phastroh
Do Not Listen To Me!!!
Ok so I have always thought I had 1 Mantis and then I saw one and heard another so I was like ok there is 2.
I decided to take the 160 Pounds of rock out of my 80 Gal tank last night and only put back half of them so I could have a more open tank and finally give my coral some bed to sit on and man I have to say wow it feels so roomy but now I have 2 5 gallon buckets filled to the max with live rock.
I figure I will let it dry out till I get my new tank. I made sure I put back the live rock that came live and basically left out the base rock which was just getting live now.
Anyway this isn't about that. In the process I was determined to get the Mantis 1 or 2 out but what went on was shocking to say the least.
I started taking out the rock and actually found small stone/gorilla crabs. I was 100% I got them all and have never seen any for month. We got maybe 5-8 new ones out but man they were tiny. I figure anything left is dead already in the drying rock now. I can't let all the rock I wanted to keep dry over night or bye bye too much bacteria and the 8 fish I have will be in trouble.
Ok so I was searching for a big Mantis. I always here small pops and occasionally I have heard loud ones but no so much on the loud ones anymore.
So I had no found anything and the whole right side of my tank was Crushed Coral at this point as I didn't have warm salt water made to store all the rocks at once as I started this on a whim. I had enough saltwater sitting there and RO water to work though in sections.
So I am leveling the CC on the right side and I feel like a little pop in the glass right on my arm. I look and it is just CC so I get down and look by the front and there is nothing but I hear the clicks. I decide to scoop up the front rubble of stuff and in the net is a super tiny little green dude clicking the CC.
So as we proceed we end up finding a red one some clear and black ones but they all look the same. I thought maybe some were pods but they all click like a Mantis and you can here even these tiny tiny things from outside the tank.
I used my RO to power flush them because I have a storage tank that build pressure.
So I had them all in a red plastic cup and snapped some photos for you to comment on and confirm what they are. If they aren't baby Mantis then they are something that looks and click like them.
Never found a large Mantis.
I was thinking that when I got my new tank I would cycle it with the rocks I have drying that are base rock and will be void of any pests then dry these live rocks to kill any pests I missed and then place them in the tank last. Even if they dry for 2-3 days they will still be colorful they just wont have bacteria and pests like Mantis's hiding in them.
There are some crabs and maybe a pod in the cup as well.
Any thoughts?
I decided to take the 160 Pounds of rock out of my 80 Gal tank last night and only put back half of them so I could have a more open tank and finally give my coral some bed to sit on and man I have to say wow it feels so roomy but now I have 2 5 gallon buckets filled to the max with live rock.
I figure I will let it dry out till I get my new tank. I made sure I put back the live rock that came live and basically left out the base rock which was just getting live now.
Anyway this isn't about that. In the process I was determined to get the Mantis 1 or 2 out but what went on was shocking to say the least.
I started taking out the rock and actually found small stone/gorilla crabs. I was 100% I got them all and have never seen any for month. We got maybe 5-8 new ones out but man they were tiny. I figure anything left is dead already in the drying rock now. I can't let all the rock I wanted to keep dry over night or bye bye too much bacteria and the 8 fish I have will be in trouble.
Ok so I was searching for a big Mantis. I always here small pops and occasionally I have heard loud ones but no so much on the loud ones anymore.
So I had no found anything and the whole right side of my tank was Crushed Coral at this point as I didn't have warm salt water made to store all the rocks at once as I started this on a whim. I had enough saltwater sitting there and RO water to work though in sections.
So I am leveling the CC on the right side and I feel like a little pop in the glass right on my arm. I look and it is just CC so I get down and look by the front and there is nothing but I hear the clicks. I decide to scoop up the front rubble of stuff and in the net is a super tiny little green dude clicking the CC.
So as we proceed we end up finding a red one some clear and black ones but they all look the same. I thought maybe some were pods but they all click like a Mantis and you can here even these tiny tiny things from outside the tank.
I used my RO to power flush them because I have a storage tank that build pressure.
So I had them all in a red plastic cup and snapped some photos for you to comment on and confirm what they are. If they aren't baby Mantis then they are something that looks and click like them.
Never found a large Mantis.
I was thinking that when I got my new tank I would cycle it with the rocks I have drying that are base rock and will be void of any pests then dry these live rocks to kill any pests I missed and then place them in the tank last. Even if they dry for 2-3 days they will still be colorful they just wont have bacteria and pests like Mantis's hiding in them.
There are some crabs and maybe a pod in the cup as well.
Any thoughts?