FamousGuy Posted August 25, 2002 Share Posted August 25, 2002 I put a ricordia rock in my tank a few days ago and heard the signs of a mantis or a pistol (an occasional pop at night). When i was looking for the critter i saw a cloud of fine dust puff out from the ricordia rock....can anyone ID whether it's a pistol or mantis from this without me seeing what it is? I wish i could just take the rock out and fish the thing out but i dont wanna #### off my ricordia Link to comment
suprax Posted August 25, 2002 Share Posted August 25, 2002 I had a mantis that only clicked when you moved a rock near him or something such as that. I tried just about everything and eventually had to remove the whole rock to get him out. He now sits on my desk in 95% ethanol... But anyway its likely you had this shrimp all along but never noticed or he’s just getting cranky. The only real way to ID this guy is to see him. It would be good to get him out if you are concerned about him eating a fish or any snails you have (mine ate every single snail)... Some people like to have them in their tank.... Link to comment
Goofnut Posted August 25, 2002 Share Posted August 25, 2002 I started hearing some clicks in my tank the other day as well. It turned out to be a combination of my flame scallop moving around and one of the hermits clacking his shell against the glass. The hermit shell click is a much lower volume than the flame scallop, of course. I'm used to the flame scallop making noise, but I heard different tones and volumes and started to get concerned I also have a very nice looking bristleworm (nearly three inches -white with a green iridescent glow) on my yellow polyp rock, and when I startle him, he will dart back into his hole and make a poof of dust. You may very well have a mantis, but look for other possibilites as well. Tonight, I plan on lowering the lights in the room significantly and placing a video camera on a tripod in front of the tank. I want to see if anything interesting comes out when I'm out of the room Link to comment
gobies Posted August 26, 2002 Share Posted August 26, 2002 Count your snails and hermits daily... if they start to go missing, you probably have a mantis rather than a pistol. Alternately, in case you have a spearer-type mantis, put a bit of fish on the end of a kabob skewer and hold it in front of the area where you see the poof of sand. If you see something dart out, grab the fish, and dart back, congrats, you have a spearer. If you have either type of mantis, post over in the mantis forum on RC. There are always a couple of people who want a mantis, and some who will pay for a spearer (they're much less common). Shoot, in SoCal you probably won't even have to deal with shipping it. (For anyone else who gets one, the mantis crew over at RC usually expects that they will have to pay you to ship the mantis via overnight.) Link to comment
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