I want to get some of TBS LR but....

[kveille]

I want to get some TBS LR, but I don't want to get a Mantis Shrimp or Gorilla Crab. I wouldn't mind any of the other hitchhikers. Can I have my cake and eat it too with this LR?

Basically, is their anything I can do when the LR arrives to rid the rock of these pest before placing it in the tank? Would a freshwater dip or high saltwater dip do the trick without hurting any of the life attached to the rock? All of this will be going into a new tank for the cycle.

 

[divemonster]

Re: I want to get some of TBS LR but....

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13200967#post13200967 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kveille
I want to get some TBS LR, but I don't want to get a Mantis Shrimp or Gorilla Crab. I wouldn't mind any of the other hitchhikers. Can I have my cake and eat it too with this LR?

Basically, is their anything I can do when the LR arrives to rid the rock of these pest before placing it in the tank? Would a freshwater dip or high saltwater dip do the trick without hurting any of the life attached to the rock? All of this will be going into a new tank for the cycle.

Using dips of any kind will kill other life on the LR. I had your attitude when I first started. I've come to respect the Mantis shrimp a great deal. There were gorilla crabs that I could not pick off the rock so the mantis shrimp hunted and killed most of them.

The mantis shrimp is an intelligent, crafty little critter. I ended up with 6 on my LR and I got them accustomed to being fed small pieces of raw shrimp. They actually come out of their burrows to get their food. Then I was able to swoop in with a net and capture them. I've got 2 in my refugium and the other 4 are still in my main tank. Two of the ones in the main tank are quite small (less than 1" long)

Some people put mantis traps in the tank and get them that way. There was one guy who took his rock out of the tank, put the rock on the floor, and then the mantis jumped out!

You should not let a few gorilla crabs or mantis shrimp stop you from getting this wonderful rock so full of life.

 

[scowiii]

Can't have all good without some bad. I still have 1-2 huge gorrila crabs and sometimes I am lucky and able to spear them.