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Grr mantis shrimp

Classklown90

Classklown90

So I have one in my tank, I figured I did for awhile but I finally saw the sucker. How can I catch him? I don't wanna remove alk my rock but I guess I will if I have to. Any other methods before I do that?
 
dirtycontour

dirtycontour

You could try a bottle trap. Take a plastic soda bottle, cut it a few inches below the opening, flip the piece you cut, put that into the larger piece. Put some bait in the bottle and wait. I caught a six line like this, I don't
see why it wouldn't catch a shrimp. Leave the bottle by his home.
 
dirtycontour

dirtycontour

A piece of shrimp should work fine. Keep an eye on the bottle. He could take the bait and escape the bottle. They are smart little suckers.
 
jgraz

jgraz

Kyle the cubes might will breakdown once in the tank. I would run to the store and pick up a couple of small raw shrimp.
 
JurseyDvlJoe

JurseyDvlJoe

We used to catch these all the time in Hawai'i, on hook and line. Apparently they are highly aggressive, going after lures. Based on that (and the videos I've seen on YouTube), I would say whatever you put in the trap, make sure it has some kind of movement to attract its attention. Maybe a small sacrificial hermit or peppermint, especially if that's what he's been picking off in your tank.

And like Reeflections said, keep your fingers away. I've seen a big toe split open. An unfortunate soul was crazy enough to walk a reef barefoot. Required a couple of stitches. You can always use a shrimp/aquarium net to cover the opening, once he's in the bottle, to keep him from squirting out.

Best of luck.
 
Classklown90

Classklown90

Thanks guys for.all the help. I have yet to try anything, I do not think he is killing hermits because I see a decent amount. Only thing I know he killed we're my fiddlers because they we're cracked open. I need a consensus on bait lol. Should I try some raw shrimp and maybe but an emerald crab too??
 
jgraz

jgraz

After you get him out do you have a place to put him. Plan ahead. Plenty of people have mantis tanks. Some of them are pretty darn nice
 
Hawkeye

Hawkeye

smashers are typically much much smaller than the ones seen on the videos/youtube. You probably have one of the ones from the atlantic. I had a shipment of LR once that had 5 or 6 of them in there...because my tank wasn't set up - it was just about finding the LR, and squirting some RO water in their hole. They pop out very fast though like centipedes. I gave mine away to a local reef club (this was before I moved to NJ).

bottle trap is probably the best way to go. You could put a small emerald crab in there as bait...lol - j/k. you must have been hearing a lot of "clicking" sounds from the tank all this time.
 
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