Day 3- April 08th, 2017
While we were watching our children explore their new home, in front of our very eyes a dark bulbous body crawled out of a hole from one of the tree branches we had collected from outside. Terrified that this spider might be a black widow, we devised a plan to murder the intruder, now nicknamed Big Mama. After a grueling 45 minutes of spraying Big Mama with water and nudging her out of her hole with a twig, she was finally terminated by a quick dagger to her body. We then noticed that she lacked the characteristic red hourglass of a black widow. A quick google search found that she was actually an interestingly named False Black Widow. The trusty twig used to coax Big Mama out of her lair was left in the hole to warn any other spiders or creepy crawlies that may be lurking in our tank that we mean business. Luckily, our children were now safe from Big Mama and could continue to enjoy their new world.
Moral of the story: If you are making a natural tank make sure no unwanted creatures are in the twigs and moss you gather from outside. You may even want to boil them first to ensure this does not happen.
Mantis Atlantis 