The Boy Who Cried Mantis - A Reef Fairytale

drakken

Member
Once upon a time in a 55 gallon reef tank...
I hear clicking in my tank and thought I had a mantis shrimp. My hermit crabs and snails were disappearing and I tried to catch the mantis to no avail.
Needing to replenish my clean up crew I ordered a reef package from SWF and after acclimation they were added to the tank. My wife and I sat by the tank to watch all the new hermits, snails, emerald crabs and cleaner clams settle in and go to work on the tank.
We were enjoying watching our peaceful tank with the clownfish in their anemone, the chromis schooling together, the potter angel picking at the rocks, the orange spot goby perched on a rock and the foxface foraging.
While watching the tank we were discussing the dreaded mantis lurking in the shadows waiting for darkness to arrive and prey on the fresh supply of treats from SWF. My guy at the LFS thinks the clicking is a pistol shrimp and not a mantis but who is eating the hermits and snails?
All of a sudden the goby swoops down, grabs a small hermit crab and disappears in the rocks! "Did you see that!" my wife cries!
Who knew that the small cute little goby was actually the big bad wolf in the tank?
Tomorrow's story: "The Lionfish, the Witch and the Goby Trap"
 
J

jrthomas40

Guest
lol...that is pretty funny and messed up at the same time
 

scsinet

Active Member
I've seen my Goby do that too.
I learned to buy bigger hermits that he can't fit into his mouth at the LFS where I can make sure I'm getting the right sizes. Now he picks them up and spits them back out.
 

puffer32

Active Member
I had a goby who use to steal hermits. But he didn't eat them. He really only wanted them in his cave. The hermits would eventually leave on their own. The goby would collect them up again eventually.
 

drakken

Member
Net went into tank.
Goby is in the tank, our goby.
Goby goes into net.
No more goby in the tank.
Sorry I can come up with a better story but it was way too easy to catch him. Just let the net sit in the tank for a few hours, threw in some flake and he went right into the net.
 
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