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  #101  
Old 06/17/2004, 04:14 PM
APynckel APynckel is offline
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That helped a lot.

One more question; What sized tank and filtration methods are you using to house the mighty Tim?
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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
  #102  
Old 06/23/2004, 09:12 AM
H2OLUVSME H2OLUVSME is offline
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ive got to say thanks DM
ive been reading Tim's thread here since i signed up to RC. i cant just go to the end and get an update either. i have to read every post every time i visit. this is a GREAT thread and it helps me through my work day every time a new post comes up.

LT
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  #103  
Old 06/23/2004, 03:44 PM
DensityMan DensityMan is offline
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Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Indianapolis, IN
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Tim and I experienced our first 'hitch' with the new filter.

Sunday night as I was taking dictation for a message from him over chat to one of his fans, the filter said "ka-CHUNK!"

Flow stopped. The motor hummed. And all I could think of was that that damned Nemo had gotten into the filter again to cast a stone into the impeller. Tim thinks Nemo looks tasty...

Anyway.

Tim stopped dictating long enough to demand I fix it and got distracted and a little miffed when I said "Huh? Fix it how?"

I was initially frustrated by the design because from the top it appears to be an enclosed impeller without access. Tim started blabbing about checking the instructions before I started eyeing the tank-draining-hose. He went into hiding while I continued grumbling about throwing away the instructions.

It turns out the whole motor/impeller assembly comes off the bottom of the filter with a simple counter-clockwise twist (over a sink unless you enjoy wet floor). Cleaned the impeller the impeller well and then changed the carbon and added another sponge just for fun (and to reduce flow/noise as well).

All said and done it took me about 14 hours to fix it (I had to go to the store to buy a new filter before I learned the impeller/motor assembly was removable).

Tim has learned to appreciate greater flow again... after catching his breath...


(No, Nemo isn't really in the tank.)

((Thanks again from Tim and I for all the kind words and PM's - makes typing these in worth it for certain))
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Zoanthid collector, Monitpoa sp. afficianado, Yuma snob and fan of the Mantis family.
  #104  
Old 06/23/2004, 03:52 PM
DensityMan DensityMan is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by APynckel
One more question; What sized tank and filtration methods are you using to house the mighty Tim?
10g perfecto
Aquaclear Mini (now called the Aquaclear 20 or 200)
- sponge
- carbon
- sponge (for switching out to clean and rotate with the first)
Aquaclear Surface Skimmer attachment
Live Rubble
2" stocked sandbed
Macro-algae (caleurpa sp.)
Halimeda sp.

He gets a couple gallons changed about once a month and macros are trimmed as needed.

That's it.
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Zoanthid collector, Monitpoa sp. afficianado, Yuma snob and fan of the Mantis family.
  #105  
Old 06/23/2004, 04:01 PM
DensityMan DensityMan is offline
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Tim-referrence link

Tim responds to naming honor: http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...hreadid=391698

He's still beaming with ego... er... pride.
  #106  
Old 06/23/2004, 05:16 PM
Dakota_reef Dakota_reef is offline
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Should have come on here about that aquaclear. I love those things. They're so dang wasy to clean and fix (sice the impeller assemple is removealebl w/o having to TOUCH anything else). Glad all is back to normal. Is it just me, or has Tim seemed more cranky lately?
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  #107  
Old 06/23/2004, 10:01 PM
DensityMan DensityMan is offline
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More demanding for certain...

He's still not happy with the cleanliness of his tank.
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  #108  
Old 07/10/2004, 10:57 AM
overflowin overflowin is offline
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bump...or should i say tick?

more tim!
more tim!
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Overhead the albatros hangs motionless upon the air
And deep beneath the rolling waves
In labyrinths of coral caves
The echo of a distant tide
Comes willowing across the sand
  #109  
Old 07/11/2004, 12:13 AM
DensityMan DensityMan is offline
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Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Indianapolis, IN
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"I desperately want to know what Strongbad eats... he's digging in the sand looking hungry... I think he might just be a touch stupid..." DensityMan thought aloud.

"I drop shrimp pellets at him and he walks past them... pods crawl on his shell... he's gotta be getting the energy to haul that rock around from somewhere... I just want to know where," stated to an interested friend.

So that's what I was doing, just wondering things out loud to a friend in chat when BAM!...


