I thought I had one now its confirmed!!

[jay1335]

So Ive lost 2 blue green chromis since ive set my tank up and couldnt figure out why. One had a injury to its side near its fin. I started to hear a clicking in the tank which led me to think I had a mantis in there. Low and behold, looking at the tank tonight, I saw the little f'er!! I have confirmed my beliefs of having a mantis!!

Now the question is......How do I rid myself of this little monster?
Ive heard of traps....has anyone tried them? If you have how was your success with them and what type of trap was it?
What other methods can I use to rid myself of him?
Thanks for any help offered!!!
Jay

 

[Arati]

if you do catch him and dont want him pm me and ill give him a home. they are cool no reason to kill him.

 

[albano]

if you see what rock he hides in, you can remove the rock...watch your fingers, they're not called 'thumb splitters' for nothing!

 

[Triple R]

haha wow i think they are pretty cool but never seen 1 in person and would try to keep one later on, good luck with catching it

 

[jay1335]

No way can I remove the rock he is in. Its glued in to the bottom of my rock structure. and he will most likely be up for grabs when I do catch him. I dont like to kill anything I dont need to.
Another question...Do they tend to stay in the rock they are seen in? He has a little hole he was poking out of in the rock.

 

[dj ze]

there's some wrasses that eat mantis but will also take care of your invertebrates

 

[SaltyFlip]

Can you see what color he is?

 

[jay1335]

Yeah its a greenish brown color

 

[SaltyFlip]

awesome, good luck catching him! See if you can do the Coke bottle trap, maybe that'll work.

 

[InfernoST]

I saw a Mantis once and boy he was a nasty little thing. Be careful.

 

[jay1335]

Whats the coke bottle trap?

 

[akma]

Take a 2l coke bottle. Cut off a part of the top and invert it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gs5Hx1Gc8BA

Only thing I ever caught with this was my cleaners shrimps.

 

[guarda]

Cut the bottom of a 2 liter bottle off and put food in the other, capped end. I have a small tank so I used a Gatorade bottle and it worked just the same.

 

[guarda]

Beat me to it.

Btw, other than being able to snap off your finger, they are very very fast. I saw one in Costa Rica last week and he was flying when he saw me, so be careful if u do the coke bottle trick. Wear a thimble over the only finger that'd be inside the bottle when pulling it out.

 

[Arati]

there are only a few types of mantis that kill fish. are you sure he is the reason you fish died. see if you can find him on this list. its the spots on his arms that will help ID him.


where did you get your Live Rock from?

this is the one most people get .. and it wont kill fish

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthro...costraca/royslist/species.php?name=n_wennerae

this is one that does kill fish, that people get on occasion.

http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthro...acostraca/royslist/species.php?name=p_ciliata

mantis trap

http://www.coralcorral.com/id19.html

 

[jay1335]

Thanks for the links!! To me it looks like the second link you put up.
I got my rock from drs f&s and from florida. Im gonna make a trap. Whats everyone had success with as far as bait goes?

 

[lfsmarineguy]

I was going to suggest the bottle trap too, probably one of the easiest solutions when dealing with inverts. If he stays inhis hole and is weary of you, you might want to start target feeding him at his hole to lull him into a false sense of security. If it just doesn't work and you have no other options you can epoxy his hole shut when he is in there.

 

[bad coffee]

Starve the tank for a few days, then put the trap in. I've used raw shrimp successfully.

B

 

[lfsmarineguy]

put the trap in just before the lights go out. You should have a better chance at success that way.

 

[fripclaksid]

the mantis shrimp is really cool. I also vote to not kill. Give it to Atari!