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JaiWiz
07-24-2011, 05:23 PM
Howdy folks,

Over the past 6 months i have lost a very big(4") and beautiful coral banded shrimp and just recently a 12" red sea star. The weird thing is there was no remains of either critter i have not lost any fish i think but i havent seen my lawn mower blenny for awhile either. My tank is a year and a half old all parameters are good nitrates sometimes get up there but not to the point of making things disappear. So i'm wondering if some how i got a mantis shrimp in there who is growing and is now able to eat things of a decent size someone please tell me some other ways to find out if you have a mantis hangin out in the rocks. Or any suggestions on what could be happening.

reefwars
07-24-2011, 05:59 PM
you could try to bait something i use to use a small piece of silverside and plastic clip the gf had that had a spring on it for her hair lol and wait during the lights out with a red lense flashlight , i knew i had mine but i wanted to see if it was eating or not.i wouldnt leave the silverside in there to rot though thaty wouldnt be good, once you know what rock its cave is in you can use club soda and watch the little bugger take right off lol .theres also lots of other predators besides a mantis that would do a shrimp in.

what is your livestock??

JaiWiz
07-24-2011, 11:06 PM
i got a yellow tang, naso tang, clownfish, three stripe damsel, lawnmower blenny, matted filefish and assorted hermit crabs and snails, coco worm, sand sifting star

lenzh
07-25-2011, 12:22 AM
I had a similar problem. You may want to use a red light (like a red LED) as a flashlight and look for activity in the darkness.

When I did this I finally found the culprit. After a bit of searching on the internet I figured out I had a stone cab hiding in there. He was about 2 - 1/2 inches across.

He managed to kill off most of my clean up crew snails as well as a few fish before I figured this out. I ended up having to go to war with him and finally found him tucked way inside a hole in some live rock after practically ripping my entire aquascaping apart.

I hope you don't have to go through the same pain I did, but it sounds like you might have to...

lenzh
07-25-2011, 12:24 AM
always pre read your posts. Stone Crab. That's stone cRab :redface:

reefwars
07-25-2011, 12:25 AM
I had a similar problem. You may want to use a red light (like a red LED) as a flashlight and look for activity in the darkness.

When I did this I finally found the culprit. After a bit of searching on the internet I figured out I had a stone cab hiding in there. He was about 2 - 1/2 inches across.

He managed to kill off most of my clean up crew snails as well as a few fish before I figured this out. I ended up having to go to war with him and finally found him tucked way inside a hole in some live rock after practically ripping my entire aquascaping apart.

I hope you don't have to go through the same pain I did, but it sounds like you might have to...


its true more times than not its crabs causing the danger you wouldnt believe how hard they can be to find or the damage some of them buggers can do some are lightning quick.......crabs are the root of all evil next to socks:)

CandyCane
07-25-2011, 02:23 AM
If you find your sand sifting star is missing any kinds of legs or chunks soon its most likely a large black crab that hides out inside the rocks, they're brutal and will eat almost anything they can find at night.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x283/ckusnierek/crab2.jpg

abcha0s
07-25-2011, 03:05 AM
always pre read your posts. Stone Crab. That's stone cRab :redface:

I'm really not trying to start anything, but I just can't resist pointing out the flaw in your post.

I'm sure you meant to say "Stone Cab. That's stone cRab"


One should take ones own advice... :smile:

All in good fun. I've done worse.

- Brad

The Grizz
07-25-2011, 05:04 AM
If you find your sand sifting star is missing any kinds of legs or chunks soon its most likely a large black crab that hides out inside the rocks, they're brutal and will eat almost anything they can find at night.
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x283/ckusnierek/crab2.jpg

I have 2 of these big uglly things in my sump that I found in some rock I was given, any idea what kind it is?

CandyCane
07-25-2011, 01:51 PM
The devil hiding in a crab :twised: theyre called Xanthidae crab

http://www.chucksaddiction.com/hitchcrabs.html love this site