Any Clue?

[cybball]

Man I love LR. I was looking at a rock yesterday that I've got. It has a lot of holes in it, which ended up holding lots of hitchhikers. I saw a very small (1/2 inch) shrimp or crab type guy come out of the hole a little ways, then back in. He has what appear to be little orange eyes, like you would find on a hermit. It looks like a hermit without the shell, but I haven't seen the back end of him. He's whitish in color, except for the orage eyes on long stems. Wondered if anyone has an idea of what it might be? Sorry, Don't have a digital cam.

[OrionGirl]

Shrimp shaped? Could be a pistol shrimp--a decent detrivore. If the eyes are on long stalks, it may be a mantis--not bad, but probably not suitable for tankmates.

Check here: http://reefs.org/hhfaq/ for more on common hitch hikers.

[cybball]

Thanks OrionGirl. Mantis Shrimp it is. Now what? Looks like they prey on other things. I've got a banded coral shrimp, snails, and fish in the tank. Is it a threat? Should I go after it? If so, how?

[mogurnda]

They are definitely troublemakers, but hard to eliminate. I have never tried, but there are commercially available traps. Others suggest waiting outside their dens and skewering them.

[OrionGirl]

Mantis establish homes in rocks--they will grind out a tube, if one isn't present. Locate the rockit's living in, remove it (carefully--the nickname thumb splitter is well deserved!), hold it over a bucket and use a baster to squirt FW into the hole. The mantis will jump out, and you can dispose of it. There are many people who keep them in a species tank, especially the harlequins, so check around. You could get a critter keeper, put in a rock and some sand, and submerge it in your tank. Then, you can enjoy it for a while without threatening your other inverts.

They are very cool critters, though not very safe with other inverts.

[Guy W]

Originally posted by OrionGirl
They are very cool critters, though not very safe with other inverts.

also not real safe in aquariums from what I've heard. Breaking glass isn't out of the realm of possibility if I'm recalling the same animal.

[mogurnda]

Depends on the type (smasher or spearer), but some can indeed crack tanks.

[cybball]

Wow. Makes me want to put my hand on that piece of rock. I'll try holding the rock over a bucket. Thanks for the tips. He's cool to look at, but I don' t need to lose inverts.

[tricksterpup]

Cybball,
They do make great pets, especially if you keep them by themselves. I have seen small pico/nano tanks with them for the main display. I kept one for a few years in a tank like this, with some nice live rock, and a bright light, you can have some nice polyps or mushrooms with this guy.


jim

[cybball]

If I keep him in a small nano tank, what do you feed them? Inverts?

[OrionGirl]

Mantis will eat pretty much anything. Pellets or frozen foods, chopped fish, etc. They don't need crunchies, but are well suited for consuming them. Ghost shrimp would likely be an okay live food--cheap, tolerant of SW, not nutritionally terrible--though I wouldn't feed just them.