[mbauma]

Originally Posted by 71Percent

I had one that hitchhiked from some Florida live rock I purchased when I first set up my tank. I noticed it a few weeks in when two moving and fully autonomous eyes started looking back at me one day. I left it alone for a good six months and to tell you the truth, it was one of the most interesting creatures I have ever watched. It ended up setting up shop in a small cave and even used a flat piece of rock to shut the door to its home each night. It was the exact color of Coralline algae, which made it difficult to track. After heavy losses sustained to my clean up crew, I felt obliged to act. I purchased a $20 Mantis Trap from the pet store. At first, I didn't have much luck. You have to dial-in the tension trigger in on the trap and I would set it pretty low, so sometimes just the tank current would set the thing off. Other times, I caught snails and a crab or two (that went into the refugium). Finally, I positioned the trap over one of its entrances and to my extreme joy, it worked! He wasn't too happy with me, I can tell you that. I quickly transferred him to a small plastic hanging fish cage until I could figure out what to do with him. I was thinking about the refugium, but was concerned he could break its glass (which is very thin). Now I think that was a pretty idiotic concern given his size – about two inches! But at the time, fear can make you think strange things… As I was trying to think about what to do with him, my fears ramped up as he was systematically doing a number on the plastic fish cage I had him in. Almost probing it for weaknesses like those raptors in Jurassic Park! I wish I had a smaller tank to set up species only tank for him, but living in NYC doesn’t accommodate this hobby too well. After much internal debate, I ended up freezing him in Carbonite (my freezer), as I have read this is one of least cruel ways to dispatch problem creatures. Now, looking back, to tell you the truth, I wish I would have kept him and just made sure I kept him happy by target feeding him. If you don’t have much time to build something, the commercially available Mantis Traps are a great alternative. Such amazing creatures - best vision in the planet (that we know of) and highly intelligent!

Where did you get the mantis trap and do you have a picture?