Are you FREAKING kidding me?!?!? My beautiful reef tank...ahhhhh

mixtimp

mixtimp

Member
I've had my tank setup for about a year and a half. I have several thousand dollars into it, as I did everything from scratch. I have beautiful corals, fish, rock work, etc.
It's been at least 9-10 months since I've added any kind of rock work to it. Within the past month or so, I've noticed that my blenny and gorgeous mandarin have dissapeared. Also, my snails and crabs have been vanishing at an alarming rate.
I was quite attached to the Blenny, as it was the second fish I ever added to the tank. He was awesome, sat on the rocks, alway swam around, but I digress.
Anyway, while feeding the tank today, I saw this slender black shrimp dart out from the rocks and grab some food. I'm thinking to myself, no freaking way I have a mantis in my tank. Upon closer inspection, YUP, it's a mantis. How the hell is this possible. How would it go undetected for 9 months? Come to think of it, I've been hearing clicking sounds from my tank for quite some time at night, and never thought much of it. Figured it was a motor or something.
I am so freaking pissed. Jeeeeeeeez. Thanks for listening to my vent. I miss my blenny, and the mandarin was badass. One of the best looking mandarin's I've ever seen.
Anyway, do you think it would be easier to hit the mantis with a 12gauge slug, or buckshot? I was also considering a .45 hollow point. I put plenty of towels down for the 75 gallons of water that are going to flood out onto my floor.
 
reefer545

reefer545

Member
the mantis is NOT going to break your tank. It is possible that it took almost a year for it to reach a size that is able to catch, kill, and eat fish, shrimps, etc. Nonetheless, find where it is living, pull that rock, pour club soda on to it, the shrimp will come racing out. collect it and sell it. or put it into its own tank. Sorry for the losses, but at least you know what it is, and there are plenty of resources to stop it.
 
mixtimp

mixtimp

Member
Yea, luckily, I saw the rock it was darting in and out of. Is it probable that is the actual rock he is living in, and when I do my high-salinity dip tomorrow, it will come out?
 
mixtimp

mixtimp

Member
Originally Posted by REEFER545
the mantis is NOT going to break your tank. It is possible that it took almost a year for it to reach a size that is able to catch, kill, and eat fish, shrimps, etc. Nonetheless, find where it is living, pull that rock, pour club soda on to it, the shrimp will come racing out. collect it and sell it. or put it into its own tank. Sorry for the losses, but at least you know what it is, and there are plenty of resources to stop it.
I know the mantis isn't going to break my tank. The towels on the floor was a joke, in refrence to me blasting my tank with a shotgun. lol
 
J

jesses89

Guest
like Reefer said get the rock out...
You can sell the mantis shrimp or keep it in its own tank.
or if youre still pissed that he killed your fav 2 fish and other stuff(id be)
blast it with your shotgun
 
nigerbang

nigerbang

Active Member
Shotgun...Nah...Use a Cutting Torch..Seems to be the way to go..Or atleast for me it would be...One of those Benzomatic(sp) deals...
 
ice4ice

ice4ice

Active Member
Add a lil Old Bay seasoning to it and boil him for supper !! LOL !!!
Sell it to your LFS or anyone here in this forums if you don't want it. I know alot of people here would love to have one. Think of it this way - it's money in your pocket to sell the mantis shrimp.
 
fishy7

fishy7

Active Member
sorry for your loss. I had one that went undetected for 6 months and it killed about 200 snails/6 pepps/1 blond naso 1ft long. I did hear the snapping noise and thought the same as you.
I tried pretty much all the basic traps but no capture. SO I end up calling my buddy and we pulled 280lbs of rocks. I never found him the killing has stopped and no more snapping in 10 months.
We dipped all the bottom rocks cold(65) SW at 1.050. Had a little die off but did the trick.
Good luck.
 
J

jamparty

Guest
why don't you dice it up and use it for fish food?
a more ironic twist if you ask me.
 
mixtimp

mixtimp

Member
Originally Posted by JamParty
why don't you dice it up and use it for fish food?
a more ironic twist if you ask me.
I love irony. I think I am going to do this. The 20-30 bucks I would make is not worth it to me to have to care for it, find a buyer, etc. It's getting sliced, diced, and fed to my fish!
 
bigjohnson

bigjohnson

Member
Originally Posted by Mixtimp
I've had my tank setup for about a year and a half. I have several thousand dollars into it, as I did everything from scratch. I have beautiful corals, fish, rock work, etc.
It's been at least 9-10 months since I've added any kind of rock work to it. Within the past month or so, I've noticed that my blenny and gorgeous mandarin have dissapeared. Also, my snails and crabs have been vanishing at an alarming rate.
I was quite attached to the Blenny, as it was the second fish I ever added to the tank. He was awesome, sat on the rocks, alway swam around, but I digress.
Anyway, while feeding the tank today, I saw this slender black shrimp dart out from the rocks and grab some food. I'm thinking to myself, no freaking way I have a mantis in my tank. Upon closer inspection, YUP, it's a mantis. How the hell is this possible. How would it go undetected for 9 months? Come to think of it, I've been hearing clicking sounds from my tank for quite some time at night, and never thought much of it. Figured it was a motor or something.
I am so freaking pissed. Jeeeeeeeez. Thanks for listening to my vent. I miss my blenny, and the mandarin was badass. One of the best looking mandarin's I've ever seen.
Anyway, do you think it would be easier to hit the mantis with a 12gauge slug, or buckshot? I was also considering a .45 hollow point. I put plenty of towels down for the 75 gallons of water that are going to flood out onto my floor.

Tell me a little more about that clicking sound.
My chromis disapear left and right on me.
I hear a loud click from time to time at night.
Could this be a Mantis?
 
R

reefernana

Guest
Originally Posted by Mixtimp
I love irony. I think I am going to do this. The 20-30 bucks I would make is not worth it to me to have to care for it, find a buyer, etc. It's getting sliced, diced, and fed to my fish!
I got rid of the one I found by dipping the rock in freshwater for about 12-15 seconds. It got rid of the excess bristle worms, too, but did not hurt the barnacles or feather dusters that were on it. As soon as the mantis and worms came out I had new saltwater to place it back into to and let it sit for a couple of hours then put it back in my tank. That rock has more coraline on it than any of my others do now.
 
C

capschamp

Guest
Originally Posted by JamParty
why don't you dice it up and use it for fish food?
a more ironic twist if you ask me.
love this idea
 
kiharaconn

kiharaconn

Member
I have had 3 fire fish, 1 feather duster, 6 snails and 1 clown fish disappear over the last year. I have never heard any clicking sounds or seen anything out of the ordinary. The fish were there one day and completely gone the next. I took all the rocks out and flushed them with fresh water and let it sit for an hr while I cleaned the tank and still never found anything. My fox face had a huge chunk out of his side but lived several more wks. I thought he was going to survive but came home one day to find him dead.
Its been about 4 months and so far nothing else has disappeared. Hopefully whatever it was died.
Good luck with the search!
 
cam78

cam78

Active Member
Originally Posted by BigJohnson
Tell me a little more about that clicking sound.
My chromis disapear left and right on me.
I hear a loud click from time to time at night.
Could this be a Mantis?

Sounds like a problem and a MANTIS!!!
 
bigjohnson

bigjohnson

Member
Originally Posted by CAM78
Sounds like a problem and a MANTIS!!!
Its a real loud snap sound almost like a rock hitting a propeller.
Still sound like a mantis?
 
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