BREEDING mantis shrimp

[patzayz]

ive currently removed about 5mantis shrimp from my 6foot tank, now at night i just found out that there are more mantis shrimps, but baby ones! they come out at night, but some of my fishes eat them, like my lipstick tang. There are hundreds of them, they look like brimeshrimps, is dere a way i could stop them growing so they don't destroy my live rocks? or over populating and eating my fish

 

[c. dawg]

Are you sure they aren't copepods

 

[sknich]

they sound like copopods to me

 

[amcarrig]

If they look like tiny little shrimp, they're most likely amphipods, not copepods (assuming that they aren't, in fact, mantis shrimp larvae).

 

[DanInSD]

Do they look like this: http://www.museum.vic.gov.au/crust/amphigal.html

Nocturnal, small shrimp-like things in a live-rock tank? Yep, 'pods!

Breeding mantises is *hard*. They have a planktonic period during which feeding them is extremely difficult. If you've managed to do it, wowza. But it's probably 'pods.

This is a Good Thing!! Signs of a healthy reef! They scavenge any leftover food, are omnivorous (read as -- will eat algae), and are yummy snacks for your fishies. If for whatever reason you decide against conventional wisdom that you don't want so many, there are some 'pod semi-specialists (like six-line wrasse, cool fish) or absolute specialists (like Mandarinfish) that will decimate the population in short order.

Dan

 

[yankeereefer]

here's a pic of one I found in the chaeto I keep in my .5g pico

Yankee

 

[tmfreak]

uh oh.. hundreds?!?!! I dont know much about mantis shrimp but that doesnt look or sound good..

 

[Dakafall]

just an innocent little pod, that's all