uh oh, found a hitchhiker ....

[UCBryant]

Got a shipment of deco rock from gulf-view. Even after a hypersaline bath, the sucker managed to stay around. Not sure what i should do at this point.

He only stuck his head out, which looks about 1 cm wide ... I haven't seen his whole body yet.

I wouldn't mind keeping the guy... but it's more important that my 10 yr old maroon clown and mandarin goby survive. I'm sure they're both significantly larger than the mantis. I don't want them to be harassed by him either.

The tank is 40 gallons and the mantis's rock has a lot of life on it. I don't want to do any more baths if it means killing the rest of the rock.

Should I worry at all? Any ideas on what i should do?

 

[Feclar]

Quarantine the rock and use a bottle trap till you catch em

Or just toss em in your tank 8*)

 

[rlf_racing]

I have a 3" maroon clown with my 4" peacock mantis and he doesn't bother the maroon at all. At one point I did have three fish with him before I got rid of them. I had to many fish for my tank. UCBryant if you don't mind me asking do you have pic of your 10 year old maroon? I have never seen a full grown maroon.

 

[Simran]

Mantis shrimp are hit and miss, some are completly docile while others are cold blooded killers. I also kept a 5 inch peacock mantis shrimp with a few chromis and maroon clown no problem although my scooter blenny came up missing. I would think that your mandarin could be in trouble considering all they do is hang out on rocks

 

[justinl]

benthic fish are usually the fish at the most risk. If you really like your mandarin, maybe removal would be the best solution. read on.

http://www.stomatopod.com/forum_v3/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=71&sid=b6cd8a2c5b7eb50fc075b1a385809423

 

[UCBryant]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11926512#post11926512 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rlf_racing
I have a 3" maroon clown with my 4" peacock mantis and he doesn't bother the maroon at all. At one point I did have three fish with him before I got rid of them. I had to many fish for my tank. UCBryant if you don't mind me asking do you have pic of your 10 year old maroon? I have never seen a full grown maroon.

I don't have any pictures yet, but I plan on taking some soon. I need to buy a tripod otherwise everything comes out blurry.

The full grown maroon has thin white stripes and very dark red/maroon color. Other than that (and his size), he looks kinda boring. The fish was the lone survivor of a neglected tank that I inherited. He's nice and plump now from months of PEmysis instead of that pelleted tetramin crap.

Oh and.. i should probably say "she" not "he" ...

 

[UCBryant]

As far as the mantis goes, i'd like to keep him in a separate tank. At the moment i'm not sure if i have the time/money/space to set a small tank up. He's barely 1" long, probably close to 3/4", so I dont' think anything in the tank is at risk .. yet. I am worried about the mandarin, but he's also pretty large (2.5" head to toe).

Oh and sorry about not being clear on this... I didn't see the guy until after i put the rock in my tank. From what i've seen, he doesn't leave the one rock and is quite timid.

The plan so far is to bait him in the main tank. I set up a weird funnel-trap that you see described online everywhere. I'll give that a week or so before trying a turkey-baster freshwater squirt into his lair.

 

[tush]

...i had a mantis hitchhiker when i set up my 60 gal a year and a half ago. i didnt have the heart to do away with him and he was only an inch long at the time (truth be told... i was a noob.. and had no idea what i was looking at until long after i found him the first time),
it seems like since he grew up in a full reef tank, he is the one who runs. he has not touched any of the 8 fire shrimp, 2 cleaner shrimp (even when they dig in his hole to see if he left anything), jawfish that lives under the rock the mantis lives in, 2 green gobies have been fine...he really hasnt touched anything.
he just pokes his head out at feeding time to grab something.
i dont know if this helps, but i am not sorry i kept him in there

 

[black_majik]

Take the piece of rock out on the tank and pour freshwater in teh hole the mantis is in a usually he will dart out after to seconds just have it over a area of salt water so the mantis doesn't damage himself

 

[UCBryant]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11975140#post11975140 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tush
...i had a mantis hitchhiker when i set up my 60 gal a year and a half ago. i didnt have the heart to do away with him and he was only an inch long at the time (truth be told... i was a noob.. and had no idea what i was looking at until long after i found him the first time),
it seems like since he grew up in a full reef tank, he is the one who runs. he has not touched any of the 8 fire shrimp, 2 cleaner shrimp (even when they dig in his hole to see if he left anything), jawfish that lives under the rock the mantis lives in, 2 green gobies have been fine...he really hasnt touched anything.
he just pokes his head out at feeding time to grab something.
i dont know if this helps, but i am not sorry i kept him in there

How large is your mantis now? I got my rock from Florida, so it's probably N. Wennerae, which some people here have said is very aggressive. I'm sure size affects behavior a lot in a reef.

 

[saltwaterpimp]

hear is one i found. you have to go to my profile. i dont know how to load on this post.

 

[tush]

UCBryant.... he is about 2.5'' now... maybe a little longer. This guy is deffo not aggressive and I have had NO problem with him - the funniest thing is when he gets stuck in his cave because a snail is in front of it - he wont smack it, and just peers out from behind it.

I think I have decided to move him to a cube on my desk. I love watching him and hope he will come out more if he is the only thing in the tank - I am also dying to get pics of him, he is a purpleblue and possibly then i can get pics of the merals.