Holly Posted March 1, 2007 Share Posted March 1, 2007 Today when i got home, I found a molted shrimp skin floating around in the tank. It's a MANTIS molt. A MANTIS. What can I do? Any ideas? I have little crabs (emerald, pompom), peppermint shrimp, and even some very small rock fish. HELP! (scary) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly Posted March 1, 2007 Author Share Posted March 1, 2007 PS HOW do these things keep SHOWING UP!? I haven't added any rock or corals in FOREVER. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowman Posted March 1, 2007 Share Posted March 1, 2007 Can you identify where the mantis is? They are smart little bastages. You can get a mantis trap, hopefully that will help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowman Posted March 1, 2007 Share Posted March 1, 2007 They hide in small holes in your rock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly Posted March 1, 2007 Author Share Posted March 1, 2007 And while I'm in a panic, searching frantically in every crevice in the hopes of spotting the killer, I found THIS and have no idea what it is Please tell me I'm not also infested with some weird killer anemone that's harder to annihilate than the Crown of Thorns (flame) Can you tell I'm in a TOTAL panic! I know what a grown mantis will do to all my livestock! (flame) NO - I have NO IDEA and my rocks are FILLED with holes. He could be anywhere. (sad) I have NO idea what to do. What's a mantis trap?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowman Posted March 1, 2007 Share Posted March 1, 2007 It's designed to catch mantis shrimp. Someone on here probably has one. The anenome looks like a majano anemone. Joes juice is reputed to kill them, but I use a small amount of apple cider vinegar in a syringe to kill mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowman Posted March 1, 2007 Share Posted March 1, 2007 Holly give Patrick a call, he will know where to get the trap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly Posted March 1, 2007 Author Share Posted March 1, 2007 The molt looked like it was the battering--not the harpooning--kind. The crinkled molt was an inch long, which means it's not tiny. Molt floated behind the rocks and I was unable to catch it, and now I can't find it anymore. (I wanted to inspect it closer) Do you know if Patrick (or anyone else) has a mantis trap I can go get? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly Posted March 1, 2007 Author Share Posted March 1, 2007 OMG - I have a parasitic anemone TOO?! Could this day get any WORSE?! NEXT I'll put my hand in and get bitten by a surprise blue-ring octopus, then fall dead onto the floor. I can't just pluck it off and flush it? I'm supposed to take a syringe of apple cider and squirt it onto the anemone after taking it out of the tank - or IN the tank?? Please excuse my ignorance; I've never heard of this before. Thanks.. DOH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowman Posted March 1, 2007 Share Posted March 1, 2007 I do mine in the tank. Just a small amount is all you need. If you pull it off the rock, some of it will be left behind to grow into more anenomes. I'm trying to reach patrick right now, he may be busy at the store Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly Posted March 1, 2007 Author Share Posted March 1, 2007 Patrick said he thinks Neil has one. He's gonna call and see if he can reach him. Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowman Posted March 1, 2007 Share Posted March 1, 2007 I'm sure a lot of people will have negative things to sday about my method, but it works and I've never seen any adverse affects from the cider vinegar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly Posted March 1, 2007 Author Share Posted March 1, 2007 I squirted a little less than 2mL of the vinegar right into the middle/mouth area. It closed up under the edge of the rock. How do I know if I killed it? I guess I just keep waiting to see if it opens back up..? Man. I feel like such a noobie idiot today. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowman Posted March 1, 2007 Share Posted March 1, 2007 Oh you should pierce the flesh of the anenome, forgot to tell you that. Just a tiny amount will do the trick. They melt away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowman Posted March 1, 2007 Share Posted March 1, 2007 We all have days when we feel like that. Cheer up. It'll get better!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly Posted March 1, 2007 Author Share Posted March 1, 2007 Patrick said that Neil's was a Corallife mantis trap and it sckd, so Patrick's gonna try to make me a homemade one. The anemone is still whithered into that little crack. Hope that's taken care of, at least... Thanks for your help Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly Posted March 1, 2007 Author Share Posted March 1, 2007 I stabbed it and it seemed to deflate a little more. That anemonee was on the backside of my rock, so it could've completely gone wild replicating itself before I found it, had I not started frantically searching for the mantis. I've looked everywhere now and haven't found another one (anemone), so maybe I got it in time. Only time will tell. The only unaccounted-for fish is my tiny (1.5") yellow watchman, but he often goes days at a time w/o coming out of his hole, so I'm holding some hope that he's not a mantis victim. (fingers) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowman Posted March 1, 2007 Share Posted March 1, 2007 I am going to the store now to get the stuff we need to build you a mantis trap. We should have it done soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly Posted March 1, 2007 Author Share Posted March 1, 2007 THANK YOU! I'll be at home until 2:45. Gotta pick up daughter from school then take her to swim class between 3-4. You can reach me on my cell during those times (it's on Patrick's caller ID) You're godsends (icon) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted March 1, 2007 Share Posted March 1, 2007 See if you can cover the hole the anenome went into with superglue. The kind i use can be applied underwater, most others should as well. Use superglue gel, the same stuff you glue frags with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palani Posted March 1, 2007 Share Posted March 1, 2007 Hey Holly, if you don't know what to do with the mantis once you catch him, I wouldn't mind giving it a home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drock59 Posted March 2, 2007 Share Posted March 2, 2007 I would also take it for a school tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly Posted March 2, 2007 Author Share Posted March 2, 2007 I've got the trap set, but thus far I've only caught my dottyback (in the first five minutes!!(flame) I guess it likes scallop)> Had to break it down, get it out, then set it up again. PS THANKS to Patrick for making the trap for me!! At Fanta-Seas, someone filled me with hope saying that it might be a molt from a pistol (my two died, and I flushed cadavers, so if it's a pistol, it's one I don't know about). I HOPE I'm wrong and they're right, but I have to say.. The molt was long with no body curve to the back, two hooked front arms, and a small fan-like tail. I IMMEDIATELY recognized it as the bludgeoning type mantis--like the one a had a few months back that I caught and boiled out of a rock. I've only found some hermit parts and a decrease in peppermint sightings lately, so if it's preying, it's not hurting my fish yet. I suspect that maybe that rock also had eggs or babies that got out before I treated it, because I haven't added any corals or rocks since then. Is that possible or has it been too long?--For it to only be around 2" long by now? (The molt was longer than an inch, so I figure the mantis is prob 2" or so) If I get it alive, I'll drop it off at Patrick's in a jar and whoever wants can have it. I don't need to kill it; I just need to get it out of my tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powdertang05 Posted March 2, 2007 Share Posted March 2, 2007 the only traps ive seen were glass jars with saran wrap on the top with a rubber band and a small home in the top with mysis in the jar it worked well for many people Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly Posted March 2, 2007 Author Share Posted March 2, 2007 Nothing got into the trap last night. Scallop is still untouched and it's empty. Darnit. Maybe the molt was old and it just got loose? ..Maybe it belonged to that mantis I killed many weeks ago, and it just now got pushed out of a crevice by a shrimp or something... I'm working hard on this delusion. (crazy) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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