puffer vs. shrimp

F

fresh

New member
if I do add a valantini or dogface puffer, how long would it take for the puffer to find the mantis and eat it?

All I have now is just rocks and water. The rocks have been cured and the tank has been cycled, but I can't set up my reef because of the mantis!

I really don't want to setup the whole reef and then find out that I am missing a fish on a weekly basis because of a mantis shrimp or some other predator!

thanks

fresh.
 
first I would try a home made trap and bait it with some krill or something. get a soda or water bottle. Cut it around the neck and then place the neck inside the bottle so the drinking hole is facing inside and once the shrimp goes in it cant find its way out. Hope this helps
 
I have been trying this for the past 10 days but to no avail :(

I really want to get this guy out so that I can enjoy my hobby!

thanks
 
I have the same issues. I caught 2 of my mantis not too long ago. But i still occassionally hear the clicking. I only have about 6 medium size pieces of live rock in the tank. I took each one out, placed it in a 10 gallon and listened for a click. When i heard it from the 10 gallon then just poked around. I also squirted hot freshwater in the holes that i could not see into and voala. When hot water hits them, they click continually and try desperately to get out of the rock. I did this method for the forst one and for the second one i saw run into a rock. I then pulled the rock out and squirted his hole. Same result. The only problem with this method is that if you have multiple (I didnt know i did) is that you pull out the rock you think hes in and the other clicks in the tank. This had me going crazy.
Yesterday i saw something run into a rock again. I have been hearing some clicking over the last few days but they are very distant. I pulled the rock out and squirted a hole and i heard the clicks. But what came out was i think a baby pistol shrimp. It did not look like a mantis. Instead it had onesmall claw and a the other which is about 3 times as big. The big one had a red tip. The rest of the body was transperant. He ended up dying due to the hot freshwater.

I hope this helps a lil.
 
what are the chances of them dying of hunger?

I haven't placed any food in the tank for the past month. And only 10 days ago, I started putting a piece of salad shrimp in a plastic bottel.

He is not eating anything. Shouldn't he be hungry and eat the food that I am placing in there?

if he is not eating, can I assume that it is another animal that can only climb and can't swim? Do pistols swim? I am confused :(
 
I got my second shipment from TBS yesterday and i thoroughly looked through each rock and left the rocks out for 45 mins. Only little crabs crawled out. THen an hour after i placed all the rocks in the tank i heard constant clicking. Next morning i saw him and tock the rock out where i thought it he was in. Unfortunately he got out before i got the rock out. I out plexiglass across the width of the tank about 10 inches hign and i shifted the rocks from one side to the other. The mantis was not in his home and he was switching from rock to rock while i was moving. Then it was the last rock and he actually went in the open and try to run for it. I just got a net and got him. He was about 1.25 inches. I had to get him out since he was opening each barnacle and making so much noise doing it. Also i have about 50 blue leg hermits and pepperment shrimps so it was worth it to brake the tank down. Have you got yours?
 
I know how u feel

I know how u feel

I did get some live rock from TBS, and after two months of trying (trapping and netting) I still hear that clicking! To make matters worse I saw a small one, about 1 inch long the other day. I tried to net it and missed. Therefore I am going to pull out each rock, listen for clicks from my main tank. Probably squirt boiling hot water or dip the rock in a soda bath. I can tell the mantis is having a field day with all my good crabs, I see pieces of crab every day. My fear is he will run out of food and go after my fish. I swear he is smart, somehow he can tell I am near the tank and gets quiet. Good luck.
 
I could have sworn you are describing my tank :(
it has been 2.5 months and I have tried everything. I had seen him, took the rock our and 5 other rocks that are neighbouring, but I couldn't find him....

I like the first one that I caught and gave to my friend, but I only like it coz it is not in my tank! I really want to get this over with...

Will puffers find them and eat them?

thanks
 
Mantis shrimp are very clever and have extremely good eyesight. They can live for weeks without direct feeding. Sometimes mine won't eat for a week at a time because they don't like what I gave them. I wouldn't bother starving them out. Unless you have nothing growing in your tank at all they'll find a way to stay alive. If you ever had somefresh water feeder guppies you couldn't kill they're just like that.
 
fresh, if you can take the rock out that you know he's in then put it in some seltzer water, the bubbles drive them crazy and he'll run for it. Or if there's nothing else like coral on the rock he's in just set it in ice water. It will probably die of shock from the temp.
 
That's just cold! No pun intended. I don't mind chopping the tails of of large feeder fish before I present them to "Ghengis-Prawn", but I like these shrimp so much I can't stand it when I hear about cruenlty to shrimp. It's obscene.

Lol ...
JJ.
 
what about cruelty to the fish keeper and the fish themselves? this thing is driving me crazzzzzzy :(

Unfortunately I don't know where he/she resides otherwise, I would have done one of the above choices!

I need a miracle...
 
How much rock did you get? If there arent that many then you can probably take them out and squirt some warm freshwater into some holes. When he gets hit with it, they run and click a lot. Dont do too much since there are a lot of other living creatures on the rock. I found 2 this way and one pistol who i accidentally mistaken for a mantis. It was tiny. Also you can try this. Get a spare 10 gallon and put some of the rock in there along with tank water. You can also do a water change at the same time. Listen for clicks. If you hear it from the 10 gallon then squirt that rock. Give those a try. Good luck.
 
I took all my TBS rock (46 lbs) out and left it out for over five hours, and then I did a 5-minute fresh water dip! While this killed a lot of "good" stuff note that most of the crabs and inverts were still alive after all of this! I put all my rock back in, and two days later I still hear a click. I even took a plastic spoon to my cc to see if one was in it. I give up.
 
I know its difficult. I have 50lbs and still have click as i write this. I have taken out 5 or 6 so far and i still hear a low click and some loud ones. Im not sure if its the same one or there are 2 of them. @ months in and still hunting. Dont worry when they run out of stuff to eat in the back of the rocks, they will come to the front. Then scare them into the rock and take the rock out for squirting. Good luck.

BTW did you get any manti s when you did your dip at all?
 
did you save the pistol shrimp? Thats a good guy. Keep in mind i got about the same amount of rock you did and i got 5 out and still there are still1 or 2 remaining.
 
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