mantis shrimp

[brndfrb]

How do you catch a mantis shrimp. I am not sure that is what i have but i have lost 4 fish in the past two weeks. Mostley damsel so not that big of deal but something is eating them and the only thing i can think of is mantis shrimp. I havent actually seen any but does that mean i don't have them? Please let me know. if they make some sort of trap or something.

[kidafius]

what else is in your tank. We need to know a complete list of suspects before we can deduct a mantis, even if you've seen a mantis. Please list your other fish, shrimp, crabs, corals, stars, and anything else that you put in your tank, so we can better get an idea of what's going on. 8)

[brndfrb]

Ok here goes

Yellow tang
Citrus Goby
10 blue leg hermits
10 turbo snails
Emerald crab-could be it but i have never seen him bother anything

Also i hhave taken everything out of the tank and placed it in my qt tank. Well not everything just the tang and goby. There is one domino damsel left and he sometimes acts like he got scared or something. He will start darting around the tank and turn almost white. Acouple hours later he will be fine and then it will happend again. I don't know what is going on. Please help me. it is starting to piss me off

[ReefRaff]

Q: 1 Do you hear any sounds? like clicking sounds coming from the tank. thats one good indication. I think another is rocks being moved around and knocked over.

I had one and I waited till I saw him in an accesable rock, and I pulled the rock out and diped him in RO water room temp. he shot out of the rock like a cannon.

[brndfrb]

Well how loud is the clicking noise? I have heard a couple noises come from it and it sounded like something was hitting the glass. I have had a couple rocks bieng moved around

[ReefRaff]

Well it is a good sign. you should hear a click, click...click clickclick...click

I'm not a real good mantis impersonator, but you get the idea.

If he is moving rocks then you he should be pretty big. don't get your fingers near him. he can break them if he gets a chance. but chances are if he see's you coming he will pull back inside the rock.

for indentification purposes, get a clean glass jar and put some raw shrimp in. and put that into the tank up against some rock, just before lights out. Then get a red light and set that over the jar area and turn all the room lights off. if a mantis is what you got then he might, MIGHT go after it, it may also take a few days for him to become comfortable whith the jar. you may even use some string to lur him out, just to see if that is indeed what you have. then we can discuss the traping issue.

[CountZero]

Are Mantis shrimp really that mean? I was reading on another site that

The strike of one of the larger smashers (25 cm long Hemisquilla ensigera) has been estimated to produce a force approaching that of a 22 caliber bullet, and these animals have been reported to break open aquarium walls made of double layered safety glass. It is no wonder then that mantis shrimps are also known as "thumb splitters."

http://www.blueboard.com/mantis/intro/what.htm

[ReefRaff]

this is an excerpt of an email between myself and wet web media

Mantis menace?
07/19/03
<Hi Tim, PF with you today>
Hi, I think I might have a mantis shrimp, not quit sure. I saw only a glimpse of him peeping out some hole in the rocks, and he seemed to travel from hole to hole, and in different rocks. But, what I did see was this green head with long green eyes that rotated opposite of each other. He never comes all the way out, so I can't get a good look at him. The LR I bought was from Tampabaysaltwater, and I've heard they're known for it. I do hear a clicking sound but haven't seen any dead snails, and the tank has been cycling without fish for two months now. Is there a way to lure him out so I can see him, or an easier way (I know there is no easy way, unless he breaks the glass) to get him out. I don't want to buy traps that won't work, and to find him in a particular rock means I would have to use my hands. I like my fingers as they are.
Please help.
By the way your new book is next on my list.
Tim Wagner
<Well Tim, first off, the bigger worry is your LR falling on your glass than that mantis breaking it. The mantis breaking glass is a tale that grows in the telling. It has happened, but the mantises wheren't the little ones like you have but an O. scyallarus that was at least 5" long - and there's a lot more power in 5" of mantis than in 2". As for TBS live rock, Dr. Roy Caldwell (a mantis <stomatopod is their correct name> expert conducted an informal survey and found that most people find 1 mantis/hundred pound of rock regardless of the source (including his own work in the wild), I've had LR from Fiji that the LFS "guaranteed" to be mantis free, the mantis didn't listen. Be all that as it may, the little bugger is less of a threat than legend has it. Depending on the size of snails and hermits you have, it may not actually be a threat to them. I can understand your fear though, as they are predacious, and very intelligent predators to boot. I would recommend that you go here: http://www.blueboard.com/mantis and read up them. There are sections on the site about mantis removal, and if you're so inclined, their care. If you're up for, I'd advise setting up a seperate tank (a 10g nano is plenty big) and keeping the little bugger, or putting him in your sump (I know a number of people who've done that with theirs). Hope this helps, PF the self proffessed stomatophile. BTW, the new book has a section on mantis shrimp in it, so you can read up on them when you get it.>

[wanderer90]

wow was just reading that site... that news paper cliping was shocking...

[ReefRaff]

I also made the trap and never got a chance to use it, so If you don't whant to make one yourself then pm me and let me know your address, I will send it to ya.