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im_a_clownfish · 01-10-2007, 10:15 PM

Hi all!
Im pretty sure that I have a mantis shrimp in my reef tank (think I even saw him one time late at night - ugly thing witha green front, weird mouth, and purple rear end) Anyways, I got a suggestion to use a water bottle, with the top cut off, and inverted, and then to put a piece of ****************tail shrimp inside as bait. I put it in my aquarium and it works pretty well - on my fish and cleaner shrimp! lol! Any way I can dissuade my fish and cleaners from entering it? Can i bury it half in the sand so the opening is very small and it would take a mantis shrimp to burrow through the sand to get into it? Or can I stand it upside down (with the opening at the bottom) so that only a burrowing mantis shrimp can get in?

Also, one other thing - I do hear some clicks sometimes coming from the tank (quite audible at times) mostly during the day actually, and hear this is a trait of a pistol shrimp. My question is that would this occur during the day, and would a pistol shrimp be killing all my hermet crabs, arrow crab, and snails? I see some smashed shells, or more often mutilated snails/crabs most commonly and not sure if a pistol shrimp would do this or more likely a mantish shrimp. Also, my two beautiful clams were eaten recently too -overnight actually - all that remains is their shells...

Comments? Suggestions? Thanks so much!

01-10-2007, 10:15 PM	#1
im_a_clownfish Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Age: 28 Posts: 91	trapping a mantis shrimp Hi all! Im pretty sure that I have a mantis shrimp in my reef tank (think I even saw him one time late at night - ugly thing witha green front, weird mouth, and purple rear end) Anyways, I got a suggestion to use a water bottle, with the top cut off, and inverted, and then to put a piece of ****************tail shrimp inside as bait. I put it in my aquarium and it works pretty well - on my fish and cleaner shrimp! lol! Any way I can dissuade my fish and cleaners from entering it? Can i bury it half in the sand so the opening is very small and it would take a mantis shrimp to burrow through the sand to get into it? Or can I stand it upside down (with the opening at the bottom) so that only a burrowing mantis shrimp can get in? Also, one other thing - I do hear some clicks sometimes coming from the tank (quite audible at times) mostly during the day actually, and hear this is a trait of a pistol shrimp. My question is that would this occur during the day, and would a pistol shrimp be killing all my hermet crabs, arrow crab, and snails? I see some smashed shells, or more often mutilated snails/crabs most commonly and not sure if a pistol shrimp would do this or more likely a mantish shrimp. Also, my two beautiful clams were eaten recently too -overnight actually - all that remains is their shells... Comments? Suggestions? Thanks so much!