I saw a mantis today!

[NoobieNemo]

I saw a mantis in my tank today, even saw him making that clicking sound with the rock...what would be the best method to get him out?he had a little hole under the rock, and he'd come out every few seconds, but then he came all the way out and went behind some more rocks!!!Ugh...here are the crappy pics I snapped...should I kill him after I get him out?or would anyone around Dillon, SC like to pick him up?

 

[Fountainhead]

If you can get to the rock he is in, I'd pull it out and squirt a little seltzer water in his hole. Better now that sometime down the road when you've got a lot of corals and other things established. You definitely want him out. I've evicted three good sized ones, and I have at least two more (smaller) that I know about, but can not isolate. Also gorilla crabs. If you have a chance to pull a rock and evict him, just do it.

 

[NoobieNemo]

do you kill them? and if so, how?

 

[Homey the Reefkeeper]

Goodluck getting it out NoobieNemo! I thought my tank was fine until I saw one today. I deconstructed half of my tank looking for the booger but I couldn't find him. I set up the water bottle trap and I hope it works. Otherwise I'll have to take all 200 lbs of my TBS rock to find him :-o

 

[NoobieNemo]

lol, my trap is set too, maybe I'll slip in there in a few moments and check to see what I've caught!, good luck on yours!

 

[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...

how was your night homey?

 

[Homey the Reefkeeper]

LOL!

At least you got the pipsqueak My trap thing didn't work at all, in fact a sea star crawled in there and was eating the bait instead. Just like you, I started taking out rocks and dipping it in RO/DI water and I must be the luckiest duck because the second rock had the critter. I quickly caught him and placed him with the other mantis I caught. I'll let them dish it out while I decide what to do with them.

Honestly the timing couldn't be better because I got my 2 blood shrimps and my 2 true perculas in the mail. I was able to add the shrimps but the clowns are in QT. I just hope thats the last of the mantis.....

 

[NoobieNemo]

what should one do if they don't have a QT tank?

I think I hear more clicking sounds... :-(... it's soo much work trying to get him out...

 

[white_queen]

If you don't want to keep him I'LL pay you shipping costs to mail him me in TX. Zip Code 76384. You have a PM.

Blessings, Angela <><

 

[carcynogen]

homey, what happened after you did the ro/di dip? did everything else just die also?

 

[Homey the Reefkeeper]

NoobieNemo - DOH!! You heard another clicking sound?! I feel your pain bro, I literally had dreams about catching the mantis and it really stressed me out lol. I intended to strip down my whole tank to look for my mantis and I was fortunate to find him without causing much damage to my tank. But I still fear I will find another one because these little guys are so elusive! Hopefully you don't have another one, but definitely keep us posted

white_queen - Let me get back to you on that one. I have several people PM me about taking the mantis off my hands

 

[Homey the Reefkeeper]

carcynogen - I did a water test shortly after I put everything back and I noticed my nitrates shot up to 20ppm :eek

I'm sure there is some dieoff, but I have some prepared water set aside for water changes. For the most part, my rocks look healthy still.

 

[Homey the Reefkeeper]

what should one do if they don't have a QT tank?

I think I hear more clicking sounds... :-(... it's soo much work trying to get him out...

My QT is just a 20gal tupperware container with a heater, airstones, and a hob filter. It's really that cheap