mantis and seltzer

C

CTaylor

Active member
Hi,
I have at least one mantis in my tank. This one has gotten very big. If it's the only one then he was 1/3 the size just a few weeks ago. I think there maybe more than one, b/c I seen this or other mantis on different rocks in different ends of the tank. I believe he/they have killed some fish and hermits.

**I'm going to do the seltzer method. I don't know if there is a preferred way to use the seltzer. I was going to just slowly pour it on the rock in a separate bucket. Then putt that rock in another bucket of tank water (to try to preserve the bacteria). To be safe I need to do this to all my live rock, which is about 70# I think. I do have live rock in my sump which I will not touch. I'm hoping this reduced any re-cycle that occurs due to bacteria die off.

Any suggestions?

thanks!
 
I use a fish trap with an aquarist controllable door (fish line). Works every time (I bait with something smelly like shrimp) but takes about 20 minutes on average.
 
I have the trap, and put in a piece of silver side. I didn't get anything, but I think a snail or hermit to go in. What is the best bait? Shrimp that you and I eat? Or what type of fish food, etc? I have the trap that is triggered by slight movement, closing the trap door. I'm not sure where to put it, as I have seen 'him' on the right side of tank, on the left, and last time in the middle.
*Is there usually only one mantis?
Does day or night time matter to try the trap?

Thanks!
 
CTaylor said:
I have the trap, and put in a piece of silver side. I didn't get anything, but I think a snail or hermit to go in. What is the best bait? Shrimp that you and I eat? Or what type of fish food, etc? I have the trap that is triggered by slight movement, closing the trap door. I'm not sure where to put it, as I have seen 'him' on the right side of tank, on the left, and last time in the middle.
*Is there usually only one mantis?
Does day or night time matter to try the trap?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

I only raise the trap door when the "customer" I want is visible but even then I raise it only about 1/2 inch which is plenty of room for a small mantis to enter. I have done this during the day, after lights are out with both resulting in the same success. I have used shrimp (a piece not the whole shrimp) that we eat, I have used mysis but it tends to float and is less desirable. I have used a small piece of squid.
 
I would use a piece of raw shrimp, clam or oyster on the half shell. Post a picture in the mantis shrimp forum for an id and take it to your lfs when you catch it
 
he's gotten big.. from what i can tell he went from about 1 1/2 " long and 1/4" fat to about 3" long and 1" fat. I hope I can catch him. Thanks for all the input so far. I have a pair of pygmy trigger fish on the way early next week... impulse buy. So I need the killer out now :)
 
I've got a mantis I've been trying to get rid of also. I had more than I thought and have caught a few. I cought one with a water bottle trap, took about a month but it worked. Another I saw it in a rock and I immediatelty took it out and used seltzer water and it jumped out. I know I have one more and know the general area but I have not actually seen it yet but I hear it. I cant do the trigger fish because it would probably clean my entire livestock out.
 
I meant file fish.. oops.. the little pygmy ones. Now you scared me... I'm more leaning to seltzering everything now. Like I said I have a lot of rock in my sump, so hopefully that will buffer any re-cycling I go through.
 
What all has he killed so far? For a mantis that small I would be too worried about much more than your cuc. Try catching it during the day
 
he looks like one of the medium sized mantis I see for sale at the LFS ... before not nearly so big. I think he's killed quite a few crabs, and that's enough for him to go. For one it's senseless killing except to feed just himself, and I have to repurchase the CUC. I'll try daytime... but nervous it's more than one. And I really don't mind seltzering most of the rocks.
***I was thinking instead of seltzering, what about using cold tank water? I'd put a few gallons of water from my tank in the fridge and use that that same as I would the seltzer.. that should save most of the beneficial bacteria (??) But would it be as effective as seltzer?
 
If you have trouble just target feed him raw shrimp. It will save your cuc hopefully. Go to the mantis forum and look at the stickies. There is one about catching a mantis
 
I read that sticky on mantis capture. I've decided to do that Seltzer method. Haven't found much details on it. But it seems the trap method works sometimes, but not often, and can take time. And I don't even know where the mantis home is. So I can't trap near his home. And I don't see details anywhere on the seltzer method.. so all I can do is get some gloves so he doesn't jump on me and take the live rock out one by one and just pour seltzer on it, over a bucket. Then dump the rock in tank water (in separate bucket) to preserver whatever bacteria didn't explode in the seltzer. I just hope this isn't a total waste of time b/c the mantis won't come loose with seltzer AND i go through major tank cycle. But this thing has to be out or killed right now.
 
ummmm... this is weird MUST READ LOL.
I went to publix. and got like 4 quarts of seltzer, or whatever the water is with no benzoate or sugar... looked at my tank. I see the mantis holding on to a hermit! . he's in back of a coral, I moved it. He's still there. I swore he scurried under a rock. but I look again, and he's righ on the sand. I grabbed my long tank tongs and F*CKING grabbed him!. *** I cant believe it!> I'm just scared there is TWO.. because I swore I saw one scurry away. I might have been seeing two entangled in each other at first??? not sure! Should I still seltzer the rocks to be sure? I'm actually not going to kill him. He's going to LFS!. I have a kind heart :)
 
Last edited:
mantis and seltzer

The stomatopod lovers thank you for your kindness. I would wait, keep the seltzer and see what happens. If you have another one then it will be ready for you then. Just keep listening for clicks. Post a picture in mantis forum for id. Also, it's very
Possible that they were fighting each other
 
Here's the mantis. I hope it's a non killing type so I don't have to worry about the other one (now I'm thinking there is another). From the last response, it makes sense I was witnessing a fight (or courtship/mating??). There was some tussle going on, and it wasn't with the crab, it just happened to be very close by. And I'm quite sure I saw a mantis scurry under a rock. Why this one stayed put while I grabbed it I don't know, maybe it was injured in the scuffle (?).

Thanks again.... hoping he's benign!
 

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Where is the liverock from? Did you post the picture in the mantis forum? Include size, picture, and location of liverock origin. You will get a response pretty quick. But I wouldn't call any mantis benign, you have a smasher, which will smash your cuc to bits. Past that, I doubt you would have issues with fish as its a small one and if it's the species I am thinking of then probably wouldn't harm
Much more than that, especially if you kept it well fed
 
gulfliverock.com <-- bad experience from even before delivery. Long story, but from me they are highly Unrecommended -- even before I found the aphasia and then mantis that came along with the "package"
 
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