I saw a mantis shrimp in my tank !

[Frantic]

but... it was just slightly bigger than a brine shrimp... I tried to catch em but he got away :/ I just watched a documentary on these guys and im 99% certain thats what it was. The tail was curled up and I could clearly see the mantis type forearms. What should I do ? How long will it take it to grow ?

[pat8you]

Try and set up a trap for it. Take a glass and tilt it back a bit. Bait it with some meaty foods and wait. I'm not sure how long it will take to grow or anything but i've seen some videos of those thing and i would not wait a day. It may take you some time to figure out a way to catch him. They can be tricky. Some times they won't go in the trap and will just poke their head out from under the rock. I've heard as a last resort if you can't catch him with the glass or some other method people just hold a pair of scissors around the hole and wait for him to pop out a bit. Its harsh but those are nasty little critters that even a small one can take down your expensive fish. Best of luck

[cmor1701d]

The tilted glass trick usually works, but there are mantis traps you can buy if taht fails. You can also try the bottle trick. Take a 2 liter soda bottle and clean it with fresh water. Cut the top third off and invert it, placing it into the lower half. Bait the lower half. The shrimp can get through the narrow opening to get to the food but can't get back out.

[Frantic]

Thanks for the responses. Do u think these traps will work on my shrimp ? as I said hes really small. just a tad bigger than a brine shrimp.

[cmor1701d]

We'll never know until you try

[roka64]

Instead of a 2 liter, you can use a smaller plastic bottle, depending on the size of your tank.