Not another one, help!!!

[Sampson313]

So I've had my 125 reef for almost 8 years now and this is the third mantis I have inadvertantly put into my aquarium. The first two happened early on and I was able to simply remove rocks one at a time until I new where he was, but now that my tank is mature and thriving I owuld have to rip corals apart and totally detroy years of work to use that strategy. Does anyone know of any good ideas to get rid of this little bugger. He's between 3-5 inches and can be heard all day smashing snail shells to pieces (even though I rarley see him). Any novel ideas would be most welcome. Thanks a lot...

[speedsport]

You could try the bottle trap. Take a bottle that has a opening that the mantis will fit in and cut the top off right where the bottle straightens out. Then take that and turn it around and put it back in the bottle and superglue it in. Then just bait the trap with some silversides or shrimp or some thing. If you cant figure it out I will try and find you the link for the trap.

[dbrooks1440]

If all he eats is snails, then leave it alone. It's far easier to buy $20 worth of snails from time-to-time, than tear a tank apart.

[speedsport]

But the bigger they get the more they will eat and that will get quite expensive. That once in a wile will turn into once a week faster than you think. Also there are ways to take one out of a tank that do not involve tearing the tank apart. Like my bottle trap. Also no one said any thing about tearing a tank apart. Another thing he asked for help not weather he should leave it in the tank or not.

[dbrooks1440]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6382326#post6382326 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by speedsport
Also no one said any thing about tearing a tank apart. Another thing he asked for help not weather he should leave it in the tank or not.

Really, smart guy - what does this mean: "...but now that my tank is mature and thriving I owuld have to rip corals apart and totally detroy years of work to use that strategy."?

[speedsport]

He said he dosent want to tear the tank apart. No one told him to. That is why he asked for help. If you cant help and only have smart coments to add. Then go some where else.

[tigerarmy40]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6383518#post6383518 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by speedsport
He said he dosent want to tear the tank apart. No one told him to. That is why he asked for help. If you cant help and only have smart coments to add. Then go some where else.


chill out bro! he was just making a suggestion! if the original poster doent want to take his advice then so be it!

[dragonforce]

Try the bottle trap, you should be able to get him but it might take a few trys. If you can't get him you might want to just leave him, chances are he doesnt eat a whole lot and won't grow any bigger than 3 inches.

[smy168]

had one for about 3 years before he decided to go after a fish, trapping him was easy enough since he's never been chased before. Be patient and trap him is what I would suggest. you can go the bottle route(I just boought a mantis trap), I just crushed up some snails to use as bait. Believe it or not, I caught mine overnight in the dead center of the tank so placement is on you.

sorry about the rambling but yeah, i think you should try to get him out if he's a crusher, he can actually affect the foundation to your rockwork and start knocking things around.

Good Luck

[tinypieceofkrill]

What type of mantis is it? If it is a smasher, then, leave it in there and buy extra snails. If you have a smasher, which you probably do, then you can buy snails from ebay really cheap and he will be fine. You may even like it eventually.
If it is a spearer, then you will have to remove it. Tape a picture of a fish to your finger. Make the fake fish swim around the tank until the mantis stabs your finger. Then, you will have him. I'm kidding. I don't know how to catch a spearer.

[Wiggawam]

If you are willing to ship I would take him if you can catch him!

[Uriel]

It's not a spearer. Spearers don't come as stow-aways in Live Rock.
From what I've read, the bottle trap works well enough, but you won't get many chances: they are smart and they learn to avoid situations like that once exposed. that being said, buying extra snails will keep him from going after your fish, but two very reazl problems remain:

1: He may damage your corals, especially on small frags, by moving rocks around. they like to build, and one of mine has (several times now) 'stolen' a small frag that she liked to use somewhere in her burrow. Not only does this suck, but corals with no light = dead corals= extra waste in the tank.

2: Even though a smasher mantis evolved to eat hard bodied prey, they do kill fish. Any fish that is too nosy will get smashed in the face. Trust me, I added some chromis to try a 'mantis with fish' experiment early on, back when I only had one mantis. It was not pretty.
They aren't mindless murderers, but the chance for a dead fish that you care about/paid a lot for exists.


Good luck in catching him, and please consider giving/trading him away instead of killing him.

-Ron