Quick Help Needed!

[danb_1985]

i have my pico tank situated next to my computer. i was sitting working and in the corner of my eye i spotted sand flying everywhere and i only have a group of polyps in there or so i thought. i then saw some green thing scuttling around the rock but kept going in the rock so couldnt get a good look at it. i then started to hear loud clicking. my girlfriend caught a glimpse of it so i told her to type mantis into search engine and thats what we've concluded it is. it looks to be about 2-3inches and green. i know they have the ability to break glass so want it out of there ASAP!!

how has it got there without me noticing since tank been up and running about 2 month?

how do i catch and deal with it without losing a finger as it looks very very quick?

is it likely to break the glass at this stage?

quick reply would be grateful!!!!

 

[Harry1996]

there should be a rock were it lives and find the hole and poke a skewer or flexible pipe in the hole and forceing the shrimp out. but make shore you ware strong gloves. once you have the shrimp kill it or put it in its own tank. if it dones not work you can put the rock in a bucket and put carbonated mineral water in the hole where it lives and that should persuade the shrimp out of the hole.

 

[seffieuk]

For a start, stop panic-ing

You have a pico tank with no fish in, some people adore Mantis shrimp, they can be great. They are becoming more and more popular with small tank keepers.

So, watch and wait, identify what sort it is and then decide what to do, sell or take down to your lfs to sell on it is very unlikely it will be able to break your tank, so, I would say, watch and wait, you never know you may love the little fellow. Put a shrimp (dead) or cockle in there and watch and wait.

Oh and it would have come in your live rock and been hiding out and growing.............

Seffie x

ps any chance of a photo of the little chap?

 

[bollands]

feed it, it may grow on u

 

[AK77]

For some people the Mantis Shrimp is a nightmare, mainly because their expensive fish start disappearing overnight, never to be seen again. As Seffie says, don't panic! If you don't have any fish in your tank then you haven't got an immediate threat.

They are actually quite sought after for species specific tanks and as others have said, it may very well grow on you. If you're lucky, you might have a peacock mantis which have awesome colours. I'd love one myself. Try doing as Seffie mentions and feeding it some meaty chunks or even some pellet food wouldn't go amiss.

They can be trained to be quite tame. There is a video on youtube of some guy with a zebra mantis which must be about 8" long or more. He's holding it in his hand. Not something I'd recommend as they can cause you a fair amount of damage. Divers call them "thumb splitters".

As far as breaking the glass goes, providing your tank isn't made of 3-4mm stuff, you should be just fine. Not all mantis species have the ability to break glass anyway. I'd just be careful about putting your hand in the tank now. Personally, I'd keep the mantis and train it to feed by hand. If your tank is too small for fish, this may be a very nice addition to your pico tank!

 

[jtnova13]

As far as breaking the glass goes, providing your tank isn't made of 3-4mm stuff, you should be just fine. Not all mantis species have the ability to break glass anyway. I'd just be careful about putting your hand in the tank now. Personally, I'd keep the mantis and train it to feed by hand. If your tank is too small for fish, this may be a very nice addition to your pico tank!

I've heard there are clubbers and spearers. Spearers are the ones who can crack the bottom of your tank but hitting it while digging. I could have this backwards though.