15g Caribbean Mantis Build

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Steve Erekson

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I seriously just stumbled across the most interesting murder mystery I have ever heard. You never found out what the taps were? Is it still going? This is insanity.

Colonel Mustard in the library with a rope!

Unfortunately, I have yet to find out what killed the first mantis. Whether it was an unfortunate turn of events or foul play I may never know. I still have yet to find the other clicker, whatever it is it lives in a rock and is highly reclusive. Possibly a pistol or a curacaoensis. The new wennerae doesn't seem very interested in finding it either. The mystery remains.
 

benkirsch07

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Colonel Mustard in the library with a rope!

Unfortunately, I have yet to find out what killed the first mantis. Whether it was an unfortunate turn of events or foul play I may never know. I still have yet to find the other clicker, whatever it is it lives in a rock and is highly reclusive. Possibly a pistol or a curacaoensis. The new wennerae doesn't seem very interested in finding it either. The mystery remains.
Maybe this is a dumb question (im not well versed in any of these invert-exclusive habitats) but why can't you just take the whole rock out and see if you can get it out? Isn't it worth it to know?
 
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Steve Erekson

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Maybe this is a dumb question (im not well versed in any of these invert-exclusive habitats) but why can't you just take the whole rock out and see if you can get it out? Isn't it worth it to know?

The rock in question that I believe it is occupying is about the size of a cantaloupe and must have 50 or 100 holes in it. I've shifted it every which way for days at a time and peered into every hole I could with a flashlight to try and get a peek, nothing. I've pulled the rock to look, nothing. I considered doing a high salinity dunk but a friend tried it with zero results on his similar problem so I tabled that. In the end I'm just not too worried about it, I'm just going to continue to observe and see what I see.

Oh, I am going to add more damsels though. One yellowtail is fun, but three or four would be much better.
 

davidcalgary29

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The rock in question that I believe it is occupying is about the size of a cantaloupe and must have 50 or 100 holes in it. I've shifted it every which way for days at a time and peered into every hole I could with a flashlight to try and get a peek, nothing. I've pulled the rock to look, nothing. I considered doing a high salinity dunk but a friend tried it with zero results on his similar problem so I tabled that. In the end I'm just not too worried about it, I'm just going to continue to observe and see what I see.

Oh, I am going to add more damsels though. One yellowtail is fun, but three or four would be much better.
Can you do that in a tank your size? And I'm curious -- not criticizing! I have an Evo to stock, and all information seems to suggest that damsels are a bad idea because of aggression issues.
 
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Steve Erekson

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Can you do that in a tank your size? And I'm curious -- not criticizing! I have an Evo to stock, and all information seems to suggest that damsels are a bad idea because of aggression issues.
It kinda depends. A larger group there's usually enough to spread the aggression around. Sometimes it won't work though and one might bully the other one or ones to death and they become mantis food. Sometimes they have zero aggression at all. Not all damsels are the demons they're made out to be and yellowtails are one of the nicer ones IME, but your mileage may vary.
 
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Steve Erekson

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Alright so yesterday I placed an order with KP Aquatics for some more stuff for the mantis tank. I bought some assorted ricordea, three different gorgonians, a random zoa rock, snails, and the thing that inspired it all, a brown short spine urchin. You see I'm getting annoyed with the hair algae so I'm going straight for the best algae cleaner I know and that's the urchin. Will the mantis kill it? No idea. I figure the length of the spines should give it a better chance at avoiding direct hits compared to something like a tuxedo urchin.

Also due to some damsel bullying after one died (never found the body...mantis maybe) I ended up rehoming damsel #2 so I'm down to just one yellowtail again. Maybe another time I'll try to do another damsel posse but it just wasn't going to work with only 2.
 

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I've been in the hobby for almost 10 years. I am monitoring ammonia on this tank and it is not a problem. Also mechanical filtration isn't a requirement on tanks.

Really sorry to hijack this but I'm new to this hobby. I have a wennerae as well. Love him!
Yours is beautiful, hope you have better luck with him.
I was curious about this though. I have an AIO and I'm constantly struggling with filtration clogging, backing up, etc. You have no filter ‍♂️ If it isn't necessary should I just slow down my flow?
 
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Steve Erekson

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I don't know much about AIOs but I do know a bit about sumps. I was always an advocate for very low turnover through my sump for multiple reasons, and I'd probably treat an AIO the same way if it were me. 3x turnover maybe. This is assuming you have a powerhead of some sort to provide additional flow.
 

Robb1821i

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I don't know much about AIOs but I do know a bit about sumps. I was always an advocate for very low turnover through my sump for multiple reasons, and I'd probably treat an AIO the same way if it were me. 3x turnover maybe. This is assuming you have a powerhead of some sort to provide additional flow.
I have a nero 3 in a 20 gal peninsula, it can move it on its own. Why lower turnover? I'm currently at 326gph on my return pump. It's DC.
 
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Steve Erekson

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I have a nero 3 in a 20 gal peninsula, it can move it on its own. Why lower turnover? I'm currently at 326gph on my return pump. It's DC.

Yeah I ran that kind of gph on my 75g for sump turnover, it's just the way I do things. I like lower flow for less sound, fewer microbubbles, I also like having the sump serve as a cryptic zone for lots of sponge growth.
 
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Steve Erekson

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The mantis has been very reclusive the past few days, and hasn't really been taking much food. Maybe it's been about to molt, not sure. Not a whole lot else to add except that the new corals are nice and the urchin is really interesting but has a lot of algae to catch up on.
 
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Steve Erekson

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A few more days and while I've seen the mantis poking its head out of the burrow once or twice a day it's been extremely reclusive and isn't really leaving the burrow or being receptive to taking food. Not sure what changed that's making it this way, maybe still hardening from a molt or something and is being cautious. Who knows.
 

OPMantisShrimp

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Frequently when you hear a loud click, it can be the heater. My old heater use to sound exactly like my peacock hitting a snail when it kicked on. I would be watching the tank, hear the click, and see her just sitting there looking at me.
 
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Steve Erekson

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Nah this 100% wasn't the heater. The relay for this heater isn't inside the tank so I can tell which is which very easily.
 
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