mantis shrimp in a reef tank?

rusty hannon

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Hello all, I hope this doesnt sound to dumb a question but I was just feeding my meat coral and a strange little creature popped out of a hole n the rock and grabbed up some food, looked at me as if to ask ,What u gonna do, and went back in his hole. As i didnt know what he was Ive beeN searching and discovered he is a baby mantis. Everything Ive read so far tells me I dont want him in a reef tank and Im concerned when he gets bigger he will cause damage to my corals. Or maybe mandrins?? He is only about an inch and kinda cute for an ugly guy,( Ive seen pics of some beautiful ones,he aint). How should I proceed and if he needs to go how do I do that? Thanks guys
 

Uncle99

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Everything you read is correct.
Pest IMM, but smart and stealthy, eats anything.
So many varieties and colors.
If you have a nice reef, corals and fish, I would not include him or be OK with things disappearing from time to time.
He may venture from his “hole” at night, you could try a baited fish trap.

When in doubt, take it out!
 

dvgyfresh

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Will slowly clean up your clean up crew and then move on to other things , you can continually buy hermits up to you lol
 

vetteguy53081

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It will go after all inverts for a meal. Set a fish trap baited with a small shrimp. Then trap it. Other recourse is to diturb its hiding place and net it
 

Hurricane Aquatics

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***EDIT*** You said it's a baby, I missed that, but it could probably still break your finger so be careful.

And be SUPER careful and don't poke around with your hands. There a YouTube video of a guy in a Kayak in the ocean fishing. He catches one and pulls it in.

When it settles on the Kayak between his feet, it proceeds to hit him and knocks a hole in his thick rubber wetsuit and a preety big gash in his foot under the suit. Those things are powerful!
 
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rusty hannon

rusty hannon

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Thank you ALL very much. Im going to take out his rock now n wait till he comes out., For about a minute then we will try freshwater n if that doesnt do it bleach will I hope? Thanks for all the warnings n thank goodness hes small.
 

Hadla

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Omg they can’t break glass much less your finger! If one hits your finger, it hurts for a second or two then it’s fine! The glass thing is only if it’s a big adult mantis and very thin (like millimeters) glass!

I’m guessing the guy in the kayak caught a spearer which would make sense about leaving a hole and gash
 
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rusty hannon

rusty hannon

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Omg they can’t break glass much less your finger! If one hits your finger, it hurts for a second or two then it’s fine! The glass thing is only if it’s a big adult mantis and very thin (like millimeters) glass!

I’m guessing the guy in the kayak caught a spearer which would make sense about leaving a hole and gash
Thank you very much
 

Cell

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Can you get a photo? Are you positive it's a mantis?
 

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Omg they can’t break glass much less your finger! If one hits your finger, it hurts for a second or two then it’s fine! The glass thing is only if it’s a big adult mantis and very thin (like millimeters) glass!

I’m guessing the guy in the kayak caught a spearer which would make sense about leaving a hole and gash
I wonder if this would be based on the claw type. There are smashers and spear claws. No matter how you look at it, both extremely dangerous.

Edit: I mean when it comes to cracking glass....
 
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rusty hannon

rusty hannon

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Can you get a photo? Are you positive it's a mantis?
Yes we're sure about it being a mantis, only a face a mother could love,lol, and yes I'm positive he can see me, again lol, and we r trying to get a photo but after this guy introduced itself , it keeps to its own schedule. Think I really messed up taking out its home cause now its gone a wandering. But after the removal of the 4 biggest bristle worms I'd ever seen the system and water quality looks better. That's probably due to the cleaning I gave the new tankvar the same time but hey, I'll take it anyway. Thank you guys for responding. What do you think would b the easiest capturing method?
 

Little c big D

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To the point of them breaking stuff. It would need to be large. Much larger than an inch. I've seen them at the local beaches as big as my hand. They might beable to break something. He will be an issue as he takes food and kills the smaller inverts!
 
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rusty hannon

rusty hannon

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To the point of them breaking stuff. It would need to be large. Much larger than an inch. I've seen them at the local beaches as big as my hand. They might beable to break something. He will be an issue as he takes food and kills the smaller inverts!
I'm pretty sure he's doing that as shells pile up but have only seen this guy for 2 days. Was definitely not afraid of anything. I'm holding to trap before he gets too big but since the impending doom of being an out break is gone iv relaxed a little. ( very little) thank u for the response
 
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rusty hannon

rusty hannon

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I think I should finish this thread as it was a good lesson for me. it was a little mantis and thank you everyone for yore stories and advice.. it really came in handy and now I know how bad these guys can b. i built a trap out of a soda bottle and caught hlm in the first 30 min. so happy days. n happy reefing
 

Hadla

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You could see if your lfs would take him or if there are any members near you in here that would want him. I’d take him but he’d have to be shipped. :(
 

Whirly

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Personally I would try to catch it and give it its own tank they are incredible creatures.
That being said...peacock mantis shrimp, pound for pound are one of the most adept apex predators on earth and have no issues making pretty much anything living in your tank a meal once mature.
I want to get a mantis, and give it a home where it can be observed and enjoyed as well as taken care of in the shop we are setting up.


They have the most sophisticated eyes in the animal kingdom.
 

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