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Orchids Bloom

Gill

Gill

Member
Joined
17 Mar 2008
Messages
4,075
Location
Coventry
I have been tempted by one of the Orchid Mantids for a good while now.
And have been gathering bits and pieces for its enclosure.
At AquaH there was a invert shop - 'Buzzard Reptiles' that had OG tanks by Custom Aquaria and i just had to get one of Matts perfect little Pico tanks for Inverts etc.
So next stop was Horizon to get some supplies, As decided i wanted to try Buce in this type of Setup. Just got a pot of SP Red as that was plenty for this teeny enclosure.
Next went to Victor(Mother of Aquatics) for some tall pieces for it to clamber around on, and found some lovely branched Chola wood for only £2 a branch. Perfect medium for gluing Buce to.
Already had the soil, Carbon etc mix saved from other stuff. So that was easy to mix up and add. Next a layer of Mosses to help keep the moisture Humidity levels,
Micro heat matt ordered and will be here tomorrow. aswell as a Lego style Led, as that's the smallest i could find will just hot glue it to the rim to keep it in place. I know its doesn't really need a light unit on it, but i want to showcase it all nicely. It does get ambient light from the shrimp nano next to it, but that's not enough for me.

The Enclosure tank is 20*10*10 which is perfect for this size of mantid and gives me the height I need to scape and make sure it has enough vertical height for the Mantid.
I'm going to just use a perfume atomiser and fill it with water from the nano to spray when required.
CUC has been added and getting some fruit flies this morning from PAH as its a few mins walk from me, would go to KBN but don't like using the junkies frequented carpark below the store.

I've got the Orchid saved in basket and will order when ready later in the week. Once everything is all ready and I'm happy with it.
 
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Planted up, and ready for the Mantid.
CuC added, feeds ready etc.
Found a lego led set in my spares, so set that up to sit on the lid.
 

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She arrived on Friday, and settled in very well.
Has been hunting fruit flies this afternoon.
And has decided to perch and moult right infron of me right now.
 

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Love the orchid mantis.
 
Mmmm spotted a teeny ramshorn snail in the moss, Didn't realise they could live emersed.
The Flamingo Pink Crypts new leaves have grown in Green, wonder if they will go Pink or Not.
 
Wondering, Can she see the cherry shrimp in the tank next to her. As it looks like she is staring at them intently and tapping the glass and rocking back and forth.

Also another Successful Molt, so she is now L4
 
NathanB said:
Most definitely, all of my mantids often suddenly turned their heads to look at me when I looked into their enclosures on my shelf. Super intelligent and inquisitive animals! Beautiful setup you made for her too
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Last night she was tasting my finger and then tried to climb onto it.
Ill try again soon so she is more used to me.

The Buce did not doo well long term, so moved most of it into the shrimp nano. Only one peice is thriving and thats nearest to the moss floor.
Started to Supplement the CUC with some shrimp food, and they seem to swarm it once they find it.

Any Ideas for another small plant that would do better in this climate. The Cholla wood looks so bare.
 
How often are you spraying the enclosure? Looks like there’s a decent amount of ventilation in there which could cause the enclosure to dry out, probably was too dry for the bucephalandra, the fact that the only piece which did well was close to the ground most likely proves this. Most of the plants in the aquarium hobby that can also live in terrarium/vivarium setups usually require very high humidity at least, I’d try some terrarium plants that can handle this lower humidity. You might get away with some Ficus pumila or F. quercifolia if you start cuttings off grown in the substrate and guided up onto the wood so that they have access to the moist soil below. Probably too low humidity for any Marcgravia sp. Cushion mosses are good, they often grow on stone walls or roof tiles and frequently dry out and come back green when it rains.

On a side note, be careful with low humidity when it comes to the mantis moulting, it can cause some issues that are very sad to witness. Been there before. Although It’s good that it has moulted successfully every time so far, good mantis keeping!
 
NathanB said:
How often are you spraying the enclosure? Looks like there’s a decent amount of ventilation in there which could cause the enclosure to dry out, probably was too dry for the bucephalandra, the fact that the only piece which did well was close to the ground most likely proves this. Most of the plants in the aquarium hobby that can also live in terrarium/vivarium setups usually require very high humidity at least, I’d try some terrarium plants that can handle this lower humidity. You might get away with some Ficus pumila or F. quercifolia if you start cuttings off grown in the substrate and guided up onto the wood so that they have access to the moist soil below. Probably too low humidity for any Marcgravia sp. Cushion mosses are good, they often grow on stone walls or roof tiles and frequently dry out and come back green when it rains.

On a side note, be careful with low humidity when it comes to the mantis moulting, it can cause some issues that are very sad to witness. Been there before. Although It’s good that it has moulted successfully every time so far, good mantis keeping!
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I spray in the morning using a perfume atomiser(water from the shrimp nano) and usually 5/6 sprays. I covered the Ventilation in a layer of fine mesh to help keep the moisture levels a little higher. And added extra black tape around the lid to make it nice and snug, as was quite loose.

Ill keep an eye out for those plants next time i go to Homebase etc, cheers.
 
Hi all,
NathanB said:
I read that they grow large and like high light and high humidity too. Maybe someone else on here has experience with it
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A lot of people have grown them as an <"emersed plant"> in tanks etc.

This one belonged to @hitmanx
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cheers Darrel
 
NathanB said:
I’ve always thought this species was difficult to keep alive and sensitive, but I’ll say I have no real experience with it! I read that they grow large and like high light and high humidity too. Maybe someone else on here has experience with it
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Yeah thats i can understand. I have it sitting in a riparium thingy in the main tank, and its struggling in that environment.
 
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