Maybe another mantis shrimp?

[Azn_gq]

Hey guys,

I recently removed a mantis shrimp that I had over a year in my tank. The only way I was able to remove him was when I moved my tank to my new place and took everything apart. The little [moderator edit] killed alll my inverts (at least $100 worth).

So its been a month now since i got rid of him. I went out and bought all new inverts. A few weeks ago, i noticed that same loud popping noise from my tank. A hermit disappeared. Found its empty shell with a hole in it.....

what am I to do? You guys think its another one?????

anyone experience this? what did you do to catch it?

 

[mr_X]

how large was the hole? if it was a smasher it would have mangled the shell, not just put a neat hole in it. where is your live rock from? florida?
i've bought a few boxes of rock, and haven't seen one yet. mostly fiji rock. some kaelini, a couple boxes of carribean.
if it is one, there are a few traps you can try. a 2 liter bottle with an inverted end might work.
otherwise, i would find it, follow it into the rock , and remove the rock in question. put it in fresh water. it should jump out of the rock pretty quickly.

 

[Azn_gq]

The hole is pretty big. The last mantis shrimp did this too. Put random holes in the shells and emptied the bodiees of my shelled inverts.

Problem is... I have no idea where he is.. I can hear it. But I can't even confirm if its another one

I know my LFS sells indonesian and fijian rock...

wow this is so frustrating.. its like the last one i got rid of just teleported back into my tank...

what if there were two and they bred?!?!!?

AHHHHHHHHHH!!

 

[mr_X]

try the 2 liter bottle trick..get a bottle and cut the top off a few inches down. flip it around and glue the top back on so it's like a funnel leading into the bottle. put some food in it and sink it in the tank tomorrow you should have caught something....maybe not the mantis, but definitely something.

 

[Azn_gq]

Yeah I have thought about that... but I have 2 sexy shrimp, 2 skunk cleaners, 2 peppermint, a load of hermits and snails...

So should I keep trying till I catch this thing?

 

[mr_X]

depends how bad you want it gone (if it's even in there).

 

[Azn_gq]

So I did an inverts count. All still there. Today the noise was consistent from a certain rock in my aquarium. So I took a flashlight to do a further inspection. To my surprise I seen a small crab that was twitching along with the noise. Unless it was just being eaten, does anyone recall crabs ever making this noise? I did a ton of research but noting online says crabs can make this noise. Only mantis or pistol shrimps..... Help!!! This noise is driving mw CRAZY!!!

 

[mr_X]

common xanthid crabs do bore into the rock. this may be what you are hearing. rock boring mollusks are also very common in our tanks. do they make a noise while boring in? not sure. i do know that i have heard clicking many times in my tanks and never found any mantis or dead fish/inverts. HTH.