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#153
09/05/2004, 12:07 AM
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tim...
....hope he is o.k.....
 my Little Ben....is now R.I.P. I watched him go and could do nothing to help....just got ill.........Steve
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#154
09/09/2004, 09:19 AM
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Always sorry to here about a lost mantis.
Tim's doing fine though. He's enjoying what must be like mantis heaven this week as it is his monthly restocking of inverts. This time I put in several astrea snails that I hope are too large for him (the two tiny astreas went fast). Also included 6 cerith snails (one already down) and a few stomatella from the fuge (hoping they'd go unnoticed did them no good; two shells were lying in front of his door completely cleaned already this morning). The two rogue 'decorator' crabs are still alive. The velcroing beasty of the two has stuck a piece of everything to his shell (including zoanthids, algae, hydroids and even a carpet of dinoflangeatesamacallits). The smooth-shelled burrowing 'decorator' is farming the worm-rich sand-bed and picking at hydroids and even algae... Last week Donnie tried to add some variety to Tim's diet by donating 3 peppermint shrimp. They lasted an entire week by hiding in the upper-left corner. Last night at surprise-lights-on time I could only find one (and he was poking at a snail on the glass; I hope Tim eats him just for picking on his favorite food). The other two may yet be alive and hiding in the survivors rock-pile. I have started to notice that the population of aiptasia in that corcer of the tank has been significantly thinned. Now if they'd only venture a little farther out to the center where the aiptasia rule unchallenged... Tim has adjusted to the rearranged tank, but I think he's moved and doesn't want me to know. He still watches me from the same door he has used for the last couple of months, but he no longer closes the door at night. I think he's just perching there to lull me into complacentcy. Then he'll be able to strike from a strange unknown burrow when I least expect it. That, or he's just gotten too lazy to close the door anymore and knows now (finally) that there is nothing in the tank he can't handle... *GRIN*
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aka - Chevy, Scott, DM, etc... Zoanthid collector, Monitpoa sp. afficianado, Yuma snob and fan of the Mantis family. Last edited by DensityMan; 09/09/2004 at 10:10 AM. |
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#156
09/09/2004, 03:13 PM
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Well i wish tom would live up to his namesake, unfortunately he has been and will probably continue being a poon. I've posted up some pics of him in this forum. Go check him out DM!
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180 Gallon Reef Ready Aquarium: T-5's 2 Actinic VHO's Over 200 lbs of Fiji Live Rock PM Ca Reactor Custom dual Sedra 5000 Recirc Skimmer |
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#157
09/12/2004, 03:52 PM
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Awesome thread! Up there with the Gonad-Eating Buttfish thread...
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If life sometimes gets you down, just remember that you were once the fastest and most victorious sperm out of hundreds of thousands. |
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#158
09/13/2004, 12:57 PM
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Quote:
Thanks for the kind words (I think) on my behalf. Tim's still smacking the glass enraged after I read that post to him. I don't think he liked being put in the same category as a fish that lives in the south-bound end of a north-crawling cuke.  The 'heavenly' condition of his tank has already diminished over the weekend. I rested a not-so-healthy (large) astrea up next to his (flase) burrow entrance. When I got back from my camping trip to the 1840's he'd cleaned than shell with what looks like the help of a couple nassarius snails. I think the nass. snails tried to help because I found their broken shells next to the empty astrea shell. Two of the cerith snails also met their doom a the appetite of the mighty Tim (who's only truly mightly when his prey is slow and thinly covered with a calcified shell). All three peppermint shrimp survived the weekend. While they still hide with the lights on, they do in fact eat the aiptasia after dark. Only two clumps of aiptasia remain and both of those are within close striking distance of the king. The hydroid-covered 'decorator' has earned the name Medusa, but the sand-dwelling, smooth-shelled 'decorator' has yet to inspire a name for himself. PM me some ideas. I'll run them by Tim and he'll select. I'll try to take post up another couple pics of the smooth-shelled guy. He's kinda tough to capture on pixelated film though since he doesn't leave the sand. He keeps a small dimple in the sand-bed to expose his head and tiny claws, but the bulk of his crabby exterior is concealed under the sand he swims through. Enjoy all! (Tim still looks mad... keeps mumbling about being WAY cooler than a butt-fish... personally I think it's a tough call. I loved that buttfish thread!) 
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aka - Chevy, Scott, DM, etc... Zoanthid collector, Monitpoa sp. afficianado, Yuma snob and fan of the Mantis family. |
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#159
09/19/2004, 10:36 PM
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So I was going to make up some nonsensical post answering a PM about what else I keep with Tim, but it's been a good photo day. Apologies to those on dial-up in advance...
