The Continuing Adventures of Tim (Supermantis) - Page 20

Loralie · #**476** 02/24/2006, 02:10 PM

At our local reef club meeting a member had decided to part company with his "world dominating" peacock Mantis. I have been looking for one since stumbling upon the notorius TIM. He had heard I wanted one and offered me his.....IT IS 7" LONG AND ABOUT 2 1/2" WIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT IS FLIPPIN' HUGE. I was stunned and very frightened by this enormous creature and withdrew the offer of residence.....however another in our club had a huge frag tank that the mantis now calls home!

DensityMan · #**477** 02/27/2006, 02:03 PM

Tim doesn't quite get Mardi Gras...

First off, he has issues with the mask. I shouldn't really give him too much grief over that, it wasn't made for him, and he only has one eye after all. He likes the beads (I think because they're shiny), but he doesn't quite get what he's supposed to do with them.

I've told him several times what to say and what to do with them after they comply, but it's just not sinking in. Don't get me wrong though, he's having fun - in his own way. He says, "Show me your [CENSORED]" just fine. When the little crabs comply, Tim shows them smashing dactyls and swift deaths... instead of 'wolf whistles' and beads.

Maybe I'm the one with the problem. He still all has his shiny beads AND he's happy as a... uh... well, he's happy as a feeding stomatopod.

Happy Mardi Gras / Fat Tuesday all!

Morgandy · #**478** 03/02/2006, 09:00 PM

Tim, all your bionic-mantis-shrimp secrets have now been revealed!! :>)

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...5&goto=newpost

DensityMan · #**479** 03/16/2006, 08:42 AM

Alright Amy, you've got to help me out. Tim's been making me click on your above link over and over again, he's certain that one of these times it's going to need him to the expose on bionic-mantis-secrets instead of right back to this thread. My fingers are numb from the repitition.

A couple people above have been asking to see what Tim's domain looks like today, as his kingdom's terrain seems to be ever-changing. Managed to snap a really bad picture last week.

The rock on the right is the most recent landscape change. It's the home of 5 translucent (but subtly pretty) 'ball' anemones. Only the top one is fully open...

Aside from the 'ball' anemones, his tank is also inhabited by a score of swimming aiptasia. I'm still trying to capture a video that does these little "pests" justice. They look just like regular aiptasia, but have a much shorter stalk and often release their hold on the terrain to swim to a new location. The pulsing motion of their swim is quite hypnotic...

Tim had a special request of me this past week as well. He wanted to capture the 'sunrise' from his perspective. It took some convincing, but he's a natural photo-bug, so it all worked out. Below is Tim's first photograph. His world-perspective is a bit skewed, but if he wants to call this a sunrise who am I to object...

For a little background, his 'sun' shows up every morning while I'm at the computer to check out Tim. Pat, the sun, enjoys watching and listening to Tim hunt. They might share secret hunting tips on the side... I'm not sure.

Enjoy all,

DM

BrianR · #**480** 03/16/2006, 08:56 AM

been following this thread since day 1 but this is my first post on it....I think.

Just had to say, classic on getting Tim's reflection on the cat's eyes.

Well done.

vareefer4life · #**481** 03/16/2006, 11:56 AM

I agree, awsome photos Tim!! Thinking of making a career in photography? If so, might we get some of you on the hunt er... inviting friends over and the "get together" afterwards??

fishnut321 · #**482** 03/16/2006, 08:42 PM

Hey Tim should have some of his crustacean models over for short-talk, well i mean they all look so good.....to eat!

FlyGTI · #**483** 03/20/2006, 04:29 PM

Well done on this thread. Tim is definitely a character.

Dastank · #**484** 03/21/2006, 05:08 AM

Greta stories!

mhurley · #**485** 03/22/2006, 11:22 PM

Quote:

Snazzy new plastic heater

GO TIMMY

TippyToeX · #**486** 03/22/2006, 11:27 PM

For those Tim fans out there (like me), better go vote for your guy!

Clicky

Timbor · #**487** 03/23/2006, 12:29 AM

congrats on the nomination, Tim!

Perhaps you should go and have a "talk" with the competition...

DensityMan · #**488** 03/23/2006, 01:23 AM

So it's been awhile since Tim's had any real challenging meals... er.. friends over for a visit (and he hasn't forgotten that none of you have helped him with his search for a roommate recently - he made me type that... and I have to say, the glare he's able to make with one eye is impressive).

I paid a visit to the LFS and picked him out a couple of new buddies...

*Chomp-chomp-chomp* go the emeralds...

