# Loops117 is here!



## Loops117 (Mar 16, 2016)

Hello all.

Ryan here, also known as NanoRyan89, and acampinfool on other community forums depending on the hobby.

To start off, i'm 26, from michigan and have been a bug enthusiast my whole entire life. I sell computers and inventory manage as a career, and looking to get (back) into this hobby.

I've always gone a little overboard with any and all of my endeavors. I thrive on symbiotic relationships and self ecosystems for both land and water creatures.  I spent a lot of my life caring for Reptiles, amphibians, insects, Tropical aquariums, terrariums, reef tanks, gardens and now Vivariums. Since i have a love for all living creatures and eco-systems (Not to mention the mantis is my absolute favorite bug), i plan on building a vivarium (or a few considering i couldnt just have ONE fish tank, or ONE reptile tank..lol) completed with a full clean up crew and mantids.

What brought me to this forum is the endless search for mantids. I've always known you could buy the common green mantid online, but i never knew about the rest of the species readily available for the trade up until a couple months ago. Since then, my mind has been spinning in circles around this insect project. I hope to build my first Vivarium for a colony of Ghost mantids, and have already started the project. (You'll see a project page for this if the forums have a section for it). I'm new to mantids and plan on asking about a million questions about them, so i hope you're all prepared.

Anyway, thank you for reading this.

Ryan


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## spider_creations (Mar 16, 2016)

Welcome to the forum


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## Sarah K (Mar 16, 2016)

Welcome! i think you found the right place! Sounds like we have a lot in common. I am currently keeping around 20 mantids, 6 frogs, 6 fish, 2 cats, and various feeders( which I breed myself). As you can see, I have a tendency of going  overboard with whatever I am into at the time, as well.


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## MantisGalore (Mar 16, 2016)

Welcome!


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## dmina (Mar 16, 2016)

Welcome to the group!


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## CosbyArt (Mar 16, 2016)

Hello Ryan and welcome to the forum






Sounds like you have plenty of interest and experience with a bit of everything.


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## Loops117 (Mar 17, 2016)

Hello and thank you all. I look forward to calling this forum my 2nd home for a while.


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## LAME (Mar 17, 2016)

Loops117 said:


> Hello and thank you all. I look forward to calling this forum my 2nd home for a while.


We may have an extra room available. ^_^ 

And a late welcome from Illinois.


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## Rick (Mar 17, 2016)

Welcome


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## hibiscusmile (Mar 18, 2016)

WElcome!


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## avn (May 5, 2016)

Hey Loops, how are the builds going?


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## Loops117 (May 5, 2016)

Hello avn. The builds are still being researched. I have a small enclosure with a dead mandevilla plant and some moss for my Ghost mantid right now. I'm currently working on a Formicarium and outworld for my ant colony, along with some other insect related ventures. I've been having a lot of fun with my Ghost though, he watches over my ant farms while im working on them.


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## Loops117 (Jun 12, 2016)

Well, Khal reached adulthood last night, and man he looks awesome. Khaleesi is still one step behind, but she usually follows quickly.

As for the builds, it's going great. I have multiple species and i'm trying out which ants will be the best from my multi culture tank.

Here's two of my first ant farms i made.





And now one of the colonies


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## Loops117 (Jun 12, 2016)

li


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