Worm?

[Reef4Fun]

Hey all, was wondering if someone could tell me what this creature is in my tank. I looked at pics of a bristle worm and it really doesnt look like that. Actually, I had thought that my shrimp had gotten attacked by my green crab, but I later saw it and it is fine. This thing had to have been in one of the new rocks I got. It looks like a shrimp almost, without the tenicals. It is about 1 and a half inches long and is about 1/4 inch thick, it has a tail like a shrimp. When I saw it, it was during the day and was just out in the open on the sand, then ran into the rocks. It is tan in color. Any ideas?

 

[grendl]

Have ya checked the pics of mantis or pistols shrimp? Have you been hearing any popping from your tank?

 

[gsergent]

Hard to guess or research the specimen without a picture. However, the mantis or pistol shrimp would be a good place to start. Good luck!

 

[Reef4Fun]

yes, I have been hearing popping from the tank, have been very confused.

 

[phljess]

Have fun getting it out if it is a mantis. The best way I know to get a Mantis out of your tank is to wait for it to go into a piece of rock and pull it out of the tank. Then submerse the rock in a bucket of freshwater.

 

[Reef4Fun]

Will it cause any harm? I have two peppermint shrimp, one large and one small, and it has not bothered them or any of my fish. I also have 3 small green crabs and they are fine. I know Ron has a trap that will catch one.

 

[grendl]

They will kill what they can.

Once things are up & running, I plan on having a mantis tank, I think they are really cool critters. You should check out the mantis forum here on Reef Central.

 

[firefish2020]

"They will kill what they can."

100% false, often quoted but never proven.


They "Can kill" what they want but unless they are starved they will only do minor harm in a reef tank. I have had one for years down at the shop. He now resides in the first coral frag system on the left, if your lucky you can spot him from time to time watching people as they pass by.

For years mantis shrimp have gotten a bad reputation as being evil. A mantis thinks a lot like a human being. As soon as it goes into a system it finds shelter, then it finds food. If there is no food being dropped from the surface (krill, brine, flake) then they will take down the first animal that matches their current size. If they really want a particular animal they will wait until they are 100% sure they can take it down.

There are 2 type of mantis shrimp spearers, and clubbers. If you have heard clicking it's a clubber. They don't get very large and love snapping holes in rocks. As mentioned unless fed they will periodically take out a crab or very small snail but mine lives happy with his tank mates. I toss him a crab from time to time if he wants it, to keep him in shape. He seems to prefer krill over catching anything alive. If you want him out I can arrange that but I highly recommend you use a live trap as there are individuals out there that want these animals and recognize them not as a threat but as one of the most unique animals you can own.

If it is a mantis you are hearing it will be a series of taps like TAP..TAP..TAP in succession

If it is a pistol shrimp however you will hear a loud POP

 

[Reef4Fun]

I'm sure it is a mantis now because the sounds I hear are, tap, tap, tap. When I first heard it, it reminded me of when I used to use the glass floating therm. and it would tap up against the side of the tank. As long as it wont bother my peppermint shrimp, I want to keep him. I love all the unique animals, as long as they can live together,

 

[firefish2020]

As long as it wont bother my peppermint shrimp, I want to keep him.

I did'nt say it "wouldn't", it might not but as with any predatory animal there is a chance it will just decide to go out for shrimp one night. Your best bet in this case is to catch the little guy and bring him in, or give him away or set up a small 10 gal for him alone.

 

[grendl]

I would go to the mantis shrimp section of the forum & read about "Tim". It quite a popular thread & the guy has a great sense of humor. They are a really interesting strain of shrimp, & each one seems to have its own personality. Like Ron said, it may never touch anything else in your tank.

I didnt know that tank in the front had a mantis in it! I will hav to eyeball that tank a little more closely next time I am in. Do you know where he holes up at Ron?

 

[fishmon]

I too have a mantis in my store display, a customer found it in there one day. I have found a few shells of dead crabs collected in my green cap under where he is hanging out. I have tried to catch him w/ a live trap to no avail. They are VERY smart creatures. I ordered one for one of my customers and it is a "smasher". He kicks major arse. He feeds it freshwater fiddler crabs that are the same size as the shrimp on occasion and it comes out and commits major carnage. You can hear the snap from a few feet away from the tank. He kills it, drags it to his den, eats the innards then discards the shells. VERY skillful killer IMO. And also VERY cool!

 

[firefish2020]

Yeh our little guy is hard to pin down, he moves from rock to rock and has a tunnel system going on. They also seem to love krill as for an everyday food source, this cuts back on damage to the crabs, and smaller crustaceans.

 

[Reef4Fun]

Mine isn't bothering anyone, yet anyway. Every once and a while I see a burst of rock dust, but I haven't seen any crab shells or anything. If he minds his manors I will leave him alone, if he starts to bother other tank mates, I will try to catch him and bring him in to Ron.

 

[Reef4Fun]

I saw my mantis today, I heard the tapping and kept looking and found him. He was tapping on a crab shell, I watched him for a long time, later I looked in on him and he had the shell cracked open. I kinda like him, hes very small, about an inch long. I will keep a close eye on him, if he starts to bother anyone other than the crabs I will check into tring to catch him and take him in to Ron.