Help with Hitchhiker

[jsharp13]

I got a mantis hitchhiker on some rock that I received from Tampa Bay. I have seen him pull a couple of snails into his "lair". Though I'm not happy about that, attempts to catch him have been unsuccessful. He is definitely a smasher because I have seen him curl into a ball and make the loud clicking noises. He has left my peppermint shrimp, starfish, and coral alone. He is a deep red, about 3-4 inches long, and his front legs curl under him. I haven't seen him enough to get a positive ID or picture, but will post if I do.

Things I have tried:

-Bottle trap (top inside-out with frozen shrimp) - He had a nice meal but figured his way out of the trap

-Upright olive jar - He didn't even try

-Pulled all of the rocks out and tried to find him - The problem is, I got a bunch of pistol shrimp on the rock as well, and every time I pull a rock out, I hear snapping in both the bucket and the tank.

So, I think I have decided I want to try to keep him. Here are my concerns:

-I don't mind if he helps himself to a snail once in awhile, but I would like to feed him something that I can control a little better. If I do frozen shrimp, how much and how often should I feed him (I plan on buying fresh shrimp and freezing it to avoid preservatives or any other crap)

-To keep fish from grabbing it, is there something I can put it in that he would be willing to eat out of? I guess I could use a reverse bottle trap, LOL.

-Will he hurt fish? I plan to soon add some blennys and clownfish to the tank. I can handle buying new snails once in awhile, but will not be able to handle dead fish.

-Will he hurt corals?

Thanks for any help. I think it would be cool to keep him, I just want to make sure I am not making a mistake.

 

[jsharp13]

After doing some research, I'm fairly sure he is a Neogonodactylus wennerae. Going by general look, color, and location.

 

[nmotz]

Hmm... the short answer is (based on everything you've told me) that he might be better suited for your refugium than your DT, but that means, of course, you have to catch him

The reason is because he won't just eat a few snails. He'll probably eat all of them. It's likely that you have a Neogonodactylus Wennerae, and they will eat pretty much any snail that is small enough for them to handle. That means no dwarf ceriths will make it. You could try the normal Florida Ceriths that are bigger. Also larger trochus snails might make it? Bottom line is that even if you feed him shrimp regularly he will still probably massacre your CUC. Mantis shrimp have been found to go out foraging 2-5 times per day in some cases. Mine would eat around the clock if I gave them that opportunity.

Most N. Wennerae seem tolerant of fish, but again, there's no promises that can be made. Same goes with your peppermint shrimp. I had a few of those that were able to hide and stay safe during the day, but at night they would go wandering for food and would stroll right into my mantis shrimp's burrow. Big mistake!

On the bright side, an N. Wennerae won't damage your corals unless they are lying on the substrate and get buried with sand when the mantis builds its burrow. And mantis shrimp are really cool pets. They are very active and like to explore during the day.

I would make a concerted effort to pick out where he lives. It's probable that he will choose a small cavity in a piece of LR and if you can locate that you can take the whole piece out and slip it into your refugium. That's my recommendation. Enjoy your new favorite pet!

 

[jsharp13]

Thank you for the advice.

As for finding him, I saw him go into a pile of rocks, and separated that pile from the rest of the tank using plexi. Then, went through every rock in the pile and could not find him. Don't want to freshwater dip or put carbonated water on every rock, as that definitely wouldn't be good for the other things on the rock (crabs and snails).

I have had the tank almost 2 months now, and when I found his "lair" when searching through all of the rock, I only found about 6 broken snail shells inside. I still have a pretty good number of surviving snails, though you are right, the small ones are mostly gone. Surprisingly, he hasn't seem to have eaten any hermits. The peppermint shrimp have been in there almost the entire time as well, though I have read this is a situation where they are ok until they aren't.

I really do want to keep him, and searching through all of this rock and stirring everything up can't be good for the other inhabitants of my tank. I'm thinking I will start feeding him regularly and try to get a better idea of where he is at. Possibly set up some more elaborate traps to try to catch him. In the meantime, I will be introducing some blennys. I hope that he doesn't bother them, but if he does, I guess I have my answer.

 

[nmotz]

I think your plan sounds fine. Many people would freak out about putting fish in with mantis shrimp, but my take is that on a real reef, things eat each other all the time. It's completely natural. It's just that we as reefkeepers have to make peace with the consequences! Just don't put anything in there that you would hate to lose at some point. Mantis shrimp are opportunistic hunters and may leave stuff alone for a long time before going on a killing spree. My mantis recently started butchering all of my peppermint shrimp when he had tolerated them (well, most of them) for quite a while.