how to get of mantis shrimp?

Bought some gulf rock and am pretty sure I saw a mantis shrimp darting around, and since I have to remove all the rock to figure out how to place it (that placing it piece by piece inside the tank is horrible) I figure this would be the time to address the problem. I of course don't want to kill the nice things on the rock.

 

Nice things including the mantis shrimp?

A bottle trap baited with krill or other meaty food works effectively on mantis shrimp.

Then once you have him you can set up a 5-10 gal aquarium and join the stomatopod club!

Or find someone local willing to take him off your hands, but I highly recommend the first.


Ok so how to build a bottle trap. You will need a plastic bottle and fishing line. Cut the top off the bottle at the widest part of the bottle. Next with a knife drill two holes on opposite sides of the bottom part of the bottle and two on opposite sides of the top part. Tie the top of the bottle to the bottom using two holes with the fishing line. You should have a primitive hinge on one side of the bottle now. Next tie a long piece of fishing line to the other hole in the bottom of the bottle. Thread the fishing line through the last hole in the top of the bottle. You now have a trap that closes when you pull the string. Put a piece of krill in the bottle and sink it to the bottom of the aquarium near where you believe the stomatopod is. When he goes in pull on the string and the bottle will close and you can pull it up with the mantis inside. Rebait the trap if failed until you have successfully removed the coolest animal on earth from your otherwise boring aquarium. ;D

 

I consider that lucky gives you a great excuse to start another tank!

 

Are they really that cool? I've seen pictures but what is so cool about them? I was looking at one at the fish store the other day.

 

Type in mantis shrimp in YouTube and watch it take down prey. Turn the volume up.

 

1) they have the best vision of any known animal.
2) they have the strongest punch per body weight of any known animal.
3) they are incredibly fast reaching speeds of 30 body lengths per second.
4) they are extremely intelligent, and capable of learning.
5) In the wild they have developed a ritualized form of fighting so that neither animal dies in determining who is stronger.

Some species are cooler than others, but they all are pretty cool IMO.

They really don't require much care at all either. A simple 5gal tank, some rock, some sand, and regular water changes is all you need.

 

Please I can run 30 body lengths per second. JK

Really? Now you've got me interested. How do they learn?

 

They sound really cool

 

A little late on this thread... But they learn by observing. They will learn that you are the "Bringer of Food" every time they see your face. When you're looking inside the tank at the mantis, it will most likely be staring back at you with a calculating look.

Also, there are two types of Mantis Shrimp. the "Spearers" and the "Clubbers". And that is exactly what they use. The spearers have long, serrated spears, while the clubbers use clubs. As for the speed of the attack, imagine a .22 caliber bullet just shot from the barrel. Thats how fast it is.

When setting up the tank, make sure it is either thick glass or acrylic; you don't want any chance of shattering glass.

 

Probably not necessary being that its a hitch hiker. More than likely its a Neogonodactylus wennerae, seems everyone has those now as Florida maricultured rock is quite popular.

If you have pictures of the telson, front end showing raptorial appendages, and perhaps a full body overhead view I'd be happy to id it for you. Also origin of rock is extremely helpful.


Edit: Nevermind I see he mentioned its gulf rock so thick glass is not needed. We don't have any mantis shrimp that grow large enough to break glass.


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