Stomatopod blitz!

alexkharden · Apr 21, 2016

I realized I never did post the pictures of the 40b setup. It's plumbed into the main sump with with a wave line dc-2500 and two jebao pp-4's in it for flow. I drilled three holes in the bottom, cut some glass for the internal overflow, and cut and bent some acrylic to cover the overflow. After fixing two leaks, we're up and running!

alexkharden · Apr 21, 2016

Here's the overflow.

And, if you can make it out, is the lionfish hiding under the rock shelf. When the mantis starts showing it's face I'll get some pics of it too.

Bret Brinkmann · May 17, 2016

Great looking tanks. The breeder reminds me of my tank the way you have the rocks arranged.

So the inverted bottle trap didn't work. I think I'm going to try your method after I get my fudge set up.

alexkharden · May 17, 2016

Lol, it worked. Once I got the ones I knew were there I quit and set up my tank again. Mistake, I've got another in there making it's presence known now.

I think I'm going to try a different tactic this time. I've been randomly feeding the tank with table shrimp all chopped up. Chum in the water if you will. Then, once everyone is comfortable with the nice, safe, yummy table shrimp, I'll load a mantis trap with some and see what I get.

Hopefully that'll save me from having to tear down the rocks again.

zoomonster · May 17, 2016

I gotta ask... was that Tampa bay live rock? Very nice looking stuff but was never sure it was worth the hassle with all the hitchhikers. A lot of people rave about what great rock it is and the cool hitchhikers but I think a lot leave off having to deal with the pests. I got more than my share of mantis, giant bristle worms and assorted other undesirables from assorted live rock in the past. I did use some live rock, along with dead and real reef, this time around but unlike TB rock it was not shipped in water (nor anything in the past) and usually you will find the baddies in the bottom of the box. Doesn't bode well if the rock has sponges but this rock didn't have a lot to start.

alexkharden · May 17, 2016

Well, I hope I didn't misrepresent, but the work I've been doing isn't viewed as a bad thing, not by me anyway. Yes, it's TBS rock, but I'm very happy with it - good and bad hitchhikers alike. I love the diversity I have, and I even think three mantis are awesome, even though they give me headaches too. The one I have in my Pred tank is so cool, he swims all around and patrols his area, lol. I wouldn't trade it. I could've done without the ciranolid isopods, but I haven't seen any of them in weeks.

Bristle worms are good cuc. I was sad I didn't get any on my rock, but my LFS has a tank that's overrun with them, so I got one off of them. I didn't foresee the blenny's going crazy on it and killing it though, so I'm going to get a couple more and put them directly into the rock where they can hide before the blenny's can get to them.

What do you mean it doesn't bode well if the rock has sponges?