AHH...I've got a Mantis!

[King Jason]

I walked by the tank and saw a black thing zoom across the sand. This is what I saw...

I'm going to setup a cup trap to trap him. Wish me luck!

 

[King Jason]

It's about an inch long right now so it doesn't pose much of a threat to my fish...

Here is an article I found that was interesting:

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/Daily ... 10105.html

 

[Markymarklar]

he's kinda funny lookin. it's a shame they are pests. good luck catching it.

 

[Anonymous]

Wow he's a beauty Jason. I think that may be a Gonodacytlus smithii - a very beautiful species. If you catch him you can probably find someone to take him.

One thing I hear works very well with mantis is making a net with pantyhose and hiding it in the sand with wom bait over it. Be warned they are cunning and if you miss him with one type of trap it will be very wary of that in the future. IME the best way to get them out is to find their lair and pull the whole rock out and flush his hole with highsalinity/soda water/cool water to get him to jet out.

If you do catch him and can't find a home for him let me know I'll pay to have him shipped (add him to my collection of an O.Scyllarus and a N. Wennerae currently)

 

[Robin Goodfellow]

hi.
My Majesty, these little bug can be more dangerous than you think. I accidentially let one get into my main tank (don't ask me how ), and it killed every fish in the tank (firefish, chromis, tang, etc.) except a Mandrain fish. Mine is no more than an inch back then, so be forewarned.

 

[King Jason]

hi.
My Majesty, these little bug can be more dangerous than you think. I accidentially let one get into my main tank (don't ask me how ), and it killed every fish in the tank (firefish, chromis, tang, etc.) except a Mandrain fish. Mine is no more than an inch back then, so be forewarned.

Yikes. I can probably take the whole rock out (but what a pain). I was going to try a plastic cup next to his hole with bait inside. Is that a waste of time?

 

[Markymarklar]

i would try the 2 liter bottle trick

 

[reefann]

That sucks Jason good luck catching the bastard.

technoshaman,
I saw an approx 3" smasher at That Pet Place for sale. I want to test their awful employes and ask "Are those things REEF SAFE??"
_________________
Honda CB350F

 

[King Jason]

I will catch him. I'm doing the bottle method first to see if I can get lucky. If that doesn't work I will remove the rock he lives in. I just hope I only have one! I'll let you konw what I catch tonight in the morning.

 

[Anonymous]

That sucks Jason good luck catching the bastard.

technoshaman,
I saw an approx 3" smasher at That Pet Place for sale. I want to test their awful employes and ask "Are those things REEF SAFE??"

heh, well technically you could keep them in a 'reef tank' except smasher will decimate snail/hermit crab population and spearers will eat fish. My peacock will eat feeder fish also though. They would make an ideal nano inhabitant and most smashers will leave larger fish alone unless they get really hungry.

 

[Anonymous]

I'll take it if you catch it.

Peace,

Chip

 

[King Jason]

Well I caught just about every hermit I have in my tank last night in my trap...but not the Mantis! It was funny to wake up to a soda bottle full of hermits!

My Blue Jaw Trigger got frustrated because it couldn't get to the piece of shrimp I used as bait, so he kept knocking over the bottle. But once the lights went out everyone left the bottle alone.

I'll try again tonight!

 

[Anonymous]

They don't just eat those inverts. I lost my gorgeous T. derasa to a f**king mantis, as well as my breeding blue devils, my A. ocellaris, each and every arthropod I had in my tank...basically ever motile invert and vertebrate I owned--NOTHING survived that bugger.

 

[danmhippo]

They attack clams?

 

[wombat1]

The university I work at has had a 4" mantis in a 180 gallon reef for years now. We've tried to catch it with no luck. There are huge snails, a coral banded shrimp, and two ocellaris clowns in the tank that haven't been killed. I don't know what the thing eats.

 

[Expos Forever]

Good luck Jason with your mantis trap. Too bad they are so vicious as they really are beautiful. Any more pics would be appreciated.

 

[King Jason]

I'll take pictures again if I can find him. I haven't seen him since I took that picture. I'm kicking myself for not taking the rock out right when I saw him! He was just so neat looking I didn't see the harm of leaving him in another day... :?

 

[Anonymous]

They attack clams?

Surprised me, but then again at that time I was still relatively new to the whole reef venture. But yeah, I can only assume it was the mantis, because of the condition I found its shell in (the T. derasa). Didn't take long for the clam to fully kick it, too. Boy! Was I MAD. :evil: That thing was EXPEN$IVE! (This was in the days before cultured clammies)

 

[Anonymous]

Didn't someone post recently that they had a Coris gaimard (sp?) that ate mantis? Or was it bristleworms? Anyone?

 

[john f]

I doubt very seriously a mantis killed all of your fish AND a clam.

They are either spearer types which kill fish, or smasher types which kill snail, crabs, and shrimp.

I have at least 1 3" smasher mantis in my 1000 and have lost no fish in over a year.

Snails do take a hit however.


John