more mantis

[willray]

Thought I got them all.But oh-no!2?more total is now 7.

 

[Fountainhead]

Repeat after me:

"There will always be another Mantis."
"There will always be another Gorilla Crab."

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Enjoy the thrill of the hunt, but make no mistake...it's their tank...you just maintain it. Carry on.

(Yes, yes...I'm still chasing mantis shrimp and gorilla crabs after 4 months.)

 

[docklink]

Repeat after me:

"There will always be another Mantis."
"There will always be another Gorilla Crab."

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Enjoy the thrill of the hunt, but make no mistake...it's their tank...you just maintain it. Carry on.

(Yes, yes...I'm still chasing mantis shrimp and gorilla crabs after 4 months.)

LOL. After a couple months, my other set of clicking decided to finally make its visual debut. I was looking at a rock when about an inch of mantis upper end poked out and waved howdy. Salmon pink with green claws and I'ld guess about 2 1/2" overall. And I hadn't seen hide nor hair of the thing prior to that. And yes, kill a gorilla crab and 3 more come to the funeral. At this point I'm considering theories of the crabs having a transport booth hidden under one of the rocks. It's about the only thing that explains the constant appearance of new crabs :eek1: Good luck.

 

[hopkinkm]

I'm to the point where I think I'm just gonna tarp all the rock now and see whats left.

Kory

 

[tirtguyll]

wanna send me the mantis once you catch it?

 

[Snarkys]

I'm to the point where I think I'm just gonna tarp all the rock now and see whats left.

Kory

i thought about this but i desided i would be better off just feeding the tank more snails as they kill them....

 

[Fountainhead]

At this point I'm considering theories of the crabs having a transport booth hidden under one of the rocks. It's about the only thing that explains the constant appearance of new crabs

BWAH! I just removed another moderate-sized gorilla. I'd been tracking him for awhile, and knew pretty much where he hung out. He was the last one that I was aware of, too. Yesterday, I got him. I placed him in a white bowl directly under the glare of the PC lighting and yelled at him...HOW MANY OF YOU ARE THERE!!!! HOW ARE YOU GETTING IN!!! He remained silent...obviously well disciplined. Maybe if I had MH lighting, I might have gotten him to talk.

Oh yeah, I spotted another one last night that I'd never seen before. Go figure.

 

[docklink]

Latest victim:

I've one small mantis left that does little to no damage that I can tell. He is fun to watch, so he stays till his demeanor changes.

 

[Tballa]

if you guys want to send me the crabs that you guys don't want, I'll pay for shipping and $1 each. Also I'll buy mantises too for shipping plus $5.

 

[tygger]

I'm to the point where I think I'm just gonna tarp all the rock now and see whats left.

Kory

I was thinking about doing that before I get rock from tbs, but wouldnt that do damage to the "things" on the lr?

 

[Snarkys]

i took mine out and tried hard to find them but there are so meny holes....... i think you would have to tarp them a long time or really know where to look .

 

[Fountainhead]

i took mine out and tried hard to find them but there are so meny holes....... i think you would have to tarp them a long time or really know where to look .

Yeah, I'd think you'd have to leave the rocks out for quite some time before most of these guys would come out on their own. When I first received my TBS rock, I'd guess that most of the pieces were out of the water on plastic for 30 minutes or so. And while a few things crawled off (mostly porcelain crabs which I put back in) most of them stayed put, as evidenced by the half-dozen mantis and at least 12 gorilla crabs which I subsequently captured during the next few weeks.

In general, I'd say don't bother pulling the rocks out unless you've spotted a pest in a specific hole. Then a quick shot of ro/di, or carbonated water ejects them pretty quickly.

 

[willray]

Still hear a load click,click, from time to time and. have spotted 2 small mantis.Both lime green.way cooler than the others that i have caught. they are 2 small for the loadness of the clicks.anyway!untill someone causes trouble things are staying like the are.Gorrila crabs are so flippng fast,next time he is mine.Would like to share pics but I don't get a lot of time to sit at the puter.To dumb! Yeah thats it.2nd half of tbs is in for a month now.LOOKS AWESOME>

 

[docklink]

Willray, one thing I've noticed as the number of bigger gorilla crabs have dwindled (hehe...) the pistol shrimp have become bolder and are starting to come out more in my tank. I've at least a half dozen (and probably more) and they can really sound off.

 

[Tballa]

if you guys want to send me the crabs that you guys don't want, I'll pay for shipping and $1 each. Also I'll buy mantises too for shipping plus $5.

Do you guys want to send me some?

 

[Dazz]

I find that actually cutting the gorilla crabs in half and then leaving them there for other things to eat is a pretty good way of doing things. Granted, it may not be the most humane way of killing them, but it is at least a little more natural if you think about it. It's like some bigger crab came along and took out the smaller crab. This way your other guys get a little treat.

 

[docklink]

I find that actually cutting the gorilla crabs in half and then leaving them there for other things to eat is a pretty good way of doing things. Granted, it may not be the most humane way of killing them, but it is at least a little more natural if you think about it. It's like some bigger crab came along and took out the smaller crab. This way your other guys get a little treat.

Pretty much what I'm doing. The serpent stars go bonkers when the "entree" is dropped back in the aquarium.

 

[dsp78213]

Docklink . . . .

Docklink . . . .

How are you catching these crabs. I've had good luck catching the mantis but I can't get close to the crabs.

What's your secret??

dsp

Latest victim:

I've one small mantis left that does little to no damage that I can tell. He is fun to watch, so he stays till his demeanor changes.

 

[docklink]

"Crab Fishing"

"Crab Fishing"

Most of the crabs I've caught have been opportunistic grabs. I have a few small rocks at the top of the tank that have few hiding places and are easy to pull. If I see a crab on one, I can pull it from the water and dislodge the crab with little trouble. The hard ones to catch are in the 10 to 20lb. base rocks. For those, time, patience and the test tube in the picture have provided some (minor) success. The test tube is glass; about a half inch wide by 5 inches deep (shorter would be better but I don't have one). There is a piece of nonwaxed dental floss tied to the front end of it. A piece of shrimp is placed in the bottom and it is gently maneuvered into place with the opening very close to where the crab hangs out. The crab eventually moves into the test tube and I pull the tube vertical and out of the tank. I've caught two crabs this way and each crab took several days of getting brave enough to climb in. I found that , contrary to other reports, the crabs are quite capable of moving along the glass, so leaving the tube in the tank unattended has been fruitless. I had to be present to pull the tube out while the crab was deep enough in it. I hope that helps, but it can be tedious waiting for the crabs to take the plunge, so to speak.

 

[oddball_from_ac]

next mantis one of you guys/gals get will you br willing to ship? if so let me know
thanks,
dylan