Even a seasoned keeper's gotta know....

[goblinsharkman]

Ok, so at MACNA about a month ago, i won a 30 gallon tank from Drs. Foster smith, with tons of LR and SPS from their new aquaculture facility. The rock is a mixture of tonga branching and some othetr stuff from the IndoPacific, tons of life, but when you have tons of life your bound to have mantis shrimp We'll Ive been down there in the dark with a flash light hoping to get a glimpse of them, from what Ive seen and heard there are 2-3. Ive actually seen two of them, the first one (Checkers) is about 3-4cm dactylid that is black and white, mainly white with black on the sides, sorta looks like checker pattern, the other ive seen is really really tiny, probably about 1 or 2 cm, also a dactylid more of a brownish color, kinda resembles the ones you have in all those cups in your lab, Dr. Roy.

Anyways, i need to figure out a good way to catch em, cuz well im going off to college next year and leaving most of my tanks here, however Id like to take a mantis or two with me! I hjave about 50 nassarius snails, 20 ceriths, 25 hermits and 2 turbos in the tank. Ive noticed marking on the shells of the hermits and ceriths. I was considering a trap, but most likely it will be set off in a few minutes by nassarius snails or by the numerous crabs, bristleworms and britles in the tank. All of the rock work is puttyed togather, bcuz the tank is all SPS, so i cant take specific rocks out, any other suggestions? or should i just try the trap and give it time (I got about a year )

Other suggestions?

 

[sandlot13]

ya, it sounds like the only way to get those guys out is going to be a lucky trap....... but if you have a year, your bound to catch one sooner or later! let me know how it goes with that..... congrats on the winning of that tank/LR/SPS, would give anything to win something like that (trust me, once you get to college, you find out its a lot harder to buy stuff for your tank...... its basically chosing between lunch for the next two weeks or that really cool fish or coral in the store that you want oh so badly). good luck hunting!

 

[Agu]

You just have to be smarter than the mantis. As a furure Marine Biologist and college student how hard can that be ?

Harder than you thought :lol: .


Good Luck,

 

[goblinsharkman]

ya, it sounds like the only way to get those guys out is going to be a lucky trap....... but if you have a year, your bound to catch one sooner or later! let me know how it goes with that..... congrats on the winning of that tank/LR/SPS, would give anything to win something like that (trust me, once you get to college, you find out its a lot harder to buy stuff for your tank...... its basically chosing between lunch for the next two weeks or that really cool fish or coral in the store that you want oh so badly). good luck hunting!

Sandlot, Do you go to UW? That is probably where I will be ending up next year.

 

[sandlot13]

actually, i go to school at Saint Martins University.... its a smaller private college down by olympia. UW has an amazing campus though, ive been there a few times and we play baseball there during the season. lemme know if there is anything i can do to help you in colleges in the northwest. good luck!

 

[goblinsharkman]

actually, i go to school at Saint Martins University.... its a smaller private college down by olympia. UW has an amazing campus though, ive been there a few times and we play baseball there during the season. lemme know if there is anything i can do to help you in colleges in the northwest. good luck!

Yea, UW has an entire college devoted to Fisheries Science and Oceanography, and a professor wants me to be his undergrad research assistant, and a lot of my family lives up that way now...so it looks like the best bet for me

 

[sandlot13]

oh wow! thats awesome! looks like you have a great setup there then...... haha lemme know if you guys need any extra help! im down in olymipa now, but its only a short drive away from UW (and im thinkin about grad school there). haha, but ya, you cant go wrong with UW, its awesome! keep me updated