Mantis or pistol???

[lionfish1991]

How do you tell the difference between a mantis and a pistol shrimp?? I havent seen anything yet just heard it click. and how do you get rid of them? should i do a fw or high salanity dip?

 

[charlesr1958]

Contrary to popular belief, you can not tell if you have a mantis or pistol shrimp by just the sound or frequency of "snapping" heard.

I have some good photo examples of both pistol and mantis shrimp within my shrimp hitch hiker page. Hope it is of use to you.

Chuck

 

[650-IS350]

Or you could just scope out your tank at night with a red lens flashlight to see what it is. ( most marine animals ie' fish/invert ) cant see red light spectrum well.

 

[lionfish1991]

should i dip it in fw or high sw? and for how long? also i have a few zoanthids and feather dusters that i dont want to kill..

 

[lionfish1991]

???

 

[charlesr1958]

If you have not seen it, I would be willing to bet its just a harmless pistol shrimp. Mantis shrimp are daylight hunters and if you have one, you should have at least seen it peeking out of a hole in a rock by now. They will also quickly learn that there are no predators around and will run out and grab some fish food and quickly duck for cover.

Chuck

 

[lionfish1991]

i did a freshwater dip and it was a mantis. there was also a few small pitol shrimp and a crab that i put back in.