The other day as I was sitting watching my clowns I noticed a bunch of sand flying around behind one of the rocks in my 39g. I moed around to get a better look and I saw a shrimp looking creature excavating a burrow. Today I heard some popping on and off and it made me think pistol shrimp. I have no idea how this shrimp could have gotten in the tank as I haven’t added any LR to this tank since I started it last March. Here are a few crappy photos that I managed to get.
Hard to tell, can you lure him out w/ food or trap him? I know the inverted water bottle top trap I made caught my two peppermint shrimp in a few hours. Maybe try it with a piece of silverside and let it sit by the rock at night.
also you can buy a 2 dollar mouse trap that traps mice live. then drill holes in it and place a piece of shrimp or silversides in with some sand and plae in tank with swinging door mear rock. once it goes in it cant come out. ya i am selling these for $19.99 as well as worm trap. lOl
lOl good one. sorry i cant help have never seen one.
looks an awful lot like one to me…
if you do catch it and do not want it contact icy he was wanting one i think. or maybe it was jon? someone wanted one.
It was Jon! It was Jon! But to be fair Icy called them first. If he has a tank set up. If he doesn’t I would be glad to take care of it.
Really hard to tell from the pics, but there is a good chance. Keep an eye on it and try checking out some videos of Mantis. They have very distinct movements and ways in which they swim. Pretty fast and fluid movements. Check youtube and reef central for videos.
Might try adding hermit crabs to the trap as well. Or even better an emerald crab if you are willing to sacrifice one. Only thing with a clear trap is they may pluck at it over and over until they shred it up enough to reach threw and grab food. I could see that presenting a challenge.
Definitely keep us updated.
well this is a hard plastic and if holes are small enough they will not get at food till they enter through trap door. but it is usless on damsels that you want out. i have caught everything but darn damsel i dont want…
100% mantis. The picture is clear as day. you can see the black circles of the front paddles, the antenna, and the eyes… now what species of mantis is up in the air but it is a mantis for sure.
[quote=“4n4sd4, post:9, topic:863”]
100% mantis. The picture is clear as day. you can see the black circles of the front paddles, the antenna, and the eyes… now what species of mantis is up in the air but it is a mantis for sure.[/quote]
Do mantis usually prey on fish? I am begging to wonder if that is what happened to my missing sixline? He went missing after I had him for a couple of months. This was back in May and at the time I thought he must have jumped and gotten under the stand where I couldn’t see him. HMMM
I guess I need to trap this shrimp. He is free to anyone who calls it first when I get him.
YAY! Someone found one! It is definatley a mantis, and I will definatley give it a good home. Most of the time, the mantis that survive to hitchike into our aquariums are smashers that prey on your CUC, but if they can catch a fish they will usally eat it as they are opprotunists. With that said, I kept a damsel with my old manis for a year and a half and it never got the damsel, so I doubt it got the six line.
To catch him, you can try the live mouse trap idea. If that does work, what works most of the time is taking a 20oz soda bottle, cut the top off and invert in so that the spout points inside. Poke some holes into the bottle to allow a little water flow, and put it near the mantis’s burrow. It should go to investigate it (they are very smart), and when it does pull the bottle.
I think a mantis shrimps main diet consists of shell fish and inverts, but I think it is also an opportunistic predator and will go after anything it can get depending on it’s level of hunger. just my :TWOCENTS
wow those were similar posts… lOl
[quote=“4n4sd4, post:9, topic:863”]
100% mantis. The picture is clear as day. you can see the black circles of the front paddles, the antenna, and the eyes… now what species of mantis is up in the air but it is a mantis for sure.[/quote]
I agree, definitely a mantis. Does look like it might have peacock colors. Good luck, I will eventually get another one someday too, but this time a smasher!
It appears to be a G. smithii from the Meral spots (really good picture of the spots by the way). Hard to tell exactly unless I get some other pics. How big does this guy appear to be? Just wondering if I have to upgrade my tank size at all. (even if I do I am still interested)
[quote=“icy1155, post:15, topic:863”]
It appears to be a G. smithii from the Meral spots (really good picture of the spots by the way). Hard to tell exactly unless I get some other pics. How big does this guy appear to be? Just wondering if I have to upgrade my tank size at all. (even if I do I am still interested)[/quote]
I’m not sure on the size as I have never seen it come outside of its burrow. It never seems to come out any further than what see in the photos, and unfortunately it is not the best place for me to get good pictures. If I had to guess I would say around 2" based on what I have been able to see. This is my first mantis shrimp in 10 years in the hobby.
When I catch it he is yours.
Awesome, thanks. I was just making sure on the size thing that he wasnt to massive. From the sounds of things he should be just fine in the 10g I have.
Ok, I took a second look at the pictures. I couldn’t see it before, but see it now. Was like one of those things you stare at for 10 minutes and all of a sudden see the shape, lol. Icy if you get this one I get the next. 
I was surprised I never saw one while working at DPA accept for the one we ordered. I never got any with my LR either. Disappointing. 
Perhaps one day I will just have to buy one.
You could jump on the CUC gb through ccritters. They sell them for 6$ last time I checked. That was what I was planning on doing, but this guy came up.
I don’t really need one right now and have enough animals to take care of. Life is a little too busy to be setting up yet another tank for one. Would be a different story if one came up and needed a good home. So I’m actually glad you can take care of this one. If it’s caught that is.
Oh and about catching a wrasse vs. a damsel… What does a wrasse do every night that a damsel does not? Something that might make the wrasse a little easier to catch. Let me know if you aren’t sure what I’m talking about.
