mickey85 Posted November 17, 2004 Share Posted November 17, 2004 Alright, I've got a 2.5G tank with about 3 lbs of live rock, 2 blue leg hermits and a rather small clown goby (the tank is going to be upgraded soon). Anyway, I have papers on my desk in front of it covering the sand part of the tank, and I see this tiny cloud of sand being blown up. Thinking it was a gas pocket, I pull away the papers and look, and lo and behold, under my tiny piece of live-rock I have sitting on the sand, there's this shrimp looking thing rummaging around under there. It's grey, and looks kinda like it's "furry". at first I thought it was some form of bristleworm or something that hitched in on my live rock as a youngun, but I don't know. He kinda disappeared again, and when I see him next, I'll update this, but I swear he looked like a long, skinny shrimp. Like, table shrimp, not aquarium shrimp. Overall length is probably 1", and he's maybe 1/8" in diameter... Link to comment
Physh1 Posted November 17, 2004 Share Posted November 17, 2004 Sounds like it might be a baby mantis shrimp. They burrow under rock to make homes for themselves. Cameron Link to comment
mickey85 Posted November 17, 2004 Author Share Posted November 17, 2004 how big is this thing going to get, and is it dangerous to my fish or crabs? Link to comment
dakine Posted November 17, 2004 Share Posted November 17, 2004 depending on the speices of mantis, they can get pretty big (several inches, at least). Do a search on Mantis Shrimp and that'll tell you anything you'll need to know about them. Yes, they will be a danger to your fish and crabs, mantis shrimp are very intelligent hunters that can make quick work of small fish and crabs (or other inverts for that matter). Link to comment
reef hugger Posted November 18, 2004 Share Posted November 18, 2004 It may also be a pistol shrimp. Link to comment
mickey85 Posted November 19, 2004 Author Share Posted November 19, 2004 OK, so this little buggardly thing has gone from being a more or less clear thing when I first posted it to a dark brown mantis shrimp today. He's very fast, very active, and I'm afraid he'll eat my fish. Since I don't feel like breaking a finger with him, and since the tank will be torn down tomorrow to go home for a week, how do I get him out? He's definitely living in the liverock, and not the sand, but I don't know which one, and I'm afraid he's too fast for me to net... Since the whole magilla will be will be going in a 5 gallon tank, will he be OK with my goby, or should I pull him out and give him the fresh water treatment? He's really very cool, but I think I like my fish a bit more than this guy... Link to comment
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