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Mantis shrimp after 3 years?

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Actuary, Jan 18, 2012.

  1. Jan 18, 2012 #1
    Actuary Adel, IA

    Actuary Well-Known ReefKeeper

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    I like to take a look into my tank with a flash light before I head to work every morning before the lights come on.  I'm usually just checking how the polyp extension on my SPS corals is doing.  However, the last few mornings I have been observing a purplish blue critter in a hole in one of my large rocks.  Unfortunately I think it is a small mantis shrimp. 
    I've had all of the rock in my tank for almost 3 years now and don't know how I could have such a small mantis shrimp spontaneously generate like this.  I have a pistol shrimp that hitchiked on the rock as well so I'm not going to be able to identify it by a clicking sound.
    Is it really possible for a mantis shrimp to be that small after 3 years (maybe 3/4" long and as thick as a pencil)?  And how on earth can I remove it?  Removing the rock is out of the question. 
     
  2. Jan 18, 2012 #2
    MJB Tanks Pleasant Hill, IA

    MJB Tanks Well-Known ReefKeeper

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    I can't answer your question...not sure how to trap one of those little boogers but I would like to see a pic if possible!
     
  3. Jan 18, 2012 #3
    Actuary Adel, IA

    Actuary Well-Known ReefKeeper

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    It's going to be a difficult picture to get. I can only spot him when the lights are off while I shine a flashlight into a hole.

    When I originally got the rock I actually found 4 mantis shrimp. There wasn't any livestock in the tank yet and there weren't any corals growing on the rocks at the time so it wasn't a huge deal for me to pull the rocks and get the shrimp to come out... not in the same situation 3 years later.

    This is a perfect situation for the laser!
     
  4. Jan 18, 2012 #4
    FlyingMoray Minburn, IA

    FlyingMoray Experienced Reefkeeper

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    He might not be that bad especially if he is small. It would be important to ID him but he most likely could be harmless. Another thing is that he could be a baby and the parents are also in your tank but I don't know how likely that would be either.
     
  5. Jan 18, 2012 #5
    bladerunner des moines

    bladerunner Well-Known ReefKeeper

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    find a night were you can sit and watch your tank and see what happens, it has to come out and feed some time
     
  6. Jan 18, 2012 #6
    cowdust9

    cowdust9 Well-Known ReefKeeper

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    if you can get to near the hole with some krill that should make it come out so you can get a better look
     
  7. Jan 18, 2012 #7
    wolfman1973

    wolfman1973 Inactive User

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    check out this link http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/arthropoda/crustacea/malacostraca/eumalacostraca/royslist/index.html#directory
    if you have had your rock for over 3 years and if it is indeed a mantis,then you don't need to kill it because it is not going to get any bigger
    and mantis shrimp that small really ain't going to hurt anything other than your smallest crustaceans and i mean smallest(tiny)
    you don't have to worry about it being a baby either since adults need to be separated after they mate(one will kill the other)
    there are two kinds of mantis shrimp,smashers(their raptorial appendages have blunt ends like a club and are used to smash the shells of their prey and to make a place to live)
    and the other ones are spearers(which use theirs to spear their prey)
    i have a 4 plus inch male smasher (Gonodactylus chiragra)that i have had for several years and it is a very interesting critter!
    i suggest what cowdust9 said and then if you can get a good look at it,check dr roys list and see if you can identify it.
    they do make mantis shrimp traps and you could make one out of a 20 oz bottle but i guaranty that you would know by now if it was being a pest!!

     
  8. Jan 19, 2012 #8
    Actuary Adel, IA

    Actuary Well-Known ReefKeeper

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    Thank you for all of the feedback! I got a better look at him this morning actually... but I'm not confident I'd be able to identify it accurately. But that is definitely good news that some of them stay pretty small. He probably doesn't ever need to leave his cavity in the live rock... I actually have an extreme mysis and brine shrimp population in my tank that he's probably living off of.
     

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