Purple Spot (smithii) mantis Potential Build

[OPMantisShrimp]

In regards to the heater, I would aim for 78F. A heater is one of the most important things in a tank. I would suggest getting a very reliable one. I cannot recommend any as I have never had a nano before. That being said, I have kept N. wennerae, G. chiragra, and S. rugosa at 75F without issue. Can't say it is optimum though. Make sure those zoas are glued down or anchored. My peacock stole one and put it on top of her burrow last week.

 

[FreshwaterConvert]

I ended up getting a new fluval heater and swapped them. I’ll check temp tomorrow. I also got a Hanna salinity checker that I can use to check temp. It was less than a degree different than my temp gun so glad to see that they’re consistent. I put the zoa that had popped off the frag plug in a cup on top of some rubble rock to protect it till it attaches since my lfs was out of coral glue. I will be gluing the frags down once I can get glue. Tank is coming along well tho. I swapped the carbon out today as well as it’s officially been running for 1 whole month! I think the blue hermit swapped shells for the first time so that’s exciting. No algae issues so far either. Not this past Monday but the Monday before I dosed some vibrant and I will do so again this coming Monday. I’m also hoping to get the mantis soon

 

[FreshwaterConvert]

Well, I got more corals ‍ I got a really nice mushroom, a super cool looking Paly, and a sun coral. I really like the sun coral but now I just realized I’m gonna have to get someone to feed it any time I leave but that’s alright I’ll figure it out. I also picked up some phyto feast and reef roids. Still no luck on a mantis yet but I’m hoping soon, there’s a source that might soon have one But if anyone knows of one lmk. Here’s some photos of everything and what the tank looks like now. I’ve discovered I’m terrible at gluing frags down. Should I get bone cutters and cut the bottom of the frag and then glue it down? Is that a thing?

 

[FreshwaterConvert]

Update: the paly had aiptasia so I pulled and treated with aiptasia X, I’ll be putting it back in today now that I’m sure there’s no more aiptasia on the plug. Also, I moved my sun coral and it did something super weird but seems to be healing? Idk. I might make a separate post on here about it. I’ve decided that if by March 1st I still haven’t found a purple spot I will get a wennerae. I’ve started bonding with the peacock at my LFS and now I’m getting antsy to get a mantis everything else is doing well. I’m starting to get some algae so last night I added three more astrea snails.

 

[FreshwaterConvert]

Figured I’d add this here. Full tank shot from a few days ago. I’ve also decided that if by the 1st I haven’t found a purple spot I’m gonna get a wennerae. I’ve started bonding with the peacock at my LFS and I need one for myself lol I’ve been waiting long enough lol. My orange and blue zoa is putting out a lot of new polyps and I think my mushroom is about to split so that’s exciting. Ironically enough the weird head on my sun coral is the only one that opened the last two nights *shrug* tanks been consistently at 78 and water parameters have been spot on (yay weekly water changes).

 

[FreshwaterConvert]

Well I just placed an order for a wennerae mantis off of salty bottom :) one thing I didn’t expect was a minimum purchase order but at least I got more rubble and lots more live food. I got a nassarius snail, a cerith snail, some other snails, and a peppermint shrimp in order to fill the minimum purchase amount for the site (ugh but whatever *shrug) I paid for next day shipping so I’m really excited! Any tips to help with acclimating would be great. I’m planning on drip acclimating into a bucket I’m just not sure for how long. I’m possibly gonna drip acclimate the extra livestock in another bucket so he doesn’t eat any of it. Again any advice would be great. Also is there a way to rename this thread since I didn’t end up getting a smithii?

 

[Steve Erekson]

Any tips to help with acclimating would be great.

I just float to temp match and throw it into the water. I don't bother with dripping, especially inverts that should be getting shipping in 1.026 water anyway. Fish sometimes can be shipped in 1.019 so you occasionally need to salinity match them.

 

[Hadla]

You could have just ordered a clean up crew kit and asked to switch the mantis out with some other inverts. That was what I did a few years ago

 

[OPMantisShrimp]

I float in the sump and drip acclimate for 30min personally. I never use a net either for transferring.

 

[FreshwaterConvert]

I float in the sump and drip acclimate for 30min personally. I never use a net either for transferring.

What did you use?
I ended up floating the bag for 15 minutes and drip acclimating for ~45 minutes. I got a peppermint shrimp, nerite snail, cerith snail, 2 nassarius snails, and of course the wennerae mantis. All arrived today just fine I got all the extra stuff because salty bottom has a minimum purchase amount (I also got rubble rock). Everyone is doing well. Haven’tseen the mantis since adding but I’m not too worried yet.