Tim scared the $#!+ out of me!!!


He's up WAY past his bedtime and while I was staring at Strongbad he popped out of a hole I've never seen him use before, directly above SB. He grabbed a cracked apart nassarius shell (an 1/8 of an inch away from a perfectly good shrimp pellet) and ducked back down the hole. Its just testament to how 'big' he's gotten lately (relatively speaking of course - in the past month he's eaten approximately 2 dozen small blue-legs and at least 2 cerith snails).

So I figure he's decorating a new lair and needed the half-shell for a wall.

It does tick me off a little that he'll come out like that when he knows I don't have the camera ready. So I get the camera and wait to take a truly stunning picture and as soon as I get the camera ready, he pulls a Brando...



NOW I understand why Tim is still up...

While I'm staring at this 'new' home I notice him back at the old digs. He'd made his old apartment large enough to house him again, but in doing so his old 'door' is too small... So he's rummaging around the tank looking for a new door, big enough to close the entrance, but small enough to take inside...

This is freaking hilarious... I only wish I could catch this on film... but all he's doing is rotating pieces of shells and rubble in his door

Meanwhile the emerald crab is laughing at Tim (a mere 3 inches away).


Since I can't capture a decent shot of Tim to save your reading experience I'll post links to a few shots I was able to take clearly. Here are some images of the coolest bug on the planet...

the Preying Mantis!

1.) on leaf - http://www.densityman.com/images/sho...04/on_leaf.jpg
2.) crawling up - http://www.densityman.com/images/sho...rawling_up.jpg
3.) a little perspective - http://www.densityman.com/images/sho...erspective.jpg
4.) so small - http://www.densityman.com/images/sho...4/so_small.jpg

Found it on the windshield as I was running errands today... it's no longer than a half-inch... pulled over and contained it. Then released it into the garden for pest control!

We had a 7inch mantis make it into the house last summer... cats were having canniption-fits trying to 'hunt' it while I was trying to save it.

Anyway... Tim's ticked off (because he still can't find a door or because I'm talking about something besides him), gotta go...



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Zoanthid collector, Monitpoa sp. afficianado, Yuma snob and fan of the Mantis family.
  #110  
Old 07/11/2004, 12:45 AM
thesus13 thesus13 is offline
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lol!

Speaking of emerald crabs, I'm thinking of putting one in the tank with my baby Wennerae. How do they get along, so to speak ; )
  #111  
Old 07/11/2004, 09:30 AM
DensityMan DensityMan is offline
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Tim has only twice attacked (non-hermit) crabs and both times they were significantly smaller (and only once did he not look like a complete pansy). The emerald looks to out-mass Tim by a factor of at least 1.5... I think he's safe... for now...

*Non-Legal non-Disclaimer - all referrences made within this post are of course made in referrence only in regards to the reef-keepers experience with a G. smithii stomatopod named Tim...
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Zoanthid collector, Monitpoa sp. afficianado, Yuma snob and fan of the Mantis family.
  #112  
Old 07/11/2004, 03:08 PM
DensityMan DensityMan is offline
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I may be too hard on Tim... What if he's not a sissy? What if the cosmos is plotting against him and everything in his tank is just way tougher than it's supposed to be.

Take the aiptasia for instance (please... *rimshot*).

Last night I did my monthly (futile) excersize of eliminating the little pest anemones from the main reef and Tim's tank. In the main tank the annoying glass anemones have the common decency to play dead for a couple weeks. Quite the contrary in Tim's tank. Sure some of the anemones look a little rough around the edges. Some of them are missing tentacles. Some of them are shriveled. ALL of them are still alive and giving me the bird.

Even I'm a little intimidated...

I wonder what Tim thinks...

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Zoanthid collector, Monitpoa sp. afficianado, Yuma snob and fan of the Mantis family.
  #113  
Old 07/11/2004, 03:12 PM
DensityMan DensityMan is offline
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After presenting me with several opportunities to photograph him today, Tim has finally approved a 'headshot' for his, as he puts it, "adoring meatbags" (I think he means 'fans' though... I can't be certain).

