# Saltwater people - Mantis question



## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

I know there are quite a few salty folks here, so I thought I'd post this question for you.

I've had this F#*% Mantis in my tank for a few months now who came in with some live rock, and he has outsmarted me after several serious attempts to trap him..... [smilie=s:
I've torn the tank down 3 times, pulled all of the rocks out and probed every nook and cranny, but couldn't find a thing. I've been trying various traps, including DIY ones and the "X-terminator", but the darn hermit crabs go in for the bait and trigger the trap, so I haven't had any luck that way either.
I finally found some raw shrimp in the store over the weekend and thought maybe the hermits wouldn't go after that as much, but I was wrong.

Does anyone have any tried and true ways to catch these buggers?

I have a few people waiting in line to have me send them my "monster", if only I could catch him....


----------



## tslabaugh (Mar 11, 2006)

You can try a high salinity dip. Most people do this when they get in uncured liverock to find out what hitch hikers they have and which to keep and to get rid of. Of course, you will have to dip every piece of rock for about a minute in water with a SG of 1.030-1.033. Any living thing will freak and crawl out. I was read a thread where someone they knew pulled out a blue ringed octopus doing this!!! Talk about scary! haha. This should work, but be aware that he can cause some damage if he gets ahold of you. HTH


----------



## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

Thanks for the reply.

This guy came in with some rock that had coral attached to it. Can the coral survive the high saline?

Yeah, I've heard they can split a finger open pretty easily. :shock:


----------



## tslabaugh (Mar 11, 2006)

The coral should be able to survive. Its not that it kills what is dipped in it, it just doesn't like it. lol


----------



## Moo (Apr 27, 2006)

I've heard lots of different ways, one thing you might try is to turn off the lights in the tank and the room. For some reason while not exactly nocturnal, these guys like the dark. So mabey some bait and darkness will work.

You could also try the good 'ole bait in the net trick.
Just put some bait in the fish net lay the fish net in the tank with an open end and then just wait.

I dunno, hope this helps.


----------



## Cassie (May 27, 2006)

I just found these tips on how to catch them:
1. Replace rock in its own, isolated tank with saltwater. Do not provide sources of food for several days, then trap mantis using bait.
2. Dunk rock quickly in carbonated water. You may use club soda or make your own liquid by mixing dry ice and saltwater. The mantis shrimp will quickly scoot out of the rock when exposed to this.
3. Squirt boiling or hot water into the cavities where mantis shrimps may be hiding. This has been suggested to me by retailers of local fishing stores as well.
4. Dunk rock in freshwater. Some people say they have used this to good effect, but others note that it could severely damage the other inhabitants of the live rock.

link here: How to Trap a Mantis Shrimp?


----------



## lawngnome (Aug 27, 2006)

HAve you tried the soda bottle trap yet? Hermits could get into it but it would still be usable after they did.


----------



## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

Thanks for the additional tips everyone. 

I tried the soda bottle thing a few weeks ago and actually got my first glimpse of him when I turned the lights on in the morning.... He was trying to get in the wrong end of the trap....](*,)


----------



## gibmaker (Jan 3, 2007)

I dont have a saltwater tank, and I think you are talking about the mantis shrimp, cant that thing punch like a proffesional boxer? I thought they were really awesome looking when I saw them. why are they a large trouble in a saltwater tank? just curious I dont know much about saltwater but want to get into it eventually


----------



## Ram Man (Jan 28, 2007)

They are a problem because they will eat the clean up crew, then when that is gone they will move to the fish because they have nothing else to eat. The punching threw glass thing is a myth related to all mantis shrimp when it is only about 3 species found in the aquarium trade that are capable of this. I myself had a female g. smithii and she only hit me once, only a little blood shed. didnt hurt alot eaither, felt like being hit by an airsoft gun. majority of mantis specie stay under 3 inches and can be kept in a 5 gallon their whole life with no problems. it is when you get into the larger species such as peacock mantis shrimp that you need a larger tank, about 30 gallons with arcrilic on the bottom of the tank under the sand


----------



## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

It's funny this thread came back up again today.
I've been faithfully setting a trap every night for the past few weeks with no luck, so I decided once again that I'd have to tear the tank down. I did that today and took it right down to the substrate, dipped every single piece of rock and coral in a bucket of freshwater, and dug around in the substrate a little. Nothing.... Grrrr.... He must be stubborn enough to stick with it in his rock even when it is dipped in FW.
I have a bunch of sliming, unhappy coral right now, but hopefully they'll get over it.

I've never had such a hard time with a little creature outsmarting me like this in my life.


----------



## Ram Man (Jan 28, 2007)

good luck, studies show they are just as smart as octopi. sooner or latter you will capture him/her


----------



## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

Ram Man said:


> good luck, studies show they are just as smart as octopi. sooner or latter you will capture him/her


Thanks Ram Man. 
I believe that about them being almost as smart as an octopus. After some of the tales I've heard about an octopus leaving his own tank to go to a neighboring tank to dine on some fish, then returning back to his own tank again like nothing ever happened, really makes us wonder just how much we under estimate them. 

Last night after things were settled back down I saw the little sucker out standing on top of a rock like he was beating his chest at me in defeat.... :heh: He never comes out in the open otherwise....


----------



## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

JanS said:


> Last night after things were settled back down I saw the little sucker out standing on top of a rock like he was beating his chest at me in defeat.... :heh: He never comes out in the open otherwise....


How aggrevating! Its one thing not to catch it, but quite another for it to gloat. I hope you have better luck in the future and manage to catch it.


----------



## Craig Tarvin (Jul 26, 2005)

I went through this the last time I set up a reef. It was a 50 gallon, I was not happy the first time I heard one snapping at a hermit crab. I got the Xterminator trap, and it worked, I was really happy and thought it was all over. Then I heard the snapping again, argh! This time the trap didn't work. I was able to catch that one, but it was years ago, so I forgot how. Then there was another one! I don't think I ever caught the third. They are really, really smart.

Then I got a clown mantis and gave her a tank of her own, she was at least 6 or 7" when I got her, and was my favorite pet ever. Alienne, the mantis shrimp.


----------



## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

Oh wow, she is beautiful! I've heard they are great pets in the right setting, and I have considered sticking this one in a 5 gallon tank I have running (if I catch him), and I also have a list of people waiting to take him off my hands at one of the salt boards.

I have the Xterminator, but my hermit crabs always rush right in there and spring the trap, so I've had to move on to other types.


----------



## Craig Tarvin (Jul 26, 2005)

Good luck!


----------



## zmazza (Aug 29, 2006)

Why not pull out all the hermit crabs and then give it a try? Put them in a seperate tank or a hang on refugium and then try the trap?


----------



## Squawkbert (Jan 3, 2007)

Either put the trap & (1 piece after another) LR in the 5g for a few days or chuck the crabs into the 5 & leave the main one w/ the trap set.

Either way, go w/ little food as you prepare to do this & none (except for bait) when attempting to trap the shrimp.


----------

