Time to Learn About the Mantis

[Merdock21]

Ok, quick review...
About a month and a half ago, we began to notice a strange creature in our tank and soon found it to be a shrimp-like organism. We watched intriqued and fascinated... until we found out what it was: a mantis shrimp. We soon new it to be a "smasher" and began to devise ways of catching it and did a great deal of research here on thsi forum and other places. One of us is a marine biologst and we both wanted to watch it but not at the risk of our beloved fishes (we even considered dissecting it at some point). About a week before Christmas, it disappeared.

Fast forward to today: we found it again. We actually caught him in the act of trying to kill two of our hermit crabs, our sixline wrasse and our neon goby. Thank God our rockskipper blenny is both big and protective because he rammed the little f***er back into the rock. We called our local fish store and a "fish" friend and no one would take it, but we didn't really want to suffocate it either. So, we decided to use it in the projectthe marine biologist has to do and we got a small 3 gallon acrylic biocube, a heater and we set up the tank in a matter of hours. We also bought some temporary food (frozen cubes for marine carnivores). We hope he is going to survive because before we knew what he was we accepted him into our "family" and even know we are slightly partial to him (though the marine biologist is p***ed that he tried to kill her "babies.").

What kind of care (other than feeding, we will be getting him frozen silver sides) should we provide? We have a sandy substrate, a small chunk of live rock and a fake anemone. What should we expect? Any special tips or notes we should be aware of? We are working on the species identification right now and that will help I'm sure. Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks!

[jenglish]

I don't think he/she should require any special care beyond what you are providing. Once you get a positive ID you will know if the 3 gallon is a long term solution or if it willl outgrow that. If you have to upgrade to larger tank there are a few species of smashers capable of breaking glass but I think they are more the exception than the rule. If you lived closer I would ship you 300 pest snails for it to play with!

[Mustang Boy]

and a heads up you are gonna want to feed him live food ei. hermits, snails, crabs or the like every once in awhile cause if they dont use their raptorial appendages they will fall off

[Merdock21]

About how long does it take for oxygen to deplete in a 2 gallow bucket with a huge rock and lots of organisms (macro and micro)? We have been waiting for the S.O.B. to crawl out since about 5:00 on Friday.

[Koshmar]

If you want to get him out then stick a plastic airline tube in various holes and blow into the tube. Ya it sounds wrong, I know... The bubbles should make him come out. Again ya I know, sounds wrong...

[Merdock21]

Ha, I like that I have some air line in the house ! The little lady is gone right now so I can get away with trying that! Are we just not a little MacGyver!

[Mr.Peanut]

Update on the mantis? Any luck?

[Merdock21]

No luck so far this little guy is like Rambo im waiting for him to pop out of the live rock we have in a bucket with an M-60 and open fire on me for removing him from the main tank. He is a true fighter! I really wanted to get him out alive so the little lady I.E. the “marine biologist” could use him in a study she wanted to do. I work on aircraft so I wonder if the little guy could fight off an attack of a 4X rivet gun on his little fort he has made inside the rock. Ha, I know I am evil! I am going to try the air line one more time and if I can’t get him out I bet I can wait longer than he can before he has no more O2 in his water. I just cannot believe he is still alive after almost a week in the bucket with no food of fresh water.

[Mr.Peanut]

Originally Posted by Merdock21

No luck so far

I just cannot believe he is still alive after almost a week in the bucket with no food of fresh water.

Are you sure you have the right rock?

[Merdock21]

Yes I am sorry to say I do. The little guy pops his head out and gives you a dirty look and then goes right back in to the rock. He really likes that rock and I dont think he wants to move! He looks to be around two inchs long from what I can see of him and has a dark red tent to all of the body but the face, that looks kind white.

[Mr.Peanut]

He must be getting hungry, it might be a good time to try the soda bottle trap.

[Mustang Boy]

that or get a few hermits and throw them in there and when he comes out to snack on them quickly take the rock out of the water so he has nowhere to hide

[Mr.Peanut]

You'd probably have to move real quick to beat that mantis.

[Merdock21]

Im going to try the trap in the morn! And he moves like an Indy car. I was thinking back to when I was little going to the lake an playing with some M-80's. It was always cool to see the water and what ever was in the area fly up into the air, ha. I think that an M-80 would slow him down a bit ... Ok, really I would never do that!!! But I will try the trap in the morn an I will let you know what the good word is on "Rambo Mantis".

[tombsaway]

: )