OH NO!!

[midiman]

I just saw a small mantis shrimp in my tank!!!

I saw it dart into a hole, and I jabbed into the hole furiously with a skewer ... maybe I got him, but I have to believe I didn't.

YIKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I guess I'll be learning how to rid my tank of a mantis shrimp. Any sucess stories out there?

Sigh.

 

[Buckeye_ME]

I don't know if there are rules against posting to other forums here (believe it or not I've been on forums that don't like competition) but here is a forum that is all about Mantis shrimp, most of these people WANT them though.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=37

 

[BillyZ]

one of the ways I've heard works the majority of the time is if you see him hide in a rock, take that rock out of the tank and dip it into a bowl of RO water. What I've heard is that it will vacate the rock almost immediately. You'll want to then place it in a SW holding bin until you can give it away/sell it etc. Just make sure the RO water isn't too cold.

 

[midiman]

I'll give the skewer technique another day or two - I didn't hear any snapping last night. I'm going to make a trap and see what I can catch. I'm going after some crabs, too.

I can't IMAGINE what it must be like with a mantis in a big tank 8O . My tank is only 30 gallons! THe bad thing is, the hole that I skewered him is in the largest rock - the centerpiece rock on which the ENTIRE aquascape rests.

 

[greenfish]

If you killed him in the tank, won't that reek havoc with your amonia levels when he starts to decay?

 

[midiman]

I doubt it (I hope not!!!), he was small, and my crabs and snails are very efficient!

I'm still testing frequently, though, and I'm ready to respond with a 20 gallon garbage can full of premixed SW if necessary. This morning the water was ok, and I'll check it again today.

 

[quarryshark]

There are more caves in that rock than you know about. I hope that you got him, but my money is on the mantis. For an invert they are quite intelligent. :|
I did catch mine, but even with a good trap it took almost a month.