Mantis Shrimp? Bird Wrasse for Solution?

J

JHawk83

I think I have picked up a hitchhiker because all of my shrimp and small fish have disappeared. I know its not my water because my corals are thriving. I believe I have a Mantis shrimp or Pistol Shrimp. My question is, has anyone used a Bird Wrasse to remove these hitchhikers? Or is there another solution?
 
If it is a mantis shrimp and you do manage to catch it, please let me know if you don't want it. I'll gladly take it off your hands
 
I will keep that in mind Etphi, but the little bugger has already cost me about $300. I dont think I want him to finish his life out happily.
 
Lol I understand. Most of these predators usually hunt at night. So you should occasionally look into the tank at night and see if you can spot it. If you can somehow determine which rock it's in, just remove the whole entire rock. A lot of people says to use a flashlight with some kind of red wrap around it, because most night critters cannot see red. However I don't think that will work for a mantis shrimp (if it is a mantis). They have one of the most complex eyes in the animal kingdom.
 
A smooth-sided clean seltzer bottle tipped at an angle so that the mouth is next to the rockwork, with a bit of food at the bottom will often catch them. That's how I trapped one I had as a hitchhiker.

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Mantis Shrimp really aren't reclusive animals. If you have one it shouldn't be to hard to find. I can hand feed mine and it's almost always looking out of it's burrow or breaking shells or rocks. It's a very loud distinct sound. Hear any loud cracks or pops? Hitchiker mantis don't really prey on fish. You would find broken snail or hermit shells in the tank.
 
@ritter6788 wrote:
Mantis Shrimp really aren't reclusive animals. If you have one it shouldn't be to hard to find. I can hand feed mine and it's almost always looking out of it's burrow or breaking shells or rocks. It's a very loud distinct sound. Hear any loud cracks or pops? Hitchiker mantis don't really prey on fish. You would find broken snail or hermit shells in the tank. said:
I never hear any snaps or pops, but then again, I have a lot going on underneath the tank and other stuff that will drown the sound out. Other places I've read that they will eat small fish like gobies, which he def has feasted on. To be exact 3 gobies, true perc, and around 5 shrimp.
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I have a pistol shrimp and it does not bother any of the snails in my pico. The only fish in the tank is a goby that it has paired up with, so it is hard to say if it would be fine with other fish.
The pistol shrimp is a serious excavator though, I think you would see lots of evidence of digging in your tank if you had one.
The only bad experience I have had with mine so far is when I had a knobby mushroom frag sitting on the sand, he kept taking it and dragging it back into his lair he dug out.
 
@J*Hawk*83 wrote:
I never hear any snaps or pops said:
Even a tiny mantis will make enough noise over most any reef sounds. Mine was 3/4 inch when I got it and I could hear it down the hallway in another room. It's loud like a rock hitting your windshield on the interstate. It's not a noise you only hear once in a blue moon. They do it a lot and not only while eating snails or hermits but when building or reconstructing a burrow too. They don't really eat large pieces of meat at a time. They will bury it for later though. A mantis big enough to eat a whole fish would be easily noticeable in your tank. A small one that would hide for long periods of time wouldn't eat several fish, even small ones. They will usually throw a carcass out after getting enough to eat. I'm not saying you don't have one but it doesn't sound likely.
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@ritter6788 wrote:
[I]@J*Hawk*83 wrote:[/I][quote=" I never hear any snaps or pops said:
Even a tiny mantis will make enough noise over most any reef sounds. Mine was 3/4 inch when I got it and I could hear it down the hallway in another room. It's loud like a rock hitting your windshield on the interstate. It's not a noise you only hear once in a blue moon. They do it a lot and not only while eating snails or hermits but when building or reconstructing a burrow too. They don't really eat large pieces of meat at a time. They will bury it for later though. A mantis big enough to eat a whole fish would be easily noticeable in your tank. A small one that would hide for long periods of time wouldn't eat several fish, even small ones. They will usually throw a carcass out after getting enough to eat. I'm not saying you don't have one but it doesn't sound likely."]

Any suggestions on what it could be?
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Rock crabs or something like it would be my guess as well. You'd know if you had a mantis. And the hitchhikers don't normally go after fish. They are usually smashers who will chow on inverts. I've kept dozens of the small hitchhiking types in picos and have kept small fish with the majority of them with virtually no problems.

I've seen rock crabs trap small fish such as gobies and blennies in holes and crevices in the rock. And most of those fish will try to defend their sleeping place rather than give it up, leading to a better opportunity for a relatively slow crab to get a good pinch. All it takes is one good grab and a small fish is toast. Use the same method Ashlar was talking about but use a glass drinking glass to trap them. They can crawl in but can't climb the smooth sides to get out. And they'll find the food. Just lean it against a rock so that they can get into it easily.
 
+1 on a crab. I had a gorilla crab and he snagged my 6 line wrasse one night when it was asleep, on top of all my clean-up crew. They grow pretty fast also, so if it is a hitchhiker predator crab you need to get it out of your tank. I also don't believe that you can have a mantis shrimp without knowing it, as stated they are noisy and they are not shy about coming out and fighting/eating anything.
 
@ritter6788 wrote:
[I]@J*Hawk*83 wrote:[/I][quote=" Any suggestions on what it could be? said:
Crab would be more likely, and harder to find and catch."]


ritter6788, you were right. I had my gf talk to Frank for me and he said that he had the similar situation, but he actually saw it. A black crab that stowed away somehow.
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