do I have a mantis?

[NoobieNemo]

I keep hearing clicking sounds coming from the aquarium, they are always pretty much different(as in reps.) I haven't seen any mantis shrimp at all, but the clicking makes me think that something is in there...Should I try to set an inverted bottle trap and see what i catch?if so, what do i use as bait?raw shrimp okay?

thanks...

John

 

[traveller7]

Lots of critters contribute to clicking sounds. Care to provide a list of the stuff in your tank, including the type of live rock you might have. Cheers.

 

[NoobieNemo]

blue legged herm crabs, turbo snails, 1 pep. shrimp...and TBS 'the package' live rock...that's it...

 

[traveller7]

Well gulf rock is certainly a good source for a mantis. The turbos will frequently try to twist to shake off the blue legs/other snails and clip the glass in the process making clicking sounds.

fwiw: all my mantis seem to be silent after lights out.

 

[NoobieNemo]

so should I set a trap or not?

 

[NoobieNemo]

I TRIED EVERYTHING TO GET HIM OUT!!! After moving all my rocks (after the trap failed) I didn't see him, so I gave up, but then my gf saw him, and we took out the rock he was in ASAP...we tried freshwater dips, high salinity dips, seltzer, everything! I finally had to hit the rock with a hammer and then, when I split it into, he still was hanging on the wall...but he died...little you know what!!! oh well...

 

[Nickeleye]

Well, was it a mantis or a pistol? I also just recently (3 weeks ago) got about 65 lbs of rock from TBS (base, deco and corals) and I heard clicks and pops. Found out where it was coming from, took the rock out carefully squirted some fresh water down its hole. I saw it clinging to the other side and I found out mine was a pistol shrimp.

 

[Hwarang]

 

[Nickeleye]

What does that mean?

 

[Hwarang]

You could have just captured it and by doing so

1)not destroyed your LR
2)saved the stomatopod
3)given or sold it for profit to a fellow reefer

 

[new2]

and they are easy to capture how????????????

 

[Nickeleye]

HWarang - are you talking to me? If so...
1. I absolutely did not destroy my live rock. It is very much alive and doing well. I didn't give it a FW dip. Only put a slight bit of fresh water where I new it was hiding. I was VERY careful what I got the FW on.
2. The pistol was released back into the tank and still alive.
3. I may do so once it increases in size.



Are they easy to catch (mantis shrimp I mean)? Beats me. I've got a friend though who does have one he just found out about and he's having a real pain of a time catching it. He's seen it several times, but just can't seem to catch it yet and he doesn't want to have to rip apart his whole tank just to get at it.

 

[NoobieNemo]

I keep hearing a mantis or pistol on one certain side of the tank, I have basically narrowed it down to one rock...but for the life of me...I can't see it...do they normally hide in the rock?or burrow underneath the rock??? I don't know what to do, we saw the other looking out of a rock, then we got the rock and got him out, but we don't want to take the rock out without making sure he is in there...I set a trap again...with shrimp...*please please* go into it!

any ideas?

 

[Nickeleye]

With a mantis it really depends what type it is. If it's the bashing kind it'll probably stay inside the rock. If it's the spearing type I think they'll hide under rocks and even dig holes in the sand.

If it's a Pistol I'm not exactly sure how you'll lure it out. Chances are though that if it's a pistol, very carefully check around the rock you're hearing the noise at night... you may be able to spot it. That's how I found mine. I never see it during the day at all.