Possible Mantis in My Display

[Pez Vela]

Hi all,

I might have a Mantis in my Reef Display. I hear a "tick" sound coming from my aquarium every now and then and understand it may be a Mantis or Pistol Shrimp.

I have heard about the bottle trick, also the prefabricated "mantis" trap for sale @ LFS. Any other tips on how to catch this thing? The weird thing is that I have never seen what kind of animal it is. I regularly check the tank at night with a flashlight but never see a thing. I have too many crabs, snails etc.. to know when some are missing. I have seen a couple fo empty shells but I am not sure if that was a hermit killing a snail for the shell. Are there any other tell tale signs to whether or not I have one?

If I do catch one, he/she is most certainly adoptable @ no charge (other than shipping). Any tips, tricks or suggestions are openly welcome.

Mike

 

[Dav]

Search for the bottle method. I know it is on this forum a few times. And if you catch him I will gladly Paypal shipping.
Did you just get new rock or is this a new clicking noise?
Maybe a small pistol on a new coral or something? May not be
anyting to worry about. I just turned a nice Green mantis loose in my 125 reef. I don't keep any other shrimp so I don't mind the loss in snails and crabs.
Dav

 

[Pez Vela]

Dav,

The live rock came from the Marshall Islands and there are few pieces from Fiji. I have the tank for 8 or 9 months and I just started hearing this "tick" sound in the past few weeks. I did catch a small (1.5") green Mantis about three months ago by accident. I was cleaning out my sump and there he was. Must have gone over the overflow by himself. I gave him to a friend. This new sound has just began to catch my attention. I do have a small orange commensal crab on one of my LPS corals. I heard they sometimes make a click sound.

In any event I will place a trap and he/she is yours if I get one in the next few days/weeks. Thanks for the response.

Mike