Do I have a mantis shrimp in my tank?

[ke6cdh]

I have had some fish and shrimp disappear and twice I have purchased a coral banded shrimp to find them torn apart the next day or two. My water quality is fine 0 ammonia 0 nitrate 0 nitrite. It's 125 gallon tank with lots of live rock and sand. I still have left 2 peppermint shrimp and 2 skunk cleaner shrimp and a bunch of snails and a small clownfish and rose BTA left in the tank. I'm thinking of getting a bird wrasse on a temporary basis to remove the bristle worms that I have seen that hitchhiked on the live rock that I bought, and the mantis shrimp (I have not seen but suspect). I would need to remove the shrimp and snails and maybe the clownfish from the tank. How long would I need to have the bird wrasse to rid my tank of the bad hitchhikers? Is their a better solution to my problem that I should consider first?
Thanks in advance
John

 

[gumbii]

um.... you should be able to hear mantis shrimps... or a pistol shrimp...

i had a pistol shrimp killing a bunch of fish in the past...

both make the same type of noise, but kind of differently... the pistol shrimp will do a click every 5 seconds or so... like a pattern...

the mantis shrimp will do like 3 or 4 clicks in a row... they're very random and they will sound differently because he might be smashing up a rock, or a shrimp or something...

a wrasse might not find it... i tried a lunar wrasse in my system and i just lost all my hermits over night... but a month later the pistol was still there... i imagine that the mantis would be harder for the wrasse to get than the pistol...




they have traps... that's how i got rid of the pistol... i used that exterminator X trap or something... i think blue live makes it... it's dark acrylic and very sensitive...



good luck...

 

[ke6cdh]

Traps.

I have tried a bristle worm trap I purchased from DETANE and did not trap a single bristle worm in it. I thought I might have better luck with a bird wrasse. I had a small 6 line wrasse I had also purchased from DETANE, but it is now also on the missing fish list.

 

[gumbii]

lol... don't buy from detane...???? hahaha...









anyways... the trap i used is this one...
http://www.aquariumguys.com/xterminator-mantis-shrimp-trap.html

it's cheap... i think i paid 14 bucks or so at my LFS... it was worth every dime...




or you could google DIY mantis shrimp trap and try them...

 

[Devilutionz]

If you have a mantis shrimp you should hear clicks when you turn off the light. You might try a flashlight to find it in the dark.
I'd get a yellow coris wrasse or something familiar for the worm. I had mine with the shrimps, turbo snails with no problem. He'll eat small hermit crabs and snails occasionally though. Lunair wrasse & bird wrasse I think for sure will eat the shrimps, snails & hermits.
How long has your tank been set up??

 

[ke6cdh]

My tank has been set up for 9 months now. It looks like a couple of my turbo snails may have also been killed.