mantis shrimp

[nachito35]

i found a mantis shrimp in my LR. i chased him out of his hiding place (hole in the LR) by blowing air through a tube. when he got out he was jumping and running everywhere. we finally hit him with a stick and broke off less than half of his body, making him lose his back tail or what ever is called. after that he was not seen again. will he died? we are hoping he does. will this part grow back? please let me know. i am desperate to get this thing out dead or alive :worried2:

[traveller7]

nachito35,

If the mantis is still alive, it will likely hide and recoop for quite awhile, you may not see it for a month or two in my experience.

There are a number of methods to remove the animal from the tank without killing it and there are plenty of folks on RC that would be eager to take it off your hands.

Best bet is read through the posts in this forum regarding trapping, high salinity dips, and using club soda to drive the mantis from the rocks and into a bucket.

and:
[welcome]

[nachito35]

the reason why i cant use those methods that i have read here in the forum is because the rock where he has chosen to hide before this is one of the base rocks of the reef. the very bottom one which is a huge rock that almost could not fit through the tank opening. that is why i refuse to go thru any of those methods. i would have to dismantle the entire reef to get to this creature.

[traveller7]

Should not preclude the use of the bottle trap. At this point you will have a very wary creature and they are very intelligent compared to most other critters in an aquarium.

Out of curiosity, has the mantis been killing anything in the tank that has triggered the reaction?

[nachito35]

i have noticed a few crabs and snails missing. fish i only have two Percula clowns and a mandarin and they are fine so far.

[rklutt]

I baited mine with some shrimp on a stick and then netted him when he came out in the open.

[werew]

I use the bottle/container trapping method and caught 2 in one night.

Mine are the "spear" type mantis, and dwell in my substrate as well as live rock. When removing the container with dead crab meat and 2 mantis shrimp, I saw two others and netted them out as well. 4 in one night, not bad!

I now have about 8-12 more to catch.

I can't wait to get rid of them all, they've killed 2 cleaner shrimps and 3 hermit crabs.

[nachito35]

i have only seen that one so far. but since we severed half of his body and back tail (not sure of what is called) have not seen him since. i am hoping he is dead. he has caused my too much problems i hope there arent anymore. i dont feel any sorrow for him, i have invested way too much money so far for this mantis to come and kill my snails, crabs, etc. i wonder if there is anyone that can assure me that he will not survive for sure.:rollface:

[werew]

Nachito,
I cannot give you 100% assurance, just a few thoughts to ponder.

Since the mantis relies mostly on it's tail and the small legs attached to it's tail to move around, i'd bet on the mantis not being able to survive. It's tail also contains some of it's digestive tract.

Another thought... i'm not 100% certain, but I don't believe that the mantis is capable of regenerating appendages, let alone it's entire tail.

I hope your mantis problems are solved, I share the same outlook on mantis's as you do. I don't even like the "pretty" ones.

[olemos]

Originally posted by werew
I use the bottle/container trapping method and caught 2 in one night.

Mine are the "spear" type mantis, and dwell in my substrate as well as live rock. When removing the container with dead crab meat and 2 mantis shrimp, I saw two others and netted them out as well. 4 in one night, not bad!

I now have about 8-12 more to catch.

I can't wait to get rid of them all, they've killed 2 cleaner shrimps and 3 hermit crabs.
have any diy, pics of the bottle trap?

[nachito35]

werew, i could not want anything more than this thing not to survive, i hope you are right. i really appreciate your thoughts and ideas and of all those that replied to my post. thank you very much to everyone since i am new to this hobby.
:rollface:

[Hwarang]

http://www.seahorse.org/library/articles/DIY/diyMantisTrap.shtml

[olemos]

Originally posted by Hwarang
http://www.seahorse.org/library/articles/tried/diyMantisTrap.shtml
thank's
looks simple going to try it I tried the xterminater trap had no luck with that