Aside from a wicked sense of sight, Tim also has a keen sense of taste. It never takes him more than a few moments, no matter how long past his bedtime, to notice when new 'friends' enter the tank.

Not since the little cling-crab 'left' this tank have I witnessed such inventive manuevers to evade notice...

The other less-inventive crab seems to be Tim's favorite playmate at this time. "Less-inventive" in his case can only be interpretted as really stupid. This one, the smaller of the two, actually chooses to 'hide' directly next to Tim's throne. Furthermore, rather than freezing in his tracks when he notices Tim noticing him, he actually scampers back and forth. Tim loves this. It has already inspired many scenes such as that captured below.

I did have a little 'talk' with Tim about playing with his food... friends... so rough, but I'm not sure he was hearing me at the time.

Since adding Team Green on Sunday there's been plenty of rough-housing and shell-smacking, but he's still only playing. In the mean time he's already cleared out the two nassarius and a hermit crab. I figure there'll be more to tell on this story by the weekend though...

Enjoy,

DensityMan · #**489** 03/23/2006, 01:36 AM

Amy,

Tim wanted me to pass along his extraordinary gratitude at your making him aware of this months poll to make Thread of the Month.

His reaction was priceless. Though I fear he may have to molt to accomodate his huge head.

Thanks!

Nagel · #**490** 03/23/2006, 01:57 AM

Wow. Blast from the past.. I remember reading this way back when. I can't believe it is STILL going strong..

I gotta say DM, you DO have quite the storytelling experience..

DensityMan · #**491** 03/23/2006, 07:00 AM

And mad photoshop skills too!

Thanks Nagel, glad you enjoyed it (again).

crzy_pig · #**492** 03/23/2006, 07:44 AM

Tim,
I gotta ask .. Where did you get that ULTRA, ULTRA light portable? how is the screen resolution? is it MAC or PC?

DensityMan · #**493** 03/23/2006, 10:21 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by crzy_pig
Tim,
I gotta ask .. Where did you get that ULTRA, ULTRA light portable? how is the screen resolution? is it MAC or PC?

It was rough to find one. Not only did it have to be ultra-light, it also had to be extremely rugged. I ended up going with a custom titanium job.

Nagel · #**494** 03/23/2006, 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by DensityMan
Not only did it have to be ultra-light, it also had to be extremely rugged.

Don't forget waterproof!!

Tim supermantis · #**495** 03/24/2006, 08:33 AM

Silly keeper-person give Tim tiny world-taking-over device. Now none of meat-bags safe... uh... save for those on my PNTEBILT list.

Going to have to replace many key soon. Typing on tiny keys make Tim mad. Then Tim type harder. Keys break like sissy-ninja-crab-shell under Tim's wrath.

Already the key that looks like symbol of gay-blade is gone. Which is OK. Nothing good to eat starts with a " ." ucchini, ebra mussels, oanthids, none of these is tasty.

Then again, without the missing letter I cannot ip or oom around my throne-room. Hrmmm. Tim mail Dell support when finished smashing keys to make words and make them come fix.

So, that all for now. Roommate ad getting too few calls. Go meatbags. Find Tim roommate.

crzy_pig · #**496** 03/24/2006, 08:42 AM

Tim is no Caveman.... Imposter!

DensityMan · #**497** 03/24/2006, 08:44 AM

Hrmm... I may have to tighten security on the wireless network again.

Nagel: Yeah, waterproof was a tough stadard to find as well... Luckily, Tim knows people to threaten at both MIT and NASA, so the specs were met with relative ease.

Tim supermantis · #**498** 03/24/2006, 09:11 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by crzy_pig
Tim is no Caveman.... Imposter!

Cry-pig right. Tim is not caveman. Tim is Tim.

Cry-pig also wrong. Tim is not Imposter. Again Tim say, Tim is Tim.

Silly English language too wrong to use properly by supreme mantis intelligence. Closest thing meat-bags use to real language is morse code.

Tim tell you secret of world now, but again English too silly to convey true meaning:

*Clak* *krik-krik-kraki* *clud-dak* *Kla-KOW*

WILDTHING · #**499** 03/24/2006, 09:17 AM

Tim, I love your signature line........smashing, terrorizing, eating. Kinda sums it up in a nutshell.....errr or should that be crabshell.

colleen

Glove · #**500** 03/24/2006, 10:10 AM

Someone roll out the welcome banner and give Tim the proper greeting to Reef Central...........

You are an inspiration to all keepers of stomatopods and we look forward to hearing more stories. If you prefer to let your keeper translate we understand, for we are mere humans and our intelligence is limited.