yearofthenick
Active Member
So I decided to start this thread in response to another thread I posed about whether or not to buy a mantis.
Long story short, I went to ***** and got one of those cheap 10g setups with a heater, lights, and small HOB filter. It was originally $59, but I bargained down the manager to $40... Hey, you can negotiate anything. I added a powerhead I had lying around for extra flow. I originally purchased it to house my livestock while I did an overhaul of my 34g Red Sea Max which I did this morning. I took some of the sand and rock out of my 34g and made a little tank out of my 10g. When I returned all of my livestock, I kept my hermit crabs in the 10g because they keep eating my snails! And the reason I did an overhaul of my RSM was because of algae build-up! SO anyway, I am only doing snails in there for now.
Well, I have a 10g tank with rock and sand... and a bunch of hermit crabs.... A MANTIS DREAM! I went to my LFS and they were selling a bright green mantis about 1.5-2" in length for $10.99, so I bought him, along with $0.99 of rubble for the mantis to play with. Apparently he's going to grow to be 8 inches in length! Gnarly! And not bad for a total build of $51+tax.
It's clear already that he's pretty smart. I tapped lightly on the glass to get his attention, and he poked his head out. I slowly moved my finger left and right across the front of the tank and I could tell his eyes were very accurately following it.. I checked him a little later and was watching the mouth of the cave to see if he would come out, and turns out he was watching me the whole time from another side of the rock... I was like "Hey, there he is!"
Anyway, here's a pic of the 10g... unfortunately he's already made a little cave under the left rock (see pic 1) so you can't see him. Also, here's a close up of the opening of his cave (Pic 2).
I'll be posting pictures throughout the week to get an actual pic of him for you.
Long story short, I went to ***** and got one of those cheap 10g setups with a heater, lights, and small HOB filter. It was originally $59, but I bargained down the manager to $40... Hey, you can negotiate anything. I added a powerhead I had lying around for extra flow. I originally purchased it to house my livestock while I did an overhaul of my 34g Red Sea Max which I did this morning. I took some of the sand and rock out of my 34g and made a little tank out of my 10g. When I returned all of my livestock, I kept my hermit crabs in the 10g because they keep eating my snails! And the reason I did an overhaul of my RSM was because of algae build-up! SO anyway, I am only doing snails in there for now.
Well, I have a 10g tank with rock and sand... and a bunch of hermit crabs.... A MANTIS DREAM! I went to my LFS and they were selling a bright green mantis about 1.5-2" in length for $10.99, so I bought him, along with $0.99 of rubble for the mantis to play with. Apparently he's going to grow to be 8 inches in length! Gnarly! And not bad for a total build of $51+tax.
It's clear already that he's pretty smart. I tapped lightly on the glass to get his attention, and he poked his head out. I slowly moved my finger left and right across the front of the tank and I could tell his eyes were very accurately following it.. I checked him a little later and was watching the mouth of the cave to see if he would come out, and turns out he was watching me the whole time from another side of the rock... I was like "Hey, there he is!"
Anyway, here's a pic of the 10g... unfortunately he's already made a little cave under the left rock (see pic 1) so you can't see him. Also, here's a close up of the opening of his cave (Pic 2).
I'll be posting pictures throughout the week to get an actual pic of him for you.
