Mantis in the sump or refugium?

[foltzcd]

I have had hitchiker mantis in my 180 gallon reef tank for the past year that has been very hard to find. While he has not done much to the fish he is constantly killing the snails and crabs. Finally I found his home, a hole in one of the live rock. I moved the rock to my refugium this afternoon and he moved with it.

Question, can he survive and thrive in the low flow of a 20 gallon refugium? My other options are my main sump (40 gallons and limited light) or my frag tank (35 gallons and a 175 watt MH). All are plumbed together and share the same water.

I would like to keep him, just not sure where. Advice is appreciated.

Thanks,

Chuck

 

[Altpers0na-old]

in a word, maybe.

need to know what kind it is....

a pic maybe?

is it a smasher or slasher?

 

[foltzcd]

No picture yet as he has not come out of the rock since I moved him. I assume he is a smasher given all the clicking he makes when trying to break open a snail shell. I can only draw him out of the hole to feed him krill on a stick. For the few moments he is feeding he is dark green on the back of his shell with blue and red underneath. He is only about 3-4 inches and has grown about an inch in one year.

Interesting that he never did burrow in the sand. He does cover the opening to his hole with a rock and pulls the rock away when I shine a light on it.

As soon as I get a picture I will post.

Chuck

 

[Altpers0na-old]

for the most part color is not a good identifier... unless it looks like a bumble bee on roids, which you have indicated it dosnt....

do you know the origin of the rocks in its tank? they wont tell you the absolute type, but will narrow the hunt abit.

 

[foltzcd]

No. The rock came from a friend closing down a tank to move. He purchased from another reefer doing the same so the origin is uncertain.

I will try to get him out to feed tonight and see if I can get a shot to post.

Chuck

 

[foltzcd]

I just posted 2 pictures of the beast in my gallery.

Chuck

 

[Dave Legacy]

Purple w/White Outlined Merel Spot makes me thing G. smithii. Refer to "Roy's List" for a more accurate description or stomatopods.

 

[Agu]

A 20 gallon is adequate for almost all mantis shrimp.