How to catch a Mantis in your reef

[StephLionfish]

Well, from the smashed shells and popping noises, it's a smasher mantis. Other than that, I don't think it's possible to tell what kind of mantis it is.

You could try to starve him, then maybe he'd go for the food in the trap... but I'd think it would take a while for him to get hungry... He'll just feed off your CUC/hitch hikers. But it might be worth it to try to starve him.

I use this little trick with my camera: Get the camera, stand however far away, then use the zoom... If you really want to see him, then you could try this.

 

[Rubyhill2849]

He doesn't seem to like to eat hermit crabs but he has taken down some hitchhiker crabs so starving him is working somewhat. I will use the camera idea. Great idea!

 

[StephLionfish]

I had a N. Wennerae ( a smasher) not like to eat hermits... he mainly went for snails.

Use a tripod or back of a chair or side of the wall or something when you do the zoom trick. When you are zoomed in real far, any tiny shakes will be major.

 

[kingpin9995]

I also have a mantis. I've heard him and have lost many snails and blue legs. Have seen parts of them here and there. I bought a nice big cheap magnifying glass. When you are feeding preferably something meaty get that magnifying glass out and watch for him coming out to feed. I did this and found him.They are very cautious even when feeding so it takes a keen eye. Mine likes the bottom and burrowed under a rock. Upon closer review I saw there are two of them there, great! Also I have a nice pocket flashlight and using that with the magnifying glass after lights out is a great way to search the rock to find your mantis. I've tried a trap that I bought online that has a door that releases twice with no luck with a nice meaty shrimp in it . These bastards are smart. Good luck locating him. I have alot of rock and fear I may have more than two. My CUC is pretty much decimated. I do have some nice emerald crabs and they have not been eaten YET...

 

[ddvm5654]

I have all the tell tale signs of a Mantis shrimp. disappearing fish, crabs, snails broken shells. the crunching sounds. tried traps finally out of frustration pulled all the rock out drained tank and scooped up all the sand. rock is in buckets and fish in another bucket thoroughly looked over all the rock never found the mantis shrimp. i have a 29 bio tank. before i rebuild any suggestions on what to do now.

 

[nmotz]

I've heard some people talk about dunking each piece of LR in various solutions to flush out a mantis, but you might want to read up on that method, hope that helps.

 

[Islandoftiki]

I had to extract a baby mantis (unharmed) from a rock the other day.

I knew where she was in the rock. I was able determine the internal hole structure and flush her out simply by using a turkey baster. I squirted her right out of the hole she was in. Well, she held on for a little while, but ultimately decided that the constant rushing of water was getting annoying and she came out of the hole and into a holding container where I provided her a much smaller rock to hide for the night before moving her to her final home.

 

[PzIV]

I had to extract a baby mantis (unharmed) from a rock the other day.

I knew where she was in the rock. I was able determine the internal hole structure and flush her out simply by using a turkey baster. I squirted her right out of the hole she was in. Well, she held on for a little while, but ultimately decided that the constant rushing of water was getting annoying and she came out of the hole and into a holding container where I provided her a much smaller rock to hide for the night before moving her to her final home.

Just tank water? That's good to know.

 

[Islandoftiki]

Just tank water? That's good to know.

Yeah, just plain tank water. I didn't want to take any chances. I'm pretty sure most mantis will bail the hole they're in if the situation gets annoying enough.

 

[rrkk123]

Thanks for the info

 

[madmanmac]

Well, I just got a great shipment of fish, shrimp, stars and cleaners. All acclimated and into the tank with no problems. And then......I saw the little red bastard poking out of a hole. I have heard the clicking but thought it was something else outside the tank, but no it was a 2 inch red mantis shrimp. After playing hide and go seek for a few minutes, the little b just walked right out of the hole and grabbed my brand new Green Clown Goby. I hate the bugger but now I just have to catch him and move him to the fuge where he can live free with nothing to kill that I didn't want dead!

 

[dukduk]

Probably obvious but don't try to cup one in your hand. I tried this snorkeling and the bugger pierced through my finger.it was a small one too, maybe 2.5". They can get huge on Guam, my uncle mark caught one in Apra Harbor that was around a foot long.

 

[Betta132]

A foot long?! Wow... Be glad that you didn't get hit by one that big!
I'd just like to note that small smashed snails, clicking noises, and torn-apart small crustaceans can indicate that you have a very large pistol shrimp. It's not likely, but a big hungry pistol can do a lot of damage.
If you hear just snap-snapping noises without any damage, but they're rather frequent and you can't spot a source, you may have a pistol shrimp. Check for tunnels.. Pistol shrimp are not only usually harmless (only huge ones can kill things),but they're interesting and make great little community critters when paired with a nice shrimpgoby.

