mantis attacking clownfish Q. is it possible?

[mogulski]

My question is that I believe that I have a mantis shrimp by the clicking that i hear at night. I have herd that they can be nasty, aggressive little buggers that can cause havoc on reef tanks. the other day i had a healthhy, vigrant 2 yr old false perc disapear overnight that was new to my system for about a week or so. Is it possible for mantis shrimp to catch a healthy 3" clown then have all of the clean up critters help finish him off in a few hours or less? there were no remains and jumping wasn't an option with the enclosed canopy. I also checked all the pump intakes for any sign of her as well as rearranged LR searching for her.
I also have the smaller male, who is probably more manuverable then the bigger clown.
Any thoughts?
thanks

 

[mmgm]

I don't think it is possible to completely finish off a fish the size of a clown in a few hours. The poor dead clown is probably wedged between some rock somewhere in your tank.

I had a similar situation when first starting out. A 2-3 inch crab came in with some LR I purchased. (This crab is not about 7 inches in size) Anyway, the crab caught a beautiful flame angel I placed into the tank and used the angel for a sushie dinner. I was very annoyed in the morning when the angel was missing. I did not have any inverts in my tank yet so I ripped it down to locate the dead Flame Angel.

I found half of the poor angel buried in the LR where the crab hung out.

I Removed the crab immediatly. He now lives in my 30 gallon FOWLR along with a damsel that survived the original cycling of my tank. (I would do it differently today)

If you look the clown is still in your tank......

REmove the culprit that killed your clown......

Good Luck.........

 

[hammerhead]

I have had a few fish go missing. One yellow wrase, blue spot jaw fish, Cannery blenny. In my case there are 2 possibilities one is at night there being attacked by my green brittle serpant star or there being swollowed up by my 12" RBTA. I still dont know what happend to them.

 

[mmgm]

There is definetly a murderer in your tank. I was lucky because I knew it was Fang (The crab) from the start....

Get your night vision equipment ready to go......

 

[lllosingit]

I doubt it's a Mantis that your hearing, My Mantis are active with the lights on and never make a sound when the tank is dark.
I also keep several fish in with 3 mantis (clubbers) and they haven't been harmed at all.
The sound could be a Pistol Shrimp mine is active when the tank is dark but he is also very small so I don't worry about the fish.
Crabs are very good at catching and killing fish, Have you tried setting a trap yet?

 

[MDKyleZ]

If your mantis is a smasher it is possible however highly unlikely that is the cause...

If your mantis is a spearer he may take fish as food...

Kyle

 

[mogulski]

mmgm

the remains of the clown are long gone. i moved lots of the LR around in there, then with a PH, i stirred things around enough so that maybe it could be spotted. no such luck. i think that after some time now that the clean up guys did in the remains

 

[mogulski]

someone was saying on a local reef club forum to construct a trap out of a jar or water bottle with a dead cocktail shrimp as bait to catch these nasty, unwanted inhabitants.
place jar near LR with bait inside before photocycle ends. throughout the night the hitchiker will smell the bait and fall into the trap not being able to exit the jar.
any thoughts?

 

[lllosingit]

You can use a jar or a glass leaned against the liverock to catch grabs , they go in but can't climb out becase the sides ar to slick.
Shrimp won't be caught in this kind of trap because they can just swim back out.
You can make a trap out of a plastic soda pop bottle, Just cut the top off and turn the top unside down and push it back into the base. The top will work like a funnel with a big opening for them to climb into but just the opposite once they are inside.
I bait mine with a small piece of shrimp or krill and place it on its side on the sand bed right after the lights go out and check it first thing in the morning.

 

[mogulski]

You can use a jar or a glass leaned against the liverock to catch grabs , they go in but can't climb out becase the sides ar to slick.
Shrimp won't be caught in this kind of trap because they can just swim back out.
You can make a trap out of a plastic soda pop bottle, Just cut the top off and turn the top unside down and push it back into the base. The top will work like a funnel with a big opening for them to climb into but just the opposite once they are inside.
I bait mine with a small piece of shrimp or krill and place it on its side on the sand bed right after the lights go out and check it first thing in the morning.

very intersting i like the idea. kinda' like the ole roach motel "roches check in, but can't check out". Thanks for the tip

 

[COreefer]

What other fish do you have in the tank...Is it possible that one of them finished the clown off...or worse took him out from the beginning?

 

[mogulski]

just two false percs. the larger female is the one that is MIA

 

[biomekanic]

I watched a 2" chromii just stop moving and drift to the bottom of the tank. in under 30 seconds 2 nassarius came tearing out of the sandbed, 10 seconds later bristle worms galore. within 2 minutes there was no sign the fish had ever even existed, gone. bones and all.

 

[melbaloaf]

im going through the same situation, i cant find my clown fish! he was there this morning but now...gone! how do i find a mintis shrimp if i have one?

 

[mogulski]

most of the time people hear them "clicking" once the photocyle is complete for the day.
I hear one in my tank, but not every night.
not adding any fish until i figure out whats eating them. so far my smaller false perc has been safe. i think because he is so much more manuverable than the larger female was

 

[lllosingit]

My experience has been that Mantis are active when the lights sre on and not when the lights are off.
Pistol shrimp and crabs on the other hand wander the tank under the cover of darkness looking for prey.