 The day started fairly normally with me staring at the tank and Tim mocking me with his one all-seeing eye peering just above his doorway. In the absence of Tim posing for photographs I've grown quite fond of photographing the hitchhiker 'decorator' crab. So I took a couple shots of the decorator ham... er... crab. Bullet-time...  Getting bored already...  When a little flash of movement catches my eye (as usual). On the prowl...  "Hey! Where's the meaty part?"  So Tim's hungry. This could be fun. He's going to make the rounds and size everyone up before choosing a meal. Big As-trea is still too big. All the ceriths are gone already. Nassarius are extinct in the tank again. The small astrea is smart (or lucky to date). The "Battle Damage Mithrax" (TM) is still bowing and saying "Yes Mr. Tim, Sir" so he gets an automatic reprieve (for now). StrongBad is still invisible in his mobile vault. The smooth-shelled decorator is secure under the sand until dusk. Hrm... That leaves one of the peppermint shrimp OR the afore mentioned really neat 'decorator' Who will he choose? Who will he chose?... His decision made, he begins the hunt. My heart sinks for the neat little crab...  Death-blow has to be in motion already...  Uh... death-blow incoming?  Incredible... Best vision under the ocean and he can't tell he's wrapped around a meal. He just wanted a better view of the real targets; Moe, Larry and Curly - the peppermints. Moe and Larry volunteer Curly up for 'decoy' duty while they assure him they're not cowering... they're planning...  After waiting for over ten minutes (why would I lie?) he makes his 'attack'... and misses. Entertaining to watch, if only a bit anti-climatic. I gave him a shrimp pellet and he felt better about himself. I told him not to be too hard on himself, but I think the snickering let him know it wasn't very sincere.
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aka - Chevy, Scott, DM, etc... Zoanthid collector, Monitpoa sp. afficianado, Yuma snob and fan of the Mantis family. Last edited by DensityMan; 09/19/2004 at 10:47 PM. |
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#160
09/19/2004, 10:42 PM
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as always great post and photos too!!!
Don't listen to them Tim!! I know your just fooling them all into a relaxed since of security.
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I wish.... I wish.... I wish I was a Fish! |
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#162
09/20/2004, 09:52 PM
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Hey DensityMan,
What kind of camera are you using. Your pics are always awesome. Thanks, -Glenn
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"My mom says there is a lot of black people in China" -Eric Cartman -GRIMREEFER Gig'em Aggies, Beat the Hell out of t.u. |
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#164
09/21/2004, 02:22 PM
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Had to edit the peppermints out of that posting due to a limit of eight images per post... but I guess I can share them now...
Moe, Larry and Curly  Curly plays bait... er... distraction  Red Teardrops of Impending Doom  Still ready to pounce... again...  Outcome doesn't change, he still missed... As for the camera, I use a Sony DSC-S85. It's a 4.1 mega-pixel model they had in production a couple years back. It's set to take pictures at about poster-sized and highest resolution/quality. I won't spend much time lauding its greatness because a.) it is out of production and b.) I have to take many, many pictures and use a bit of photo-shop magic to make these pictures appear as clean as they do; i.e. the camera hasno magic, it's just well-made and does a decent job. I hear absoltely wonderful things about the Nikon D-70 as well. Someone did ask recently what else I kept with Tim and I still don't think I've answered that in full. I updated the status of all the mobile 'verts, here are some of the immobiles... I keep a small patch of watermelon shrooms...  a couple polyps of 'cup' coral that I don't feed often enough for reproduction to be happening...  Some sundial snail food (the snail was added as a snack, but Tim didn't care for the taste of the beastie... an hour after being pulled into the lair to be consumed he crawled out and headed towards this patch of ugly palythoa)...  Enjoy! (Apologies to those receiving several notices for this latest update. RC was having a maintenance issue while I was trying to make this post.)
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aka - Chevy, Scott, DM, etc... Zoanthid collector, Monitpoa sp. afficianado, Yuma snob and fan of the Mantis family. Last edited by DensityMan; 09/21/2004 at 02:37 PM. |
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#165
09/21/2004, 03:01 PM
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Most excellent update!
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"Law abiding citizens sleep peacefully in their beds solely because dedicated men and women stand ready to do violence on their behalf." Support Law Enforcement! |
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#166
09/21/2004, 03:20 PM
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It's threads like this that make me glad to be a fish/mantis nerd.
Thanks, DensityMan, for putting a smile on my face with Tim's continuing adventures 
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PC load letter? What the {bleep} does that mean? |
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#167
09/24/2004, 10:16 PM
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You know, i'm pretty sure i'm just about the only guy in my school who, when given the oppurtunity to use the net, checks up on threads about gonad-munching buttfish and supermanti (plural form of mantis? or is it mantises?)
Keep it coming! 
__________________
If life sometimes gets you down, just remember that you were once the fastest and most victorious sperm out of hundreds of thousands. |
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#168
09/24/2004, 10:34 PM
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I only hope my mantis turns out to be as much of a character as the almighty Tim.
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#173
10/02/2004, 10:47 PM
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Phil has demanded that I (respectfully) request a new story from "the honerable tim mantis" as he "enjoys hearing of the successes of a fellow human-trainer". No respect I tell ya...but at least he allows for photo shoots...must be that he hasn't decided on a good "door" yet, huh?
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#175
10/02/2004, 11:38 PM
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sdm - I bet that the echo in here is just killing you...
__________________
If life sometimes gets you down, just remember that you were once the fastest and most victorious sperm out of hundreds of thousands. |
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