My tank has been up for a month and a half. When I first got my live rock, I found some pistol shrimp in the shipping box and put them into the tank with the live rock. I was hearing some popping noises coming from the tank, but could not see anything, so I assumed it was just the pistol shrimp. At least I did until some of the snails went missing. Looking in the tank, you would have thought it was a war zone. Snail shell frags all over the place. I even have a poor hermit crab that is missing half his shell.
Luckily during the superbowl, I got a break when I spotted a small red mantis about 1/8 wide and 1 inch long scurrying across the rock. Now riddle me this, how can something so small cause so much damage? I mean we are not talking about holes in the shells. I talking about shells reduced to rubble!!
The next day I decided to set a trap out of an old spice jar, but the only thing I caught was some hermit crabs.
Well last night, while peering into the tank and building a water bottle trap, I saw a movement. Watching in awe, I saw this 3.5ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ Mantis pickup a Ã"šÃ‚¾Ã¢â"šÂ¬Ã‚ snail and carry it behind a rock. Seconds later the snail was no more. Seeing the direction the Mantis went I symmetrically moved the surrounding rocks to the other side of the tank until there was only the big on he went behind. I grabbed the rock and put it in a bucket. I tried to flush him out with freshwater to no avail. So now, the rock sits in the quarantine tank. Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢m hoping heââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s actually in there and still not in the main tank. All the carnage makes sense now, and yes, I will be keeping him if I catch um.
Always fun,
Kamieo
Luckily during the superbowl, I got a break when I spotted a small red mantis about 1/8 wide and 1 inch long scurrying across the rock. Now riddle me this, how can something so small cause so much damage? I mean we are not talking about holes in the shells. I talking about shells reduced to rubble!!
The next day I decided to set a trap out of an old spice jar, but the only thing I caught was some hermit crabs.
Well last night, while peering into the tank and building a water bottle trap, I saw a movement. Watching in awe, I saw this 3.5ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ Mantis pickup a Ã"šÃ‚¾Ã¢â"šÂ¬Ã‚ snail and carry it behind a rock. Seconds later the snail was no more. Seeing the direction the Mantis went I symmetrically moved the surrounding rocks to the other side of the tank until there was only the big on he went behind. I grabbed the rock and put it in a bucket. I tried to flush him out with freshwater to no avail. So now, the rock sits in the quarantine tank. Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢m hoping heââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s actually in there and still not in the main tank. All the carnage makes sense now, and yes, I will be keeping him if I catch um.
Always fun,
Kamieo
