[rypoole]

Not really strange "things" so to speak but something strange. About two weeks ago I walk past my 75g reef tank and i noticed something moving on my LR. So i go in for a closer look and there it is. A black mantis shrimp about 3 inches long. He crawls out of a hole in a top piece of my LR and goes back in. This is when i should have grabbed that rock out of my tank, but instead i was just standing there shocked i had a mantis in my tank. So he pops back out 10 seconds later and sits there then bam! gone into the depth of my tank. Now im stuck with the problem of where he is. The strange thing going on here is that i havent added any new corals or LR to my tank that he could of hitched on in over 4 or 5 months so hes been in my tank for a while now. Nothing has gone missing in my tank. I dont understand how this guy has been living in my tank and not murdering my snails,hermits,shrimp,and etc. The only fish i have in there is one damsel who is about an inch long. So the mantis i saw i know for sure is bigger than him. Plus my two cleaner shrimp are still alive and kicking. Also all my corals have not been damaged and are thriving. Does anyone know why this thing is not attacking? Or giving away his spot so i can catch him. I tried setting a trap but he didnt bite. And I dont even wanna begin thinking about breaking down my whole tank and dunking all my LR in freshwater or a giving it a hypersalinity bath

[jimw369]

I guess just keep the trap out. If hes well fed he probably wont bite. Might be easier to take the other inhabitants out and starve the tank with the trap still in there...might get him that way...dunno...good luck

[Dr. Clyde]

I saw a guys tank a few weeks back that has had a mantis in it for some time now without harming his snail & crabs or fish. Might be a sign that your over feeding?

[unclejed]

Originally Posted by rypoole

Not really strange "things" so to speak but something strange. About two weeks ago I walk past my 75g reef tank and i noticed something moving on my LR. So i go in for a closer look and there it is. A black mantis shrimp about 3 inches long. He crawls out of a hole in a top piece of my LR and goes back in. This is when i should have grabbed that rock out of my tank, but instead i was just standing there shocked i had a mantis in my tank. So he pops back out 10 seconds later and sits there then bam! gone into the depth of my tank. Now im stuck with the problem of where he is. The strange thing going on here is that i havent added any new corals or LR to my tank that he could of hitched on in over 4 or 5 months so hes been in my tank for a while now. Nothing has gone missing in my tank. I dont understand how this guy has been living in my tank and not murdering my snails,hermits,shrimp,and etc. The only fish i have in there is one damsel who is about an inch long. So the mantis i saw i know for sure is bigger than him. Plus my two cleaner shrimp are still alive and kicking. Also all my corals have not been damaged and are thriving. Does anyone know why this thing is not attacking? Or giving away his spot so i can catch him. I tried setting a trap but he didnt bite. And I dont even wanna begin thinking about breaking down my whole tank and dunking all my LR in freshwater or a giving it a hypersalinity bath

I found this article for you. It is a bit in depth but very informative.

[jimw369]

psssst...Leon....the article? lol

[unclejed]

Wow, thanks Jimmy boy! I swore it was there when I posted!
Let's try it again; Mantis Shrimp: Pet or Pest? - Page 1 - Introduction to What Mantis Shrimp Are

[Okayamapiper]

You are fortunate. Last year, I had a clicking sound in my dwarf seahorse tank. I thought it was the filter motor or something with the lights. Well every few days I would find a Japanese Seahorse (Hippocampus Mohnikei) or Shiho's Seahorse (Hippocampus Sidonis) dead with its head in a hole. I later discovered a mantis was in that hole and was killing the seahorses when they stuck their heads in looking for food. Now I go over any new LR prior to placing it in the tank. It was a mighty expensive lesson as H. Sidonis costs about $100 each.