How do I get rid of a...

[Sneaker]

Mantis Shrimp?

This is not related to my other shrimp topic in here....

I think he is responsble for some new deaths in my tank, 2 snails and one fish, the fish I an not sure about though.

I know where he lives, this one rock and he comes out when I feed shrimp to my hawk, should I just take the rock out od the tank where he lives and keep it out till he dies, or put the rock in another 10gal tank I have... what should I do, I don't want him in my reef tank?

[Sneaker]

this is what it looks like, I was able to ID the thing from the FAQ Fishfreek posted in the ID fourm...

[snapcrackler]

One way is this:

Get a bucket with freshwater in it (no salt) and dip in the rock, if the mantis is big you might want to wear gloves so it doesn't snap your or stab you depending on what kind of mantis it is..

The shrimp should shoot out into the fresh water, whereupon you can return the rock to your SW tank and retrieve the mantis shrimp to place him in QT or wherever.

[Sneaker]

snap, sounds like a plan to me, I will attempt that first.

[Sneaker]

wait, is this thing going to attack me or bite me? should I be concerned?

[snapcrackler]

If it is a "smasher" meaning you have been hearing popping or clicking/snapping noises in your tank, it whips out it's little hammer claw things to "smash" stuff at high speed. I had one it QT about 1 1/2 inch long - if I placed a piece of rigid aquarium tubing in front of it, the critter would eyeball it (you can see their beady eyes tracking it) and then it would go "SNAP!" and snap it, my wife just about jumped out of her socks when it did this, because she was very close to the QT when I was showing her.

Very large smasher mantises can smash so hard that they can blow out tank glass supposedly, but I do not know how frequently you will see a big one like that.

Divers call them thumbsplitters because if a big one snaps you then.........ow.

If it is one with little razor claw things (I have never seen one of those) I have read that they can give you little cuts and stuff if you happen to get them in a bad spot or you are handling them, etc.

So anyway just a pair of gloves and try not to get snapped or poked, they are intelligent and tough creatures IMO but just treat them kinda like you'd treat a bee, just keep back a little bit and don't try to cuddle with it. I wouldn't worry about it too much.

I talked with the President of liverocks.com who is a very nice guy who has seen a heck of a lot of mantises and he actually keeps a few of them, he says they don't deserve the "rip your arm off" reputation, he actually was hand feeding a large female until a fish ate it (the shrimp)

I have been clipped and whipped by quite a few of them... They can cut your fingers and hands wide open if big enough... They pack a lot of power in the hind quarter..The arms like a praying mantis hence the name Mantis shrimp will latch on and cut your fingers..I used to wear rubber gloves and they slice right through them...Even a small one can cause pain... Be careful... The ones I was refering to were in upwards of 9"... Which is not uncommon off the coast of Florida..

[snapcrackler]

Wow, Timbo, I hope I never come across a big one of those things, man.

When that little teeny guy snapped that rigid tubing I was quite impressed with the punch it packed. I cringe to think of a 4 or 5 inch one snapping me... pain time....

Did you come across them diving or just by doing lots of SW tanks or both?

[Sneaker]

I was trying to place the snapping noise in my tank, it was driving me nuts, this is all coming together now... I will be careful and hopefully I can extract it with out finding out how there front legs split my thumb open... thank you all for the gretinformation 8O

[two11devan]

Let us know how it all goes!

[Sneaker]

I will for sure...

[wseaton]

Or get a trigger fish and don't feed him. Bye Bye shrimp.

Often a more satisying procedure...until you don't know what to do with the trigger.

[scuba_steve]

if ya not keeping the mantis shrimp ill take him off ya hands !!!

[Sneaker]

Ok, sorry it took me so long to post, I took the live rock out and put it in a bucket of fresh water and the mantis shrimp came out right away, I took the rock out of the bucket and put it back in the tank.

I took the Mantis shrimp and put him in my 10 gallon tank and he has made a home in the rocks, he is about 1 1/4 in long and has starting stacking pebbles from the bottom of the tank in the rocks and comes out to feed when I put shrimp in the tank.


scuba_steve, not sure what to do with him yet, if I decide to get rid of him I will PM you and maybe you can have him.


Thabks for all the great advice everyone...

[scuba_steve]

they are very very cool let me know id find a home for him for sure
was worried ya just killed him

[Sneaker]

Even if it is an unwanted visitor in my tank I can not and will not kill them out of respect. It might sound cheezy but god made him a mantis shrimp and who am I to hurt him for what he is... let him live

[hoveboy]

Originally Posted by Sneaker

I was trying to place the snapping noise in my tank, it was driving me nuts, this is all coming together now...

This is just the kinda noise I have been hearing in my tank too.
Do I have a mantis or pistol shrimp?
Only seem to hear the popping noise in the evening or after lights out though and have never spotted anything at all. Have over 150lbs of lr and dont much fancy searching through all of that to find it.
Any suggestions as to how I could lure it out for an id at least or even capture it? I'm pretty sure it did away with my very healthy green mandarin goby last week but have had no other fish go missing.

Cheers for any suggestions

[Sneaker]

Originally Posted by hoveboy

This is just the kinda noise I have been hearing in my tank too.
Do I have a mantis or pistol shrimp?
Only seem to hear the popping noise in the evening or after lights out though and have never spotted anything at all. Have over 150lbs of lr and dont much fancy searching through all of that to find it.
Any suggestions as to how I could lure it out for an id at least or even capture it? I'm pretty sure it did away with my very healthy green mandarin goby last week but have had no other fish go missing.

Cheers for any suggestions

I wonder if there is something related here with mantis shrimp and green mandrin goby's... mine was healthy as ever and dead the next day.

I lured my mantis shrimp with Mysis "fresh water shrimp" he swam out and grabbed a piece and went back to his rocks and thats how I found out where he was.

[MantisFreak]

Oh, man did I miss out!!! I'm second in line in case you don't keep it.

My peacock mantis Fluffy (don't ask) died recently. I cannot imagine a mantis killing your mandarin and not dragging it into your den and eating it. Possibly you have a pistol. It's hard to say though. My pistol (in my reef tank) only clicks after lights out.

For those out there reading this thread. They are the most amazing creatures when they are in their own nano tank.

[Sneaker]

I have him in my 10 gal and he just hides in the rocks and does nothing...

When I saw my mandrian a large emerald crab had him right by the home of the mantis shrimp.

I took pics of the mantis shrimp, I will have to post them.