Please help with possible mantis

[Rogger Castells]

I have a fairly new set up that I put together from two stablished system live stock. the tank is doing great and has been running since late November '04.
At night or when ever the lights are off I hear a rather loud clicking noise that sounds like shell banging against the glass.
i have try to look for the source of the noise with a flash light w/o any luck. My question;
Is there any fool proof way to spot a mantis or catch him???

any suggestion will be appreciated, Thank you!

 

[Hooked on Salt]

I think it's just a matter of luck. I finally caught the one (there may be more) I had been hearing for the last couple of months. I used one of those grabber tools. It's normally used for picking up parts from confined spaces and I found mine at Wal-Mart in the tool section. It's spring loaded and has 4 prongs that stick out when you push the button at the end. I've spent hours watching for the mantis and the other night it happened to dart out of the rock and just sit on the sand bed. I hovered over it with the grabber prongs extended and pinned it to the sand while releasing the button. I was lucky. It now resides in my Q-tank until I decide what to do with it. There are a lot of other methods to catch these buggers but this one worked for me. I've used it to capture a few gorilla crabs too. Good luck catching yours.....

 

[JackiinFl]

home made trap

home made trap

If you look On tampabaysaltwater.com they have a trap you can build out of an old water bottle. I bait mine with a shrimp or any other meaty food and it has worked everytime for me.

 

[Rogger Castells]

thanks for the advice guys I will start spending more time looking at the tank at night, I have actually spotted an emerald crab, and another type of crab with fat black claws, don't know what type it is.

 

[Uriel]

. I used one of those grabber tools. It's normally used for picking up parts from confined spaces and I found mine at Wal-Mart in the tool section. It's spring loaded and has 4 prongs that stick out when you push the button at the end . [/B]

I bought one of those as well, for working in my Tanks. However, some of these (I have been told all of them...) are coated with a sort of lubricant oil. You should check up on it, so as not to intriduce any harmful chemicals into your little slice of Ocean. Just trying to help.


-Ron