Mantis Tank!

[13rodo]

Hey @LiverockRocks! I got my mantis box and nano live rock box today. I wanted to give y'all a big shoutout for making my mantis tank a reality This was my first time with live rock and sand. I love it! I've been watching it for hours admiring all the cool critters.

Star of the tank:

Anemone :

Barnacles (so cool):

The aquascape (8lb live rock + 2lb live sand... did have to mix in a bit of dry sand to get the depth I wanted):

Cup coral & a macro algae:

Cup coral:

No clue, but I love 'em:

 

[13rodo]

Not sure how I missed the nem when I was looking the rock over, but when I was doing some night time observing to see what other cool things came out, I saw it! Thanks so much! Updated the first post with a video of it :-D

 

[LiverockRocks]

Not sure how I missed the nem when I was looking the rock over, but when I was doing some night time observing to see what other cool things came out, I saw it! Thanks so much! Updated the first post with a video of it :-D

Thanks for sharing!
Mantis are interesting pets, especially when they have a dedicated-to-them tank.
Turkey basting the aquascape and dosing a bit of phyto will be beneficial for your filter feeders.
Did the red bodied snail arrive as a hitchhiker? If yes, it is a horse conch.
Reach out if you have any questions.

 

[13rodo]

Thanks for sharing!
Mantis are interesting pets, especially when they have a dedicated-to-them tank.
Turkey basting the aquascape and dosing a bit of phyto will be beneficial for your filter feeders.
Did the red bodied snail arrive as a hitchhiker? If yes, it is a horse conch.
Reach out if you have any questions.

Yup dosing phyto and also feeding baby brine shrimp for the cup coral and nem. I didn’t notice a red bodied snail, but I’ll keep an eye out! Thanks again :)

 

[13rodo]

Oh I also think I saw a little porcelain crab!

 

[13rodo]

@LiverockRocks Is this the horse conch you were talking about? Or did you mean from the aquascape picture with the black shell? I can't remember which 2 were the snacks. If it is a horse conch, I'm not sure I can handle a 2ft invert :-P

 

[BryanM]

Live rock for the win!

 

[LiverockRocks]

@LiverockRocks Is this the horse conch you were talking about? Or did you mean from the aquascape picture with the black shell? I can't remember which 2 were the snacks. If it is a horse conch, I'm not sure I can handle a 2ft invert :-P

If that shell has an orange/red snail in it, then yes. Hahaha, perfect excuse to get a monster sized tank and invest in escargot. Joking aside, the mantis will most likely eat the snail within a few months. There are some beautiful horse conchs on the farm, and the reason we don't sell astrea snails. Horse conchs' prey on snails.