breakage and if you look you can see it in one little pile. Part of that was even one rock I dropped & fragged myself.

A quick trip outside for it all to get a shower:

A couple hours to dry and its time for a quick scape before it all goes back into the tub to soak for the night:


For a first scape I think I am fairly happy with it although I do have to do some expoy & zip strip work to make sure I get everything stable. 40lbs came out just about right & in fact may be too much because I have a couple rock pieces already in the fuge of the 75.

I tried to give some flat areas on the scape cause I would like to get some softies in there. A selection of zoas & maybe a ric garden. Other things I am thinking of is of course other livestock. A black cap basslet, flame angel (real iffy), and maybe a blue reef chromis or two are what is running thru my mind at the moment. I am going to also go with what I am calling a disposable CuC from John over at reef cleaners. I am also wanted to go chaeto/ulva in the aquafuge and maybe some codium or other macro's in the DT itself.

 

Ever since you said you wanted a mantis, I've been waiting for this thread!

I can't wait to see how it all plays out, one thing though, make sure that rock is glued down, because my mantis has burrowed and has caused rocks to fall.

 

Oh yeah definitely. In fact I give you full credit for being the first person to enforce the need for glued down rocks.

Even though they are base rock I'm probably gonna let the rocks soak for a few days before I even mess with them. Once I get to scaping I have 3 decent rocks in the fuge & probably 5 lbs of rubble I will transfer over to get the cycle started. Plus I picked up a bottle of the bio-spira to give a shot as well.

 

Oh, BTW before you glue things down, IMO you should do an island setup in the center, so your mantis kind of has a "homebase" where he can store all his exrta rubble, shells, and food.

Thanks for the credit

Everything else looks great, and I can't wait to see the mantis in there.

Any ideas on what species?

 

I found a place that carries peacocks on a semi regular basis, but a smasher in general is the direction I want to head.

I was thinking about a central base already. The main rocks I have on the bottom are kinda concave on the bottom side so unless it gets pretty grown there should be room to go up under them and make a house.

Funny is my 3yo is really getting into this project after some time on youtube. Everytime a package comes to the door he asks if his 'mantis shrimp crab' has gotten here. The wife wasnt too happy cause the general house rule is no livestock that can bite or is poisonous. Well a mantis might do some damage but it isnt biting or poisoning. lol.

 

Seeing as you have a big tank for yours, or big compared to mine anyways , i would try to get a larger one. Also if you do have corals in there and your going to be dosing, try to avoid iodine as much as possible, as that induces molts for inverts and can be troublesome for your mantis.

I know what you mean about the biting/poisonous thing, my mom wasn't very happy about the fact that i have this little thing that when full grown could "split my thumb." But after watching it she's kinda attached to it. LOL

I bet the mailman/delivery man gets a kick out of that

 

Everything looks great! Id be worried about the rock work as well. The mantis does like to dig and if one of them top rocks isnt totally secure it could be trouble. Cant wait to see the mantis.

 

Dosing? I'm trying to avoid that if all possible, hence why I want to stick with softies. Plus price wise if some zoa's get ripped loose & buried I wont cry.

I am definitely all over the securing rocks. I have an entire new tube of silicone & brand new pack of zip ties. lol.

 

Awesome!!! I'm subscribed to this thread.