Stepho's 20g mantis tank

Hey guys. I have been keeping it a secret but ever since my last mantis died I have been building a bigger and better mantis tank for the hopes of keeping an O. havanensis. Well I finally got one! Thanks to Reefmonkey for pointing out a company that has them.

First the tank: Tank is a standard 20 long, with petco crushed coral (looks like mostly shells : ) and all of the rock from my previous mantis tank.

For filtration I am using a small Aqueon HOB filter and an Aqua Euro USA nano skimmer 2.

For lighting I have a cheapo all glass single t8 canopy fixture thing, which I am going to end up replacing because the skimmer doesn't quite fit in the cut out on the canopy.



Now the mantis: The mantis is a member of my favorite species. It is an Odontodactylus havanensis. I picked it up on my way home from a short vacation in key west so it will be getting a name that relates. Mallory after the square the sunset festival takes place if it is a female, and Dr. Juice after a tumbler who preforms at said festival if it is a male.

I added him last night so he is still getting to know his surroundings. At the time being he spends the day standing in the middle of the tank looking around, mostly at me. I fed him a piece of krill and he sat there and ate it while starring at me... it was kind of off-putting actually.

He is very large for a mantis of his species, I guesstimate close to 3" but it is hard to judge a stomatopod's size.




Hope you all enjoy my thread. ;D

 

Congrats!! That tank is nice, and the mantis is as well!

 

Sweet It does look just like Carniceria! He's posing pretty good for that shot! And the tank is looking awesome! I'm real happy you have a new friend and a new thread. Congratulations!

 

Thanks KC! I'm super excited.

reefmonkey- He is still posing for the camera and its turned off haha. He has been sitting there staring at me for about 2 hours. I know I am good looking but geez. ;D

His eyes are so crazy, they are constantly moving and closing different parts... mantis eyes are weird! They look like robot eyes or something. You can really seem them a lot better on an O. havanensis than a wennerae. Fister had tiny eyes compared to this new one. You couldn't really see the complexity...

 

so good to see you jump right back into the mantis addiction stepho. everything looks excellent. very nice setup, and the new mantis looks mahvelous. congrats

 

It would take a lot of rehab to get me off the stomatopods. ;D

 

LOL yeah it's freaky watching the pupil move across the different parts of each eye! Carni comes out to watch me and honestly there's a couple times it's creeped me out a little. It's like she's studying how to take me apart or something lol.

 

That is a very cool looking mantis, I love the orange colors on him/her. Tank looking nice too.

 

Thanks Triggersrule, he is one cool character thats for sure.

Yeah it was really creepy when he was staring at me while eating krill... Their eyes just look so unnatural to me.

 

Oh man Bo will stare at us while eating, too. It's like he's having popcorn at the movies or something. But his favorite object to stare at is our dog

Congrats on the new (ish ) tank setup and new mantis!!! Very awesome. And holy crap, he's not shy at all haha