Skifletch's Mantis Nano (minus The Mantis)

[BigIan]

Erm.....

We don`t need any more tanks,











But i want one

 

[Redstratplayer1]

Yes need would be the key word.

I dont need to spend amasing amounts of money on fish but i can,i will, and i am.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Erm.....

We don`t need any more tanks,











But i want one

so do i, that's settled then!

 

[SkiFletch]

Ok an update finally . Cut a nice piece of acrylic to fit the bottom of the tank. This is necessary in case the mantis decides t try and smash the bottom of the tank, it wont break glass, only a sacrificial piece of acrylic

Bought some LR and started cycling it, not all of this will be in the mantis tank, one's destined for my display but here it is anyways

The big update though, the hood. Started rigging up my dual 18watt PCs into a hood. The main body of the hood is bent stainless steel (man was that a PITA to bend) and uses some old legs off of my old lighting hood. Here it is with just the ballast/reflector mounted

And then, with the bulbs

And finally the profile

Ran into a small problem that derailed the project though... Wired the ballasts up (both whites and both blacks to one single power chord) and plugged them into my timer. Flipped the switch... Pop, bulbs flashed and burned out black. If anybody knows what I did wrong, lemme know. The bulbs were touching the frame at the tie but they should be electrically isolated yes? Also its a plain magnetic ballast so grounding shouldn't be an issue. Not to mention the whole fixture was electrically floating on my wooden desk. I'm baffled so if you guys know whats up, lemme know. Also as a btw, both lights worked fine individually

 

[SkiFletch]

Ok sometimes I'm too intelligent for my own good... Just got out the voltmeter to test the fixture, something I SHOULD have done before installing bulbs, I know better. Next, I replaced the battery in said voltmeter . Once working, probed the hot wire to the case to check for continuity, and of course, found a dead short DOH . I assumed the ballasts were electrically isolated... I was wrong. Let this be a lesson to everyone, magnetic ballasts are not necessarily electrically isolated, so take care if installing them in a metal hood

 

[Redstratplayer1]

:stupid:

 

[demonmagus]

lol oh dear, ski have you looked around for a mantis yet? I think I better 'ring around' some live rock suppliers for one

 

[SkiFletch]

Yeah, finding a properly sized one is difficult in the states. O. Scyllarus, P. Cilliata, and Gonadactylaceous genus mantises are readily available here, but those get BIG (2-5"). I'm looking more for a Gonadactylus genus (prefferably Smithii sp) or a Neogonadactylus genus (prefferably Wennerae sp). I can order a "N. Wennerae" from tampabaysaltwater.com without a pic but I'm not sure how much I trust them. Typically the only mantises caught in the Tampa and Keys areas of florida are N. Wennerae but N. Oerstedii and Bredini can also be found there and I'm not keen on them... Also, P. Cilliata are occasionally collected in the florida/carribean and again, these are too large. I'm gonna give it at least 6 months of looking through WYSIWYG sites looking for a suitable mantis before I cave and order from tampabaysaltwater and take the risk.

 

[demonmagus]

I could get a wennerae I asked one LR supplier about a week ago and they had one in, but it hid in the day and they could only tell its colour by its molt, which is strange cos Roy ('s list of stomapods) said that they were diurnal, do you think the mantis might 'active up' ?

 

[SkiFletch]

I wouldnt trust that its a Wennerae if it doesn't come out during the day. Every Wennerae I've ever heard of roams around during the daytime. Also, typically you UK guys don't get LR from the carribean, but from SE asia where wennerae are not common.

 

[SkiFletch]

And we have time for learning yet another lighting/electrical issue the hard way this evening . So I take the fixture to the shop, pull the steel bolts, cant find a nylon bolt long enough for the reflector. So, I got the lathe out and turned some nylon rod to have 6-32 threads on the end. Amazing PITA. 2 hours later, get the fixture re-assembled with a piece of plexiglass between the ballasts and the frame and the nylon bolts. Test for continuity between the ballasts/wires, and the frame... No continuity. So I'm thinkin, "sweet, now lets put these 13w mini PC bulbs I got from home depot in there and test it. One at a time. Plug the bulb into the socket, perfect fit. Fire it up, flash, pop, DOH! Another bulb burned out .

Get online, look up the ballast and bulb. Find out that the ballast is magnetic (knew that) and the cheapo home depot bulb is designed to fire with an electronic ballast... And I discovered why mixing and matching bulbs/ballasts is a bad idea. So tomorrow I'll get back on the phone with the guys from hellolights to confirm my suspicions, return the other bulb that works, order two more, and prepare to curse myself when it doesnt work a third time.

 

[Siamese Fighter05]

sounds like your having good fun with that lighting fixture

When i saw you were drilling that tank the first thing that popped in my head was 'it's gonna crack'. Glad it held out though and you fixed it.

Looks like a fun little project although a mantis aint my cup of tea it's nice looking at other peoples so i look forward to when you get him.

Is there any reason why you want a smasher not a spearer? Or was it just because you prefer the smithi?

Looking forward to next update

 

[SkiFletch]

Well, spearers are more likely to break bottom glass since they're sand diggers (dont want that) and most spearers get large. Some smasher species (smithii/wennerae) stay small enough to fit in a 5g all their life. Some larger species like Odontactylus Scyllarus (peacock) get BIG and require almoast a 30g tank in their later years.

 

[SkiFletch]

Still sorting out lighting issues (ugh) but the tank now has LR, sand, small HOB with Rowaphos, sump running and dialed in, and my skimmer running in the sump. The skimmer is gonna need some serious breaking in since it hasn't been used in so long and its spewing bubbles out, but I've got nothin but time now. Next tasks, sort out lighting, add corals/inverts, and wait for an acceptable mantis shrimp

Tank stats:
Temp 79f
pH 8.2
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10ppm
Phosphate 0
Clacium 390ppm
Alkalinity 10dKH
Magnesium 1390ppm

Pictures to come tomorrow hopefully it will still be light after work so I can use some natural lighting since tank lights aren't in yet . I'm thinkin I'm going to put one invert in there aside from the mantis, a tuxedo urchin. Will prolly have to re-home him when he gets too big, but thats ok, it'll at least keep algae problems at bay

 

[demonmagus]

oooh piccys


its quite hard to find a mantis over here lol