Huge assassin tank

[MacCleod]

Since my turtles found a new home, I had an empty aquarium (size about 47"x20"x24").
After some brainstorming, I came with the idea to fill the tank with red spotted assassins
And that's what I did. I covered the bottom with coco ground, placed a coco wall against the back of the tank and put some live plants in it, so it looks like a real rainforest It only needs a tight lid

Here are the pics:

Yesterday evening I finally put the assassins in the tank...man...that was really amazing to see them discover the whole tank. They crawl, flitter, explore the hiding places....really unbelievable.
I'm so glad now...it's a dream that comes true...having such a tank filled with nifty hunters

 

[Navaros]

That is a very cool tank, good job!Going to be awesome once they start breeding!I really need to get some assassins again.They were really cool to keep.
Good Luck!

 

[Bob]

Great Gino........................now I have to buy some assassins again..........................

Kind of rare in the states.

 

[MacCleod]

Originally posted by Bob
Great Gino........................now I have to buy some assassins again..........................

Kind of rare in the states.

Ow, in Europe they are easy to find

 

[Steven]

Ow, in Europe they are easy to find

at present they are,.... talking about 4 years ago,... they were also quite rare in the hobby.

hopefully one day those "mombo's" get to Europe also :}

any news on those Gino ?

 

[MacCleod]

Originally posted by gongyles
hopefully one day those "mombo's" get to Europe also :}

any news on those Gino ?

No
Lost contact with the guy

 

[Navaros]

They are not THAT rare.I got my first colony for free actually.I can' bring myself to pay 20 dollars for just one though, or I would have a bunch again.

 

[MacCleod]

Yeah, I noticed that P. rhadamanthus is quite expensive in the US.

I pay about $8 for 4 adult red spotted assassins

 

[Bob]

>>They are not THAT rare....

Sorry....I am talking about the P. Mombo. I bought 4 and they were all males. To much cash for the risk...........

 

[MacCleod]

Originally posted by Bob
Sorry....I am talking about the P. Mombo. I bought 4 and they were all males. To much cash for the risk...........

That's a bummer indeed
But I really want to get that mombo to Europe.
Don't you have any good addresses that could ship eggs of this species

 

[Bob]

I send you a private email.

 

[MacCleod]

Originally posted by Bob
I send you a private email.

Replied on that one

 

[Navaros]

Oh, the mombos.Well the only person I know with those right now is golden phoenix.I would LOVE to get those.I understand what you meen, 20 bucks or so is a lot when your getting all the same sex.

 

[Elytra and Antenna]

Assassins are pretty common in the US. They are also rather cheap, $6 and LESS for the more common and $20 or LESS for the RAREST ones. Compare that to other inverts. in the US.
...sure, mealworms, crickets and hissers (though I've seen hissers at shops for $20) are cheaper.

Comparisons to other countries is difficult since a canteloupe is $30 in Japan and apartment rent for a month is $80 in Poland.

The other day I threw an adult female hisser (a cull from the giant stock hisser tank) in with the red spots. A 3/4 nymph came running out and jumped on the roaches pronotum and was trying to push it's rostrum into the soft area just under the pronotum. The hisser was hissing like mad and kept knocking off the assassin and seeing this little assassin continue to jump on its back and attack it looked so silly I started to laugh. But then I remembered the hisser was really going to die and it wasn't really funny anymore.


Bob:Unless the nymphs are subadult you can't sex them and they're a lot harder to pin down without getting bitten. All males out of 3 nymphs (the fourth one died before it got old enough to tell) isn't really bad luck since the odds aren't very good with that small a number. (I have two kids and they're both girls). Besides that, you can always pick up a definite female for your males.

 

[chuck]

wow, having that many assassins would be awesome. be like a sceen out of the last jurasic park. when those little dinos attacked the bully hunter, they swarmed all over him. i gave my mating pair a place to lay their eggs, i hope i see some results soon. =D

 

[MacCleod]

Originally posted by chuck
wow, having that many assassins would be awesome.

Yeah, I hope all my eggs (about 70) will hatch
That would be a great start of a nice colony:}

Now there are 14 adults in it, that's not enough for such a big tank.

 

[Navaros]

That's pretty cool how the nymph attacked the hisser.Mine were usually afraid of bigger bugs.I would REALLY like to get a colony of assassins going again.Any species would do, Bob, do you have any eggs or nymphs extra right now?I am desperate, and the retail prices on them is ridiculous IMO.Maybe that's because I always got mine free.

 

[Milo]

"Red spotted assassin" sounded so cool I had ot try and lok up a pic, but i couldnt find any. annoying.

 

[Orb Weaver]

"Red spotted assassin" sounded so cool I had ot try and lok up a pic, but i couldnt find any. annoying.

Search for Platymeris rhadamanthus and you should find some.

 

[Stylopidae]

Since we're on the topic, MacCleod, would you repost the pictures of your tank?

I want ideas for when I'm able to set up an assassin tank of my own