 

[71Percent]

I had one that hitchhiked from some Florida live rock I purchased when I first set up my tank. I noticed it a few weeks in when two moving and fully autonomous eyes started looking back at me one day. I left it alone for a good six months and to tell you the truth, it was one of the most interesting creatures I have ever watched. It ended up setting up shop in a small cave and even used a flat piece of rock to shut the door to its home each night. It was the exact color of Coralline algae, which made it difficult to track. After heavy losses sustained to my clean up crew, I felt obliged to act. I purchased a $20 Mantis Trap from the pet store. At first, I didn't have much luck. You have to dial-in the tension trigger in on the trap and I would set it pretty low, so sometimes just the tank current would set the thing off. Other times, I caught snails and a crab or two (that went into the refugium). Finally, I positioned the trap over one of its entrances and to my extreme joy, it worked! He wasn't too happy with me, I can tell you that. I quickly transferred him to a small plastic hanging fish cage until I could figure out what to do with him. I was thinking about the refugium, but was concerned he could break its glass (which is very thin). Now I think that was a pretty idiotic concern given his size – about two inches! But at the time, fear can make you think strange things… As I was trying to think about what to do with him, my fears ramped up as he was systematically doing a number on the plastic fish cage I had him in. Almost probing it for weaknesses like those raptors in Jurassic Park! I wish I had a smaller tank to set up species only tank for him, but living in NYC doesn’t accommodate this hobby too well. After much internal debate, I ended up freezing him in Carbonite (my freezer), as I have read this is one of least cruel ways to dispatch problem creatures. Now, looking back, to tell you the truth, I wish I would have kept him and just made sure I kept him happy by target feeding him. If you don’t have much time to build something, the commercially available Mantis Traps are a great alternative. Such amazing creatures - best vision in the planet (that we know of) and highly intelligent!

 

[Calappidae]

None of the hitchhiking species can break glass. G. chiragra certianly can which isn't a very common hitchhiker. Even the larger ones rarely if ever to the point it's almost a rumor never break it either.

He could've just lived in the sump.. worst case killed a few crabs but would've been fine down there.

 

[mbauma]

I had one that hitchhiked from some Florida live rock I purchased when I first set up my tank. I noticed it a few weeks in when two moving and fully autonomous eyes started looking back at me one day. I left it alone for a good six months and to tell you the truth, it was one of the most interesting creatures I have ever watched. It ended up setting up shop in a small cave and even used a flat piece of rock to shut the door to its home each night. It was the exact color of Coralline algae, which made it difficult to track. After heavy losses sustained to my clean up crew, I felt obliged to act. I purchased a $20 Mantis Trap from the pet store. At first, I didn't have much luck. You have to dial-in the tension trigger in on the trap and I would set it pretty low, so sometimes just the tank current would set the thing off. Other times, I caught snails and a crab or two (that went into the refugium). Finally, I positioned the trap over one of its entrances and to my extreme joy, it worked! He wasn't too happy with me, I can tell you that. I quickly transferred him to a small plastic hanging fish cage until I could figure out what to do with him. I was thinking about the refugium, but was concerned he could break its glass (which is very thin). Now I think that was a pretty idiotic concern given his size "“ about two inches! But at the time, fear can make you think strange things"¦ As I was trying to think about what to do with him, my fears ramped up as he was systematically doing a number on the plastic fish cage I had him in. Almost probing it for weaknesses like those raptors in Jurassic Park! I wish I had a smaller tank to set up species only tank for him, but living in NYC doesn't accommodate this hobby too well. After much internal debate, I ended up freezing him in Carbonite (my freezer), as I have read this is one of least cruel ways to dispatch problem creatures. Now, looking back, to tell you the truth, I wish I would have kept him and just made sure I kept him happy by target feeding him. If you don't have much time to build something, the commercially available Mantis Traps are a great alternative. Such amazing creatures - best vision in the planet (that we know of) and highly intelligent!

Where did you get the mantis trap and do you have a picture?

 

[FlyFishKen]

After trying to catch a mantis for about a year (including a commercial plastic trap) I caught him the first time I saw him with this. It is a loop of line through a long tube with a clip to hold a piece of shrimp. When the mantis goes through the loop to get the shrimp, the loop is closed by pulling on the other end. He now resides in the quarantine tank.

 

[Anim8me2]

You watched a lot of "Wild Kingdom" as a kid.
I'm going to have to try that

 

[mbauma]

After trying to catch a mantis for about a year (including a commercial plastic trap) I caught him the first time I saw him with this. It is a loop of line through a long tube with a clip to hold a piece of shrimp. When the mantis goes through the loop to get the shrimp, the loop is closed by pulling on the other end. He now resides in the quarantine tank.

So you just pulled the loop around him after he is part way in? I thought they would never fall for something like that

 

[FlyFishKen]

So you just pulled the loop around him after he is part way in? I thought they would never fall for something like that

This one would come partly out of a crack between rocks, hit a piece of shrimp on a stick, grab it and go back in. I don't know if others will do the same. I tried to use tweezers/gripping tools but was always unsuccessful. I think this was less intrusive and the line could be placed flush against the rocks. Or maybe this mantis is not the smartest mantis.