loosepinuso
New member
OK, I bought a piece of live rock that was absolutely beuatiful. It has some shellfish on it, it had a brittle starfish in it (it's now out of it and loves (I think) it's new home), it has a live sponge on it, it had three (originally I thought it was two) crabs hiding out in it, and it also had a mantis shrimp in it.
I put it in my 55 Gallon tank that I had recently setup. And I waited for it to cycle (I was toward the end of the cycle period when I got this beautiful piece of rock) completely before I added any livestock. And that's when I realized that there was a mantis (I think) in it. Well, I tried building the mantis trap. I put mysis shrimp in it. I tried waiting. But I just couldn't catch it. I didn't want to pull the rock out and flush it with FW. I didn't want to hang it over a bucket of SW and wait for the shrimp to jump. So I kept waiting. And then...
I found a complete 150 Gallon tank, cabinet, hood, lights, sump, pumps, base rock and god knows what else for sale. So I upgraded and left the 55 just running till the 150 cycled. And that's when I noticed it.
The mantis shrimp found a new rock to hang out in/behind/underneath. Not exclusively, mind you, just occassionally. So I waited. It was time for me to move my live rock to my new tank so that it could start to propagate my base rock (my wall of base rock). So I started moving a couple of pieces at a time and left the two star pieces of this performance (plus about two other pieces) in the 55.
That's when I saw it. The Mantis Shrimp was behind his other hangotu spot. I quickly snatched up my favorite Piece of LR and moved it to the new (150 g) tank and then went back to the 55 and I didn't see him any more. Oh no, did he jump back in? Did I just move him to my new tank? Where was he? I picked up his other rock and twisted it slowly. Round and round I twisted it. The more I turned, the more scared I became. He jumped back on teh other rock. I know he did. and I turned the rock in the other direction, and there he was. Running around the rock in the opposite direction from how I was turning it and suddenly realizing he was facing the front of the tank and turning around to run in the other direction.
Finally, I could rest. That was a rock that only had some red algae on it. I could flush that with some FW and get him out while chancing the possibility that I might kill some of the algae on it.
So I grabbed up the rest of the LR and transferred it to the 150 and went back to the 55 and lo and behold, he was in my 20 oz water bottle trap. Finally. After all the waiting and wondering, he got himself caught. I pulled him out and moved him to my counter. My stepson dumped him into a tupperware container and now I have a mantis in a tupperware that I need to get rid of.
So, before I get rid of him (or her, not quite sure) I figured that I would ask what kind it is and see who would be willing to take it to give it a kind loving home (and maybe remember me when christmas came and give me a small frag of something, who knows
)
So, in my next post, I will include a photo or two of the little guy (about 2-2.5 inches long) and someone can tell me what he (or she) is and if you want he/she.
Thanks,
Lou
I put it in my 55 Gallon tank that I had recently setup. And I waited for it to cycle (I was toward the end of the cycle period when I got this beautiful piece of rock) completely before I added any livestock. And that's when I realized that there was a mantis (I think) in it. Well, I tried building the mantis trap. I put mysis shrimp in it. I tried waiting. But I just couldn't catch it. I didn't want to pull the rock out and flush it with FW. I didn't want to hang it over a bucket of SW and wait for the shrimp to jump. So I kept waiting. And then...
I found a complete 150 Gallon tank, cabinet, hood, lights, sump, pumps, base rock and god knows what else for sale. So I upgraded and left the 55 just running till the 150 cycled. And that's when I noticed it.
The mantis shrimp found a new rock to hang out in/behind/underneath. Not exclusively, mind you, just occassionally. So I waited. It was time for me to move my live rock to my new tank so that it could start to propagate my base rock (my wall of base rock). So I started moving a couple of pieces at a time and left the two star pieces of this performance (plus about two other pieces) in the 55.
That's when I saw it. The Mantis Shrimp was behind his other hangotu spot. I quickly snatched up my favorite Piece of LR and moved it to the new (150 g) tank and then went back to the 55 and I didn't see him any more. Oh no, did he jump back in? Did I just move him to my new tank? Where was he? I picked up his other rock and twisted it slowly. Round and round I twisted it. The more I turned, the more scared I became. He jumped back on teh other rock. I know he did. and I turned the rock in the other direction, and there he was. Running around the rock in the opposite direction from how I was turning it and suddenly realizing he was facing the front of the tank and turning around to run in the other direction.
Finally, I could rest. That was a rock that only had some red algae on it. I could flush that with some FW and get him out while chancing the possibility that I might kill some of the algae on it.
So I grabbed up the rest of the LR and transferred it to the 150 and went back to the 55 and lo and behold, he was in my 20 oz water bottle trap. Finally. After all the waiting and wondering, he got himself caught. I pulled him out and moved him to my counter. My stepson dumped him into a tupperware container and now I have a mantis in a tupperware that I need to get rid of.
So, before I get rid of him (or her, not quite sure) I figured that I would ask what kind it is and see who would be willing to take it to give it a kind loving home (and maybe remember me when christmas came and give me a small frag of something, who knows
)So, in my next post, I will include a photo or two of the little guy (about 2-2.5 inches long) and someone can tell me what he (or she) is and if you want he/she.
Thanks,
Lou
