Finding a mantis

prositter

New member
I have heard the clicking sound in my tank that I can only assume is a mantis shrimp expanding its home. The problem is i have looked everwhere and can not find the culpret. I haven't even been able to narrow it down to which piece or live rock the clicks are coming from, because as soon as I get close enough to try to narrow it down they stop. I have read a lot about trapping them and getting them out once you know where they are at, but does anyone have any tips to help locate them?
 
Might be a pistol shrimp. I find the only time I see them is when they surf the standpipes into my sump and get caught in the foam block. I've not yet seen one in the rock.

The mantis (in my tank at least) seem more outgoing; they'll stick their heads out of holes in the rock, or I'll see a cloud of debris come flying out from under a rock and will see a mantis in there moving sand around. They seem to have gotten used to me, too; they aren't likely to hide when I approach the front of the tank.
 
Yes, Yogre is right. I had one mantis in my nano tank and I saw it all the time peeking out of its hidey-hole. Once it got accustomed to me it would not scurry off and would politely accept a piece of food off a skewer. Once I got it out of the tank, I heard a loud click and thought, "OH GREAT! There was another one." But I have not seen one, not at all. So I'm hoping that a pistol shrimp managed to survive the mantis. At least it sounds like it. The click has a different pitch and is loud enough to hear across the room. Often it is only once and not a repetitive CLICK-CLICK-CLICK like something mining a new hole. After watching mantis shrimp behavior all this time, I do believe I would've seen one by now.

The only exception is the mantis I speared in the head. hahaha! It does not want to be seen, at least not lately.
 
I do feel badly that the poor mantis may be suffering. It managed to wriggle off the tine and slip away. The other one I speared was killed very quickly.
 
They like to block up the holes they make with debris, snail shells, etc. so look for a rock with blocked up holes. if that doesn't work and you still can't see him anywhere then you will have to do it the hard way and put each rock in a separate bucket and see which one clicks after awhile.
 
Alright so heres an update. I was doing some late night flashlight hunting in my tank and I believe I saw the culpret. I attempted to grab a camera but in the split second I looked away to grab it he vanished.

He was an inch to an inch and half long, mostly opaque (flashlight may have had something to do with it). and he did not have the extended arms/claws that I would expect to find on a pistol shrimp.

I am guessing from what I saw it is a mantis shrimp, however I am still not fully convinced. I say this because it was colorless, most shrimp I have seen have some colors, additionally it did not look like all of the mantis shrimp I have seen.

Regardless I am guessing I know what rock he came rfrom, I am going to go through it taking g8gxn's advise, attempting to remove debris to see if I can find him.

Wish me luck
 
Watch your fingers... the mantis in my tank like to whap the crap out of tools I stick close to their caves. Based on how hard they whack my grippy tool, I don't think I'd like to feel that on my skin. :)
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14823392#post14823392 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Yogre
Watch your fingers... the mantis in my tank like to whap the crap out of tools I stick close to their caves. Based on how hard they whack my grippy tool, I don't think I'd like to feel that on my skin. :)

I have been whacked by the mantis when I was aquascaping, and it's a nasty shock. While it did not break the skin, my finger tingled for 2 hours. :eek2:
 
Hmmmm I had a clear pistol shrimp in my corner unit before he made some clicking noise and hung out by my yellow watchmans cave. didnt wanna bother him he has one larger claw than the other mostly stays in the cave
 
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