Mantis Shrimp or Not?

[Steven Pfister]

I had one mantis shrimp in my TBS live rock that I saw and was lucky enough to get him out by grabbing the rock out of the tank and removing him. I am now hearing clicking noise again. I look but have yet to see anything. The clicking comes through out the day but more at night. I am not having alot of damage but do find some small hermit crab shells laying there? Do they leave there shells for any reason? The other thing is sometimes I find busted pieces of barnacle laying there. I put a bottle trap in the tank the other night and nothing! I now there is something in there! Any comments or help would greatly be appreciated! If it is a mantis what is the best trap to use? I am reletivly new to this hobby and enjoy reading the posts on this board. Thanks.:(

[lllosingit]

<img src="/images/welcome.gif" width="500" height="62"><br><b><i><big><big>To Reef Central</b></i></big></big>




It sounds like you still have a mantis in the tank but if your hearing clicking during the night you may have a pistol shrimp in the tank also.
I have some TBS rock and caught some mantis and put them in a separate tank, They are active when the lights are on but they don't make a sound when the tank is dark however I do have a pistol shrimp that makes clicking and snapping noises all night long in the main tank and it's silent during the day.
I don't really have any good ideas other than watching the tank until you find his borough and then pull the rock.
Mantis are pretty smart and don't seem to fall for most traps.

[silent_assassin_e99]

whatcha gonna do with him after ya catch him?:D

[Microcosmos]

How much rock do you have? If it's not too much, maybe you could try soaking the rock in some extra saline water that's a bit warmer than your tank for about 15 mins. Or you could take the rock out of the tank and smash it to bits on a contrete patio (last resort, but it sure works! The mantis will be stunned, but it should make it).