ejmeier
06/29/2003, 08:25 PM
I have been starting a lot of threads on mantis shrimp lately. Sorry if this all seems annoying, but these "pests" are actually becoming quite interesting to me.:)
I have this theory that about a year ago I inadvertently introduced some mantis shrimp into my tank(s). Roughly one year ago I bought a colony of yellow polyps from the LFS, and upon getting it home I decided to chisel it open and put several pieces in different parts of my tank. To my surprise, (my cousin can attest that I screamed like a girl) a strange grey worm-shrimp-crab kind of a thing jumped out of the rock.
This is what I suspect is my oh-so-elusive mantis. I actually found a few of these "things" in the rock, and decided to put one into my 20 gallon reef, and one into my main reef. (I had no idea what they were at the time, and I have never seen them since.) Could these little grey things have been baby mantis shrimp? The reason I am curious is because I have now had some fish go MIA, and I found the remains of a molt that I suspect belongs to a mantis shrimp.
Do mantis shrimp sort of grow into a predatory role? I haven't added any liverock or coral to my tank in probably six or seven months. Could these mysterious grey things that I added to my tank be baby mantis that have now grown up into killer shrimp? The molt that I found just last week was blue legs with a blue and green carapace kind of a thing. Is it true that mantis can change coloration in a tank - or possilby with age?
Thanks for anyone that can help. Just looking for some answers as to why I'm losing my fish - and maybe getting a cool pet...:)
I have this theory that about a year ago I inadvertently introduced some mantis shrimp into my tank(s). Roughly one year ago I bought a colony of yellow polyps from the LFS, and upon getting it home I decided to chisel it open and put several pieces in different parts of my tank. To my surprise, (my cousin can attest that I screamed like a girl) a strange grey worm-shrimp-crab kind of a thing jumped out of the rock.
This is what I suspect is my oh-so-elusive mantis. I actually found a few of these "things" in the rock, and decided to put one into my 20 gallon reef, and one into my main reef. (I had no idea what they were at the time, and I have never seen them since.) Could these little grey things have been baby mantis shrimp? The reason I am curious is because I have now had some fish go MIA, and I found the remains of a molt that I suspect belongs to a mantis shrimp.
Do mantis shrimp sort of grow into a predatory role? I haven't added any liverock or coral to my tank in probably six or seven months. Could these mysterious grey things that I added to my tank be baby mantis that have now grown up into killer shrimp? The molt that I found just last week was blue legs with a blue and green carapace kind of a thing. Is it true that mantis can change coloration in a tank - or possilby with age?
Thanks for anyone that can help. Just looking for some answers as to why I'm losing my fish - and maybe getting a cool pet...:)