my mantis have bred!

[joelsaxton]

Yes, it's true. I have been fiddling with this x-terminator mantis trap, and although I succeeded in catching my gorilla crab, I have at least 2 mantis still in my 40 gallon and now they have bred. I noticed an unusual amount of clicking the night before, so much so that I was convinced they were building an underground parking lot in my tank. Anyway, I wake up this morning and I see a 2" mantis sticking its head out of its hole. Then it extends its arms and releases 10-15 little mantis shrimp into the water. This action continues every 20-30 seconds. I have literally hundreds of mantis shrimp fry swimming around in the tank and refugium. This is exactly the opposite of what I was hoping for when I got into the hobby. Is here anything I can do? Is there any demand for mantis babies?

 

[Shinobi9P]

What kind of Mantis shrimp do you have in your tank? Take pics

 

[Gonodactylus]

Don't worry, they will all be dead in a couple of days. I know of no case where stomatopod larvae survived in settled in a typical reef aquarium. They cannot survive the month or more that they will have to spend in the plankton both because of the lack of appropriate food and the mechanical disturbance.

Roy

 

[Gonodactylus]

By the way, I too would be interested in knowing the species. I have occasionally seen parent-assisted exodus from the cavitiy, but it has usually been in squillids.