SERIOUS MANTIS QUESTION????

[byrself]

ok, my mandarin came up missing a couple weeks ago. i thought, well, maybe, people were right and it might have starved to death, and died behind my rocks where i couldn't see it and got eaten up by something.. my crabs, or that pistol shrimp i've seen before. so, i wrote it off as my fault, and moved on with life. even though it didn't look all that bad as far as being on the verge of starved to death. i always saw it out picking around, doing it's thing... so, i didn't worry too much about it.. until tonight.. i come home, turn on my lights, got ready to throw some flakes in for my goby and clown...but wait... where the hell is my clown? I KNOW for a fact that my clown is always out in the open swimming around, it's usually the first thing i see in my tank, but tonight, i get home...NO CLOWN! =( i just turned off all current, got the flashlight out, and searched the WHOLE tank for it...any sign at all. NOTHING. not a carcass, nothing. i was carefully searching over all the rocks, and i happened to see that same old pistol shrimp, only slightly larger than before, but i know i've had the pistol since the beginning. never had any probs. i heard the popping sounds every now and then, then they seemed to cease for a long time. until about a month ago, i added about 10 more pounds of live rock to my tank. first night after the new rock...POP POP. SO, i figured maybe the pistol again. BUT, I'M MISSING TWO FISH IN TWO WEEKS. WHAT IS THE DEAL???

COULD A MANTIS, OR ANYTHING POSSIBLE TOTALLY KILL AND CONSUME TWO HEALTHY FISH, ONE WITHIN A MATTER OF 8 HOURS TIME, NOT LEAVING A TRACE OF EITHER BEHIND? I KNOW FOR A FACT THE FISH ARE GONE, I HAVE A SMALL TANK, AND THEY HAVE NOT JUMPED OUT???? I'M REALLY ALMOST CONVINCED I HAVE A MANTIS, IF THEY ARE CAPABLE OF DOING THIS, BUT I DON'T KNOW THAT MUCH ABOUT THEM. I ALSO SAW SOME MEDIUM SIZED BRISTLEWORMS, BUT THEY WOULDN'T DO THAT, WOULD THEY?? CAN ANYONE HELP?

 

i know for a fact i have a pistol shrimp, but they are supposed to be harmless, and mine is small, but the mantis would have to be small also, or i would have seen it by now. all i've added since the new rocks are one emerald crab, 2 peppermint shrimp, 2 cleaner shrimp, and my brain and xenia. i'm really kinda stunned over this, so any help or suggestions that may lead me to an answer will be appreciated....i only have one fish left though.. =(

[SLOreefer]

it is possible you have a mantis. it could eat these fish in that amoutn of time...but in 8 hours think of this situation...the mantis kills and eats some of the fish then your emerald wants in and your pepperments and your cleaners and hermits and snails....they definately could pull it off in no more than 3 hours. 8 hours is giving them alot of time. if your fish were even pretty sick and being lazy the emerald could have grabbed em and injured it untill the point that all the others pitched in also. it is very possible withthe large amoutn of predators. the copepods and amphipods would finish off all the tiny bits that were left.....i wouldnt add anything to your tank untill you figure it out....what i have done to find a mantis before was put a piece of shrimp on the sand at night and wtch with a red flashlight. usually they will come out. do this after a few days since it probably wont be hungry since it just ate two of your fish.

[byrself]

thanks man.  i'm really ####ed over the whole deal.  i just read an article that made me feel worse.  seems it could be any number of critters.  here's the article if you want to read it.  the scenario fits to a tee.  thanks for the reply though.  i guess i'm in for a difficult answer..

http://saltaquarium.about.com/gi/dynamic/o...%26RecordNo=623

[SLOreefer]

interesting article...however i have personally seen mantis catch fish. at our stoer one of our tanks had a mantis that was about 5 inches long and we would sometimes put goldfish near the whole we knew he hung out in and he would pop out and snap it. i realize the article said to pretty much rule it out but i wouldnt. that is a great article though with lots of useful information.

[byrself]

yep, doesn't do much in the way of making you any more certain of what you have before you read it.  i'm pretty well decided that i can't buy any more fish.  unless it's four dollar damsels..=(

[JGoslee]

Sorry about your fish.If it is a mantis I will buy it from you or trade some frags for it.

[Sahin]

Sorry about the loss of the fish.

 

If it is indeed a mantis, heres what you can do.

1. Try and locate the rock that the mantis lives in and take the rock out to give it a freshwater dip.  The mantis may come out, else leave the rock in there for a few hours.  

It will kill it.

 

2.If you cant identify where the mantis hides, then place a crappy rock in the front of the tank, and place a nice juicy frozen shrimp right next to this rock.  Await with a torch etc, and if he comes to get the shrimp,. shine the torch on him so he hides in that rock you just placed, or when you see him get someone to turn on the lights and snap the rock out and follow option 1.

 

I had a mantis right at the start of my setup.  I couldnt get him to come out of his rock so I just let the rock stand in freshwater over night.  It does mean this will kill mostly everything on the rock, but at least you get to kill the mantis if he doesnt come out.  My rock had coralline algae on it too, but somethow most of that survived.

 

My mantis, I would have prefered to catch and keep in another tank, but the bugger thought he was clever and stayed in the rock, so I had to kill him.  I returned the rock in the tanka nd have had no problem since, nor ever saw the mantis again.

 

If it is not a mantis, at least attempt to catpure the pistol shrimp?

 

Well, hope this is helpful.

[gabe3eb]

You don't mention any water parameters... Is it very suspicious that you had a mandarin in your tank in the first place. It is quite possible that you simply have a fish who died on, in or behind some rock and then your clean up crew had a little snack and took care of them. Oh well, I wouldn't look for a mysterious critter until you can rule out all other possibilites, do you do regular water tests or changes?

gaber