Mantis or pistol in my tank !

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bump1

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I have had this guy in my tank for a while now. I know where it lives & I think its a pistol. I have tryed to trap it but with no luck. LOL, I have had luck with it but I keep getting the wrong critters.

I guess I will take the rocks out of the tank to get him out. Will this mess up my deep sand bed to much ? I might need to remove 2 or 3 rocks that are in the sand. The tank is a 240g & the rocks are in about a 1sq. foot area.

WHat do you think ?

Would it be best to do this during the day or is it best to do it at night ?
 
Pahahaha! :lol: Okay I somehow totally missed that part. I had to read your post 3x to figure that one out too. :roll: I'm like what 240. .OoOo. . :D

I'm sure it would be a complete pain. I don't know about everyone but every time I feed I count ponies, if not both times at least once a day.
 
Isis

Im not 100% it is a pistol. It might be a mantis. What ever it is it has 2 huge stack of shells piled up. I gather there is no need to get it out if its a pistol then ? How do I find out if it is a mantis or a pistol ?
 
@bump1 wrote:
Isis Im not 100% it is a pistol. It might be a mantis. What ever it is it has 2 huge stack of shells piled up. I gather there is no need to get it out if its a pistol then ? How do I find out if it is a mantis or a pistol ? said:
The stacks of shells would lead me to believe it is a mantis. I don't believe the pistol would do that.
-Chuck
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What do the pistols do with there left over shells ? Is there a way I can find out what it is before I have to take the rock out ?

Thanks
 
Do the pistols kill & eat the snails & crabs like the mantis ? If they do kill, what do they do with all the broken up shells ?
 
OK a mantis it is then.

Now, I have a deep sand bed & it is living in the rocks that are down in the sand a bit.

Will it hurt to take the rocks out of the sand or will it set off a atomic bomb in my tank to do this with a deep sand bed ?
 
@bump1 wrote:
Will it hurt to take the rocks out of the sand or will it set off a atomic bomb in my tank to do this with a deep sand bed ? said:
I think it can be done safely. To be on the safe side, you should probably have some carbon ready to run in a canister or hob filter in case you do stir up some kind of nastiness. If your sandbed isn't very old and you have a good amount of sand-sifting critters then you're probably safe to proceed.
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The end of this month will be two years old. I don't have as many as I really need. The mantis keeps killing off my critters & I have way to many corals on my sand bed. My Tiger goby doesn't even try to clean the sand in the front. Not enough room to get to it I guess. :cry:
 
Just to throw this out there I had a pistol shrimp who would take nassarius snails into his cave. He didn't kill them, it was like he was collecting them. Every now and then I'd see one trying to sneak out, but the pistol always came out and grabbed him before he got too far. It probably is a mantis in your tank, but I thought I would just share my experiences.
 
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