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NoviceReefer

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I have had a Mantis Shrimp in my tank since it was set up several months ago. I have tried many remedies and removed several of these critters but I have one remaining that will not show himself or fall for any of the typical tricks I used to capture the others.

I've had a Royal Gramma in the tank for several months and he seems safe. However, I lost a six line wrasse within a week after putting it in the tank.

Would it be a great risk to add a larger fish...like a yellow tang? I'm anxious to get a few fish in the tank. I've been concentrating on corals but with no success at capturing the Mantis, I want to add another fish to the 75 gallon tank.

Any other suggestions, other than a trigger or something really aggresive, would be welcomed.
 

FishDaddy

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I would recommend against adding any fish until the Mantis is out. It is a very efficient predator, hazardous to any fish/crustacean in the tank.
Please see this site for some additional ideas, if you haven't already been there:
http://www.blueboard.com/mantis/
Dick
icon_smile.gif
 
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Anonymous

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hi.
So you have a Royal Gramma with your mantis? My mantis killed every fish in my 60 gal tank but a Mandrain fish. Sometime, when they see each other, the Mandrain will flare up like a freshwater Betta... and the mantis left him alone.

Notice that this is my observation. You mantis may behave differently.
 

NoviceReefer

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It's been amazing to me that the Royal Gramma has survived this long. Besides the Six Line Wrasse, I think the Mantis killed three cleaner shrimp that were put in after I mistakenly thought I had removed all of the Mantis Shrimp.

Maybe there's something to the flaring of the jaws and looking tough that keeps the mantis away. The Royal Gramma seems undisturbed. He sleeps in several holes where I would think he would be an ideal target.
 
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Anonymous

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hi.
It puzzled me as much about why some fish survived. The mandrainfish is very pale in color when he sleeps, lay motionless on the sand... perfect prey for the shrimp... but he is still alive this morning.

I have not feed my tank for 7 months. What the mantis is eating all this time?
 

zeldapinwheel

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I say thumbs-down to putting any more new fish at all in your tank until the mantis shrimp is gone. I had a couple in my tank that totally wiped out my entire fish population except for a clown, and that only because the clown likes to sleep at night near the surface of the water, away from the rocks.

If you want to put a fish in there, put in a trigger fish, which will prey on mantis shrimp(I think), but also your corals, so you will have to remove your corals for the time being.

Ultimately, to get rid of my mantis shrimp problem, I had to re-cure all of my rock. Fortunately, I was able to arrange "boarding time" at my LFS for all my corals while this was happening, and the LFS also recured my rock for me, which any store might be willing to do for a charge.

Mantis shrimp are a terrible problem, and I feel your pain. But don't jeopardize the lives of other fish by adding them to your tank!


Good luck.
 
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Anonymous

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hi.
I have not put any new fish in the mantis tank for almost a year, and am not considering adding any more fish. The last fish was added before the mantis got into the tank (long story).

Will move from 60 gal to a 90, but probably will keep the mantis still.
 

LiveRockr

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I am sure I will get voted into a corner for saying this, but if you feed your tank enough food for all the fish in the tank to get their fill, you shouldn't have any trouble with losing fish to a mantis shrimp. ALL of my fish sleep down in the rockwork or on the bottom on the same 1/3 of the tank that the mantis lives in and I have not lost a fish ever. I hear him popping stuff, and have seen him snapping on worms and have seen him snap a hermit crab to scare him away when he got too close, but I've never lost a fish.
One thing that I've learned, however, is on this board, YOUR RESULTS MAY VARY. Most people on this board underfeed their tanks, so they may have hungry manti, but mine eats every flake that goes into the rockwork. He is about 3 inches long now.

I have also never seen a trigger eat coral
 

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