Very rare mantis

[rudy]

http://s168.photobucket.com/albums/u198/rudykane/

Here are some new pics of him in a 56 gallon (his new home). There is also a shot of the tank. I would tell you where his cave it however in all honesty he does not really have one. he is always out. I wonder about his as he is a deep water mantis whether they are more inclined to hang out side their den.

His death toll is 3 damsels, 2 hairy crabs and a ton of snails. The damsel stalks are amazing

[justinl]

wow nice kill list! sounds like a feisty one.

seems like he's a happpy camper and getting used to all the space and is doing very well. I want one *pout*

[Delphinus]

Were it not for the fact that I fear that it would also de-fish, de-urchinize and de-snail my tank, I'd be asking one of you mantis owners to rent me a mantis to de-crab my cube tank (well.. maybe not the über-rare 15 million dollar mantis mind you, but one of the others maybe..). (Worst infestation I've ever seen in a tank At 30" deep with no rock moving option thanks to a 24" anemone, it's impossible to manually remove them. And traps only seem to catch my cleaner shrimp ) ... Oh well.

Neat that you have such a rare one.. who'dda thunk it .. usually all the rare stuff ends up in the U.S. or Vancouver...

[rudy]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

Were it not for the fact that I fear that it would also de-fish, de-urchinize and de-snail my tank, I'd be asking one of you mantis owners to rent me a mantis to de-crab my cube tank (well.. maybe not the über-rare 15 million dollar mantis mind you, but one of the others maybe..). (Worst infestation I've ever seen in a tank At 30" deep with no rock moving option thanks to a 24" anemone, it's impossible to manually remove them. And traps only seem to catch my cleaner shrimp ) ... Oh well.

Neat that you have such a rare one.. who'dda thunk it .. usually all the rare stuff ends up in the U.S. or Vancouver...

I would love those crabs Tony!

Ocean City is doing some incredible invert orders these days.

[Delphinus]

I have no idea how to get them out, otherwise yeah, you'd have at least a dozen little snacks ranging in size from 1/4" to about 1.5" .. I'd love to try a "biological control" but a trigger is probably too messy with the sand in the tank, I've been told an eel probably wouldn't do it, an octopus probably would but the tank is *nowhere* near octopus-safe, that leaves a mantis but then I guess the snails, shrimp (cleaners and peppermints), urchins and fish would have to be moved to a different tank?

[justinl]

tony, yeah your other stuff would have to be moved and once you had the mantis in there... well It's a LOT harder to remove a mantis than any crab.

lol 15million dollar mantis... that he got for free!

[rudy]

Originally Posted by justinl

tony, yeah your other stuff would have to be moved and once you had the mantis in there... well It's a LOT harder to remove a mantis than any crab.

lol 15million dollar mantis... that he got for free!

Free?? Nope. Good deal but not free.

[dunl]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

I have no idea how to get them out, otherwise yeah, you'd have at least a dozen little snacks ranging in size from 1/4" to about 1.5" .. I'd love to try a "biological control" but a trigger is probably too messy with the sand in the tank, I've been told an eel probably wouldn't do it, an octopus probably would but the tank is *nowhere* near octopus-safe, that leaves a mantis but then I guess the snails, shrimp (cleaners and peppermints), urchins and fish would have to be moved to a different tank?

My freshwater moray would probably do it, but I couldn't guarantee he wouldn't take out the snails and fish as well. Unfortunately, that's the problem with using a biological control.

As for Rudy's mantis? I just keep wondering how many people have skewered or smashed with a hammer some really interesting things they have found in their tank.