catching a mantis

demon666 · #1 10-31-2006, 06:41 AM

if u catch it and want to get rid of it ill take it..... ill be gone foer a few weeks returning on the 15 of nov..... let me know

goby1 · #2 10-31-2006, 02:07 PM

I have one in my tank too. Plain brown little sucker with white eyes. Hides all the time so I never see the little bugger. I did try to trap him once with the inverted pop bottle trick but all I caught were my own inverts. Until recently it hasn't seemed to have any effect on the tank but the other day my cleaner shrimp up and vanished without a trace and I'm pretty sure I know where he went. Took more than 2 years to become a snack, Mr. Mantis must be growing.

smellsfishy · #3 10-31-2006, 04:14 PM

quick note if you seperate the tank like i did make sure there are no cracks and the divider goes above the water line. that way you know for sure he can't get away. Unless you have 2 like i did. just imagine it's the smartest thing in the house or at least his house. lol either way it's true.

niloc16 · #4 10-31-2006, 05:54 PM

we sat in the fish room for about and hour and a half last night with lights out and flashlights in hand waiting and he didnt show. i found a crab though that i'm going to have to trap. i forgot to ask, with the inverted trap idea, what do you put in for bait?

i have crabs · #5 10-31-2006, 06:34 PM

try rubbing raw shrimp on your fingers and then poke your fingers into every cave untii the mantis finds you

smellsfishy · #6 10-31-2006, 06:41 PM

how do you know you have one? i almost never saw mine only heard, they are super smart and can see and sense movement very well. If you are able to see there eyes coming out of a hole in the rock your lucky.
I've also been fooled before buy the red and white stripped snails (forgot the name)they spin around quickly back and forth and tap the glass. i wouldn't have believed it if i hadn't seen it myself.
I admire your diligence

niloc16 · #7 10-31-2006, 07:26 PM

i havent seen just heard. there is a snap that sounds like ripping fabric (the best way i can explain it) that only happens about 1/2 after all the lights are out and then every 1/2 to hour or so through the night. havent lost any snails. i'm not a 100% its a mantis but leaning towards that direction

smellsfishy · #8 10-31-2006, 07:40 PM

it should sound like a marble hitting the glass< esentialy that is what they have on the end of the killer arm. mostly a non-rythmical sequence 2-4 snaps (usually 3) at a time, They will eat anything as long as they wack it first mysis for example.