I've heard some people talk about dunking each piece of LR in various solutions to flush out a mantis, but you might want to read up on that method, hope that helps.

I had to extract a baby mantis (unharmed) from a rock the other day.

I knew where she was in the rock. I was able determine the internal hole structure and flush her out simply by using a turkey baster. I squirted her right out of the hole she was in. Well, she held on for a little while, but ultimately decided that the constant rushing of water was getting annoying and she came out of the hole and into a holding container where I provided her a much smaller rock to hide for the night before moving her to her final home.

Just tank water? That's good to know.

Yeah, just plain tank water. I didn't want to take any chances. I'm pretty sure most mantis will bail the hole they're in if the situation gets annoying enough.

Thanks for the info

Well, I just got a great shipment of fish, shrimp, stars and cleaners. All acclimated and into the tank with no problems. And then......I saw the little red bastard poking out of a hole. I have heard the clicking but thought it was something else outside the tank, but no it was a 2 inch red mantis shrimp. After playing hide and go seek for a few minutes, the little b just walked right out of the hole and grabbed my brand new Green Clown Goby. I hate the bugger but now I just have to catch him and move him to the fuge where he can live free with nothing to kill that I didn't want dead!

Probably obvious but don't try to cup one in your hand. I tried this snorkeling and the bugger pierced through my finger.it was a small one too, maybe 2.5". They can get huge on Guam, my uncle mark caught one in Apra Harbor that was around a foot long.

A foot long?! Wow... Be glad that you didn't get hit by one that big!
I'd just like to note that small smashed snails, clicking noises, and torn-apart small crustaceans can indicate that you have a very large pistol shrimp. It's not likely, but a big hungry pistol can do a lot of damage.
If you hear just snap-snapping noises without any damage, but they're rather frequent and you can't spot a source, you may have a pistol shrimp. Check for tunnels.. Pistol shrimp are not only usually harmless (only huge ones can kill things),but they're interesting and make great little community critters when paired with a nice shrimpgoby.

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!

None of the hitchhiking species can break glass. G. chiragra certianly can which isn't a very common hitchhiker. Even the larger ones rarely if ever to the point it's almost a rumor never break it either.

He could've just lived in the sump.. worst case killed a few crabs but would've been fine down there.

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

After trying to catch a mantis for about a year (including a commercial plastic trap) I caught him the first time I saw him with this. It is a loop of line through a long tube with a clip to hold a piece of shrimp. When the mantis goes through the loop to get the shrimp, the loop is closed by pulling on the other end. He now resides in the quarantine tank.

You watched a lot of "Wild Kingdom" as a kid.
I'm going to have to try that

So you just pulled the loop around him after he is part way in? I thought they would never fall for something like that :)

This one would come partly out of a crack between rocks, hit a piece of shrimp on a stick, grab it and go back in. I don't know if others will do the same. I tried to use tweezers/gripping tools but was always unsuccessful. I think this was less intrusive and the line could be placed flush against the rocks. Or maybe this mantis is not the smartest mantis.

Interesting

I can confirm that shaking a mantis out of his rock can be extremly hard, you need some luck.

I have a mantis in my tank and i put each rock one by one on a Powerplate (these things you have in the gym). I left each rock shaking for about 2 minutes and it was litteraly shaking everything out of it, but no mantis. There is no way you can shake this hard and intense with your bare hands, so if this doesn't work... i think you must be very Lucky to get it out by shaking.

I did get one mantis out by dipping the rock in RO, but it did also kill the mantis...

the Mantis Shrimp is like a Sith Warrior! I like the pictures and your trap idea. I had a Mantis Shrimp loose in my tank and I just reached in and scooped him out with a net.

Bottle trick
 

I used the old water bottle trick. 2 days latter, i caught him.

just wanted to say that the info in this thread was really useful in helping you catch a mantis!

I figured the popping I was hearing was from a pistol shrimp and I got lucky and I didn't have to worry about catching a mantis! I was wrong! I saw one this morning after 5 weeks of having my live rock. I tried the bottle technique but I was too impatient with that after a few hours. my husband and I found the rock he was staring at us from, scooped it out of the tank and shook it. fail. then we prodded the holes gently. fail. finally shook the rock like mad and it fell into a waiting bucket w tank water.

now to figure out what to do with it...

give it a new home and enjoy your awesome new pet!

This is one reasons i dont use live rock

I keep hearing the clicking tale tale sound of a mantis. I've ordered a trap hopefully I will be able to move him to a smaller tank

Usually...if you have not seen it...yet....it is a pistol shrimp...some pistols are only 1/4 of an inch long...but make the same pop as a mantis....and you will never see the pistol....a mantis you will see....

Richard TBS
www.tbsaltwater.com :spin3::spin3::spin3:

do crabs make the click noise too?

today i saw some sand floating out an rock, like if something chewed some sand or rock and spit it out

tonight i set up a surveillance ip cam to see if i get something recorded