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  #114  
Old 07/11/2004, 03:25 PM
sealover113 sealover113 is offline
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That is such a cute picture with the starfish!!! I really love this thread. BTW, amazing tank.
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  #115  
Old 07/11/2004, 11:51 PM
DensityMan DensityMan is offline
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The many moods of Tim:

Intrigued


Annoyed



The two moods of Tim...




Apparently for my amusement only, Tim has forgotten the trials and tribulations of closing the door to his newly renovated home... again...

So I enjoyed another day of "Why the hell doesn't this door FIT?!?" He has two different shells he kept trying them individually... He just didn't try using both of them (like he figured out yesterday)...

Honest-to-all-I-hold-holy, he played the game for 10+ minutes before giving up entirely and sleeping (presumably... probably fitfully) with the door wide-open.

I hope he forgets again tomorro night too...
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  #116  
Old 07/12/2004, 12:27 AM
APynckel APynckel is offline
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so it's normal for the stomatopod to just go into a rock and seal themselves in?
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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
  #117  
Old 07/12/2004, 12:31 AM
DensityMan DensityMan is offline
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Tim does that (er... did that, when he was able to figure it out) every evening before bed. He also seals himself up in the apartment for molting... I've never seen a molt of his... I just recognized his absence from the tank and mentally mark time until he comes back out.

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  #118  
Old 07/12/2004, 12:32 AM
APynckel APynckel is offline
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well Tom has been in hiding since i got him and i have to open his door for him to check up and make sure he's still alive.
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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
  #119  
Old 07/12/2004, 10:32 AM
DensityMan DensityMan is offline
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Tim makes it pretty clear to me that he would prefer not to be disturbed when the door is shut. But I've already said that in your other thread. It can be dangerous to your mantis unless you know exactly where the door stops and the mantis starts. It can also add stress to an already stressful time.


Posted this elsewhere and thought I'd bring it over here for anyone wondering about the "Do's and Don'ts" of feeding Tim:


Do's
- Nassarius sp. snails (gobbles these up)
- Cerith sp. snails
- saltwater 'Ghost"/feeder shrimps (never seen him take one down, but they aren't found at all after a couple days)
- shrimp pellets
- frozen mysis (through a straw)
- enriched brine (through a straw)

Don'ts
- Whelks (thought this would be a cheap source of food, but he tried one and let the others survive - then I was feeding Tim AND the whelks...)
- blue-legs (at least not for food... for clean-up and the occasional rumble)
- Scarlet hermits (see blue-legs above)
- ninja crustaceans...


Tim wanted me to thank again those of you who continue to enjoy his chronicles and root him on against the forces of (tiny, non-violent) evil...

*grin*
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  #120  
Old 07/12/2004, 11:39 AM
quandary_23 quandary_23 is offline
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These stories are the best on the entire site. So Tim is down to one eye for good then? No regeneration.
Maybe his one eye is keeping him from attacking the emerald crab, because what if he lost his other eye? Strongbad must be mocking the one eyed hero, Come on Tim. We are all cheering for you.
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  #121  
Old 07/12/2004, 11:42 AM
Hwarang Hwarang is offline
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LOL.

It's hilarious to think of Tim as being annoyed. LOLOL.
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bl00p!
  #122  
Old 07/12/2004, 11:46 AM
DensityMan DensityMan is offline
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According to Dr. Roy, the eyes do not regenerate. He also said that it is likely he would grow another attenae to replace the lost eye. Both of the expression pics above show his 'new' antennae fairly well.

He seems more cautious since losing half his viable eyes, but otherwise appears to be well-adjusted and 'happy.'
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  #123  
Old 07/12/2004, 11:55 AM
Hwarang Hwarang is offline
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My wennerae ate'd the hitchhiking emerald crab ... but she waited until it tried to molt then took her opportunity. I saw him molting, I saw her run up and whack him, then she ate half his face off and left his carcass there.
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  #124  
Old 07/12/2004, 12:03 PM
overflowin overflowin is offline
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TIM'S STARDOM IS OFFICIAL!!!

the most popular stomatapod this side of low tide has been honored by hollywood...


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Overhead the albatros hangs motionless upon the air
And deep beneath the rolling waves
In labyrinths of coral caves
The echo of a distant tide
Comes willowing across the sand
  #125  
Old 07/12/2004, 12:12 PM
H2OLUVSME H2OLUVSME is offline
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thats funny

LT
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