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Scared of mantis


sebastian_roy

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Hi guys,

Today I was peering into my tank and saw a mantis shrimp.

 

Tried to scewer him in his hole. 5 minutes later i saw him poking his annoying little head out again. Took out the live the peice of liverock (totaly wrecked my aquascape, it was foundation stone) and sprayed fresh water into the hole. Nothing Happened. Became impatient and submerged the whole rock in cold freshwater for about 15 minutes. Numerous worms and a small pistol shimp left in my basin after the exercise...no mantis shrimp.

 

I've now been re-building the aquascape for about 2.5 hours and it still doesn't look 'quite right.' I've decided to give up and leave as it is, because I realise its never going to be back exactly the way it was.

 

About 10 minutes ago I heard clicking from tank. I'm going nuts here. How can i get rid of this damn shrimp! I fear for the lives of lovley hermit crabs. The shrimp is about and inch long.

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do a search for mantis shrimp trap. and please dont kill him/her. you will find that they really are interesting and intelligent creatures. check out my thread for a different view of them. if you dont want to keep him please take pictures and find someone who wants him. many people are always looking. if it turns out to be a small species I would be interested in taking him.

Travis

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Welcome to N-R.com

You may have killed the mantis with the FW dip. That clicking could very well be another pistol shrimp. I've never heard that noise from a mantis that wasn't killing or trying to kill something.

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yeah I hear Natasha whacking away in her burrow every night just before lights out (I think she's digging to China!)

 

Try the mantis trap - or try the carbonated water trick - unfortunatly you may just end up having to smash the piece of LR he's in to get him out.

 

But, like travisurfer said, please try not to kill it - there are plenty of people that are interested in these and would be willing to take it off your hands and give it a home.

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I'm now thinking I have multiple mantis in my setup, because I remember staring the little fellow in the eyes and hearing the clicking occuring elsewhere.

 

Do young / small mantis have a rep for taking on larger inverts? I happy to let him stay in the tank until he's easier to find, but by the same token, I don't want him terrorizing my hermits. The hermits are about 4 times as large as the little mantis that I saw, but they are very placid creatures.

 

Also, are mantis known to live in pairs or colonies?

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BREAKTHROUGH!

 

I have just now captured the mantis shrimp, ALIVE!

 

He is a tiny critter, about 1cm long. He is totally see through except for his little black spotty eyes. If anyone is interested in taking him on, please post. BTW I live in Australia.

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  • 2 weeks later...

1cm long and clear with black eyes sounds like an amphipod dude, and you said that numerous pistol shrimps came off the rock, pistols make the clicking and popping noises to.

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BREAKTHROUGH!

 

I have just now captured the mantis shrimp, ALIVE!

 

He is a tiny critter, about 1cm long. He is totally see through except for his little black spotty eyes. If anyone is interested in taking him on, please post. BTW I live in Australia.

 

lol. I totally agree with ram man. That sounds way too much like an amphipod, which is harmless. Keep looking.

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  • 3 weeks later...
chuckfullservice

Paranoia will destroyya Are you sure that it was a mantis ? Did you witness it feeding ?? Or are you just assuming because of the sounds ?

I would do alittle more research before I go destroying my aquascape!

There are several links here about mantis I have even seen one with a video showing it killing a blue legged hermit! They look dark to me and very proficient killers!

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Well this is kinda useless but.

When you know for SHURE you have a mantis.Take the LR and soke it in a bucket of high salinity distilled water (between 1.030 and 1.040) for 15 to 20 mins.That will flush ALL of the critters out.I did this to my LR and shure enough,a small litle long bug poped out.When youre 20 mins is up sort through the inverts and pickout the good ones and kill the bad ones.

 

Yes I did get this from liveaquaria.com,dr.foster&smith are alwayse just one step ahead of me! :angry:

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Haha, hermits, "placid." I guess you've never heard the stories of the little bas...buggers. If your hermits are 4 times larger, I would'nt be to concerned. At that proportion, hermits are known (at least once in an aquarium for sure) to kill Mantis. Of course, if the sizes are closer to even, you may want to be on the look out.

 

P.S., not that any one cares really, im back lol.

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