How to Humanely Kill Mantis Shrimp?
 

Judging from the hitchhiker FAQ, we have a mantis shrimp living in our acropora. I've got a plan to get it out of the acro, but want to kill the poor devil once it's out. I'd appreciate any ideas of how to kill it without having it suffer in the process.

TIA.

My advice, don't kill it. There's probably someone who'd be interested in keeping one. Give him a chance; it's not his fault he got captured and is living in your tank. (*Yes I am a bleeding heart.. :cool: )

Okay, then, who wants a mantis shrimp? Pick up tonight, only, between 6 and 8 pm :neutral:

Use a nail, a pair of scissors, or something sharp and skewer it. Humanely and Kill don't go together too well...and the methods described above are very close to the methods used by mantis predators in the wild. Otherwise, trap it out like most people do and give it to someone with a species tank. Interesting though, Mantids don't usually find homes in Acros, as far as I know. There are a number of Alpheid spp. shrimps that are commensal with acropora's...they can make a snapping noise and are not dangerous. Can you elaborate what other evidence you have that this is a Mantis?


Stephen

confirming that someone is certain to want him. don't kill him! heck maybe an LFS will take him off your hands.

if you can hold onto it for a few more weeks somehow (maybe in a very small plastic tank within your larger tanks), i will take him. he'd do fine in my sump, i'm sure. :confused: if bev can't hold on to him, can anyone else?

Here's a photo of it:

http://www.lostmymarblz.com/42-acroshrimp.htm

Really, I'm not sure what the heck it is. I hate to kill any living thing, but if it's going to be dangerous to my reef, I want it gone. One fish has already mysteriously disappeared, and I have no idea how it happened :frown:

Opinions, please.

That is NOT a mantis shrimp. It looks like a crinoid snapping shrimp and is harmless. Please do not kill it.

to see real mantis shrimp, go to this site.

http://www.blueboard.com/mantis/

Could also be a juvenile pistol shrimp, again, not a concern. Buy a prawn goby to live with it!!

ah thank goodness. no need to be killing anything, regardless of what they do to your fish. :biggrin:

Thanks for the link. What we have is not a mantis. I'll carefully try to put him back where he came from. There will be no killing here today. Thank goodness!!!!!!

good to hear. It looks just like the green one I have in my tank.

thank goodness, i thought i was going to have to set up a nano :cool:

You guys should be hostage negotiators :lol:

Again, thanks for the ID. The little guy's safe in his acro again :biggrin:

Now that you ID'ed that shrimp, what do you know about the crab we pulled out of the 42 last night? His photos are here:

http://www.lostmymarblz.com/2-5-crabphotos.htm

If he's fish/coral safe, I'd like to put him back into the 42 where he has lots more room to live. Currently, he's under the sand in our 2.5 gal, which I had previously wanted to be a peppermint shrimp tank with varieties of green star polyps, some halimeda and perhaps one teeny tiny fish.

TIA to anyone with their experiences with someone like him.

see this

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...red+AND+eye%2A

Someone on RAMR says he's a bad one too. Sooooo, don't think I want to keep this guy. I'll keep him for awhile if someone wants picks him up from me. Any takers? Sounds like he might be okay in a sump, or sumpthin' like that :smile:

Cheers, all.

C'mon, somebody go give the crab a home!!

I have a 10 gallon nano with nothing in it but Xenia, and Blue Mushrooms, so I would take it, but it would have to be brought to Calgary. I would think an Edmontonian would love to get out of there for awhile. Even if just to clear the nasal passages.

:BIG:

:crazyeye: Drive a crab to Calgary?? Now that'd make a girl downright crabby :lol:

you could meet half way :razz:

Think I'll call the lfs tomorrow and see if they have any triggers who'll eat it :eek:

tsk tsk....

Some trigger'll be happy, anyway. It is the cycle of life, afterall.

Unless someone can pick him up. We're downtown. Easy to get to from any place in the city. And he's a freebie, what more can you ask?

We glimpsed a second hitchhiker crab last night deep deep DEEP in the rock, so if we can catch that guy, there'll be two to go.

Well, saved a shrimp today anyway.... :biggrin:

your going to go by RAMR, thats good for a laugh

keep him untill he does something bad, I think you will be waiting a lont time for that to happen..

Steve

Steve, why do you say that? I spent a long time on RAMR and learned a lot. There are good people there and not so good people there, just like everywhere else.
In fact, that's where I met EmilyB :biggrin:

Oh, and I agree, the crab is probably not a good choice to leave in the tank. I don't think trigger food is the right choice, but......

Just for future reference Beverly, if you every have to put something down that's from your tank. The most humane way to put down a fish or other creature would be to place it in a container with some tank water and place it in the freezer. I have only had to do this one, when first starting out. Most cases though, there is usually a second choice other than putting it down.

cheers, Rich

Just caught the little begger going after the star polyps I put in the tank today. So, he's outta the 2.5 and in a plastic container sitting on top of the 42. He's a baddy, that one :frown: And he's gone tomorrow, one way or the other.

ahh sorry bit stressed, thought we were talking about the shrimp still.. kill the crab :lol:

Steve

Steve may be thinking about the recent years, when the trolls moved in....there was certainly some very good knowledge when the experts were still participating for sure. :neutral:

To be fair, I haven't been there recently, so maybe I'm out to lunch

:rofl:

Where'd you get that idea? You ever frozen to death?? :rolleyes:

aparently the lowering of the tempature acts like a anastetic and they just go to sleep...

thats what I have read anyways

Steve

Yeah, I used to think that, until I bought a live crab for food for a zebra moray. I wanted to freeze the crab, and put him in the deep freezer.

The next day he was still moving. It made me sick.

I use a boulder on anything I want to kill quickly now.........

Actually the fish remains breathing even while its cells and blood are forming ice crystals (eew!). Whether it is aware of this I don't know, I can't imagine that this feels all too great. I think this is the most humane for the person doing the killing: pop it in a baggie, fling it in the freezer and walk away.

One of the best methods I've heard of is to put the fish (or whatever creature you are trying to do in) in a bowl of very cold water. They instantly have a heart attack and all organs shut down and the critter is dead.

2 alka-seltzer in a liter of water is supposed to knock them out. Then hit them with the boulder!!

Be sure to pop them in a baggie before smashing with the boulder.
Less mess.

good point