Spook Your Mantis

joel, for the crabs I recommend a long screwdriver and a bit of patience. You'll find that you can catch them out in the open pretty regularly or spear them lurking in a hole. It's pretty funny to watch the starfish and hermit crabs come running to eat what's left.

For the mantis, you may just have to try Steven's trick. I haven't had any luck with the trap either so I'm hoping as time goes by it gets more comfortable in the tank and I can catch it out in the open, track it to a hole, and then use Steven's trick to get it out.
 
For crabs you can also use an empty jar leaned on the live rock in a well traveled area. takes awhile but you dont have to attend to it just check it every once and awhile.
 
Start with the method of Aiptasia , Take a 20cc syring with a long spinal needle. Fill it with Succinylcholine. inject 0.3 mg/kg

You should have a rag doll in a few minutes. Well, thats what it does in mammals anyway. Still alive, but with no muscular control. No muscular control of respiration either though? The little bugger will recover in 30 sec or so, so work quickly!

Well, maybe not so humane after all.:eek:
 
Got my second shipment in last Wednesday. I let the rocks sit out of water for about 20 minutes. I removed one 3 inch mantis with tweezers while the rock was still out. Caught a half inch one the next day - just sitting on the sand. I've been listening to the click-click-clicking every night for almost a week now. I finally saw him and caught him tonight. Same method, same clotheshanger. He's about 3 inches long. He is alive and well in another tank with plenty of rock click on!:D

<img src="http://www.vortech.servemp3.com/vortech/Uploads/mantis6.jpg" border="0" alt="">
 
I have spent a couple sessions doing this with no luck. I am going to give it a serious go tonight then it's back to pulling the rock out of the tank. Anyone put one or two of these in with their octopus?

KP
 
ive had no luck either. i have sat outside the hole with a hanger for about 30 mins. this damn mantis wont give up his hole for anything.
 
alright got that sucker out. put the rock in a bucket and raised the salinity to 1.040 and came out like a bat outta hell.
 
OK, so I ****ed one of them off for at least an half an hour. He wouldn't come out so I squirted very, very salty water down the hole. He either croaked right there or while I had my back turned (more likely) he made a run for it. But I only hear one popping now so maybe......
 
Does leaving the rock out for so long, create a bad situation for the rock itself. Will you have more die off? On the first shipment I went from shipping bag to tank in minutes. Have had 0 die off. very mild cycle (noit yert completed). I do hear clicking but have not seen the source yet. Love the method you used and will try it as well once I find where he is hidding. Come out.........come out where ever you are.
 
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