How do I Catch a Mantis Shrimp?

[Frigideus]

I've had my tank for a couple months now and through its ups and downs it's still thriving (somehow). But recently, a mantis shrimp has popped up in my tank. I keep a LOT of invertebrates so this is an extremely problematic case. It's just a baby, so it has not attacked any of my larger shrimp or crabs, but it won't stay small forever. I tried the bottle trap and it didn't seem to fall for it. What can I do to get him out? Any help is appreciated!

 

[edsbeaker]

I've had my tank for a couple months now and through its ups and downs it's still thriving (somehow). But recently, a mantis shrimp has popped up in my tank. I keep a LOT of invertebrates so this is an extremely problematic case. It's just a baby, so it has not attacked any of my larger shrimp or crabs, but it won't stay small forever. I tried the bottle trap and it didn't seem to fall for it. What can I do to get him out? Any help is appreciated!

Following! I have the same problem and can’t seem to catch it.

 

[BryanM]

I've had my tank for a couple months now and through its ups and downs it's still thriving (somehow). But recently, a mantis shrimp has popped up in my tank. I keep a LOT of invertebrates so this is an extremely problematic case. It's just a baby, so it has not attacked any of my larger shrimp or crabs, but it won't stay small forever. I tried the bottle trap and it didn't seem to fall for it. What can I do to get him out? Any help is appreciated!

I've had success with bottle traps.

Take a water bottle, cut the top off, invert and super glue it back, so the opening is inside the bottle now... It is an easy in, hard to get out for most critters trap.

Poke many holes on it, put some mysis in it, submerge in the tank preferably nearby where the mantis lives, and hope he comes looking for the food.

Its noteworthy that you will catch other things. My cleaner shrimp made it in there, usually snails too.

 

[DaJMasta]

You can try traps but I had one hitchhiker smasher type that just walked over to it and bonked on my 3d printed one instead of going to the bait....

That said, what was ultimately most effective for me:
Find out what rock it hides in most of the time
Remove that rock and put it in a bucket
Wait about a minute
Add an inch or two of water to the bucket and slosh around
The shrimp should run out and be in the water

 

[fishface NJ]

You can try traps but I had one hitchhiker smasher type that just walked over to it and bonked on my 3d printed one instead of going to the bait....

That said, what was ultimately most effective for me:
Find out what rock it hides in most of the time
Remove that rock and put it in a bucket
Wait about a minute
Add an inch or two of water to the bucket and slosh around
The shrimp should run out and be in the water

This is what I did also. I had one that came in with a live rock shipment that I missed while they where in QT. I thought that they would die after being in the tank for a year. He was in the tank for 2 years. Then the trouble started. He was a good size by then and was stabbing my fish that swam near one of his homes...1 yellow wrasse, midas blenny and Dracula Goby. I had tried the bottle trap for 2 weeks with no success. My mantis went into a rock that was in the front of the tank. I grabbed the rock and that was the end of him. I have one in my sump from the last purchase of live rock that was bought for the sump.

 

[Frigideus]

You can try traps but I had one hitchhiker smasher type that just walked over to it and bonked on my 3d printed one instead of going to the bait....

That said, what was ultimately most effective for me:
Find out what rock it hides in most of the time
Remove that rock and put it in a bucket
Wait about a minute
Add an inch or two of water to the bucket and slosh around
The shrimp should run out and be in the water

what if i am unable to remove the rock it lives under? my current solution was to buy a piece of reef safe tubing and lift it out if he ever becomes comfortable enough to walk into that. it has gone inside it once but still seems wary.

 

[Grog]

For crabs and mantis my recommendation is to go fishing.

Get a piece of frozen shrimp from the grocery, and tie it to a string. Drop it near the mantis' hidey hole and lure it out. Have a net ready and scoop it up. Shouldn't take long.

If it is really scared, then bait it for a few days with small pieces of shrimp so it gets used to being fed, then do the above.

I've caught several bad crabs and mantis this way. Usually, this takes minutes, not days.

 

[DaJMasta]

Also worth noting that their most active time will be around dusk, so if you're fishing or trying to net (probably not easy) that's when they'll naturally be looking for food.