 

[Steve Erekson]

Crazy, all the people I know with wenneraes from salty bottom or from KP Aquatics all got green ones. I don't know how I ended up as the only one with a red wennerae.

 

[OPMantisShrimp]

What did you use?
I ended up floating the bag for 15 minutes and drip acclimating for ~45 minutes. I got a peppermint shrimp, nerite snail, cerith snail, 2 nassarius snails, and of course the wennerae mantis. All arrived today just fine I got all the extra stuff because salty bottom has a minimum purchase amount (I also got rubble rock). Everyone is doing well. Haven’tseen the mantis since adding but I’m not too worried yet.

I don’t use a net due to the potential of spines and sharp pointy things snagging in it and to reduce stress. I use a small plastic pet container or little fish bowl myself. That’s just me though. It won’t kill it or anything

 

[FreshwaterConvert]

Crazy, all the people I know with wenneraes from salty bottom or from KP Aquatics all got green ones. I don't know how I ended up as the only one with a red wennerae.

I don’t use a net due to the potential of spines and sharp pointy things snagging in it and to reduce stress. I use a small plastic pet container or little fish bowl myself. That’s just me though. It won’t kill it or anything

Yeah I think the red is from being collected deeper and they eventually convert to green in brighter lighting in aquariums? I think I saw that on Roy’s site

and that makes sense. I’ll herd him into a cup next time, I sure have plenty of those lying around

haven’t seen him out all day today or yesterday but he was out and about last night and the last time I saw him was going into the narrower of the 2 PVC pipes, I think it’s the 1/2 inch? I can’t remember what sizes I got lol. Current name ideas include Lichen, Lima Bean, Simon, and a few others. I added a video I took last night, please ignore the audio

 

[FreshwaterConvert]

Update: it’s been over a week and I still haven’t seen him since the first night. My peppermint shrimp has disappeared so I’m hoping it was a snack (fingers crossed). All the other inverts seem to be doing fine except for my first astrea snail, I keep finding it upturned and I think it’s dead this time (mantis? Idk). I’m looking for good macro algae suggestions that are easy, whatever one I got from my LFS doesn’t seem to be doing very well :(

 

[Hadla]

Was it moving in the bucket or net?

 

[Hadla]

Was it moving in the bucket or net?

Oh Nevermind that was from when you got him

 

[FreshwaterConvert]

Yeah he seemed fine when I got him. I’m not sure if he had one or both of his smashers tho, I wish I’d gotten a better look. My peppermint shrimp that I got at the same time disappeared so I think it was a snack but it was also considerable larger than him? So idk. Gonna give him a few more weeks before assuming the worst, or if I have a nitrate spike.

 

[FreshwaterConvert]

Wow has it been a while since I updated, so let’s get into it. I couldn’t find the wennerae even over a month later, I tore the tank apart, and nothing. So today I received a healthy, bigger, gonodactylus smithii mantis (aka purple spot) and already he’s exploring and smashing and settling into the tank. He’s bigger than the smaller PVC so I’m gonna pull that out long term, I think the bigger of what I have in there will work well. I also got 7 new zoanthids today that I’m super excited about so I guess it’s a good thing I never figured out how to change the thread name lol. I’m gonna be posting a Ton on my Tiktok (Stephthefish) if you’re interested lol.

 

[TheDragonsReef]

Sorry to hear the first one didnt make it but congrats on the smithii. Theyre one of the coolest inverts in the ocean. I love mine and i never get tired of watching him. Just some advice you can feed them frozen as well so you worry too much about feeding love food constantly

 

[FreshwaterConvert]

It’s been 6 days and he is settling in super well. At first he made himself a little cave within my rock on the left but he couldn’t really make a full burrow I think so about 2 days ago he started hanging out in the PVC on the right side of the tank and has made that home base. He’s eaten 1 clam on a half shell, 2 astrea snails, and taken frozen mysis/krill from my turkey baster as well. My long term plan is to keep as many snails in there as I can and then feed him frozen every few days. I want to try and get some sort of sealed clam so he has to actually break it open, what should I look for at the market to make sure it’s safe?
All in all tank itself is doing well, most of my corals look great. My blue mushroom isn’t looking the best ever but I think it’s just too much light. Problem is that I epoxied it in place really well and I don’t think I’ll be able to get it off .
the new zoas I got at the same time as the mantis are settling in really well and are fully open normally now, I’m super pleased with how they’re doing.