High Tide Aquatics

Flushing out Mantis Shrimp with Iodine dip?

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So, the baby hitchhiker mantis shrimp I've been trying to catch for a few weeks now decided to rape my BTA's mouth (probably for some shrimp). The BTA is still responding in a normal way (puffing up bubble tips and exhaling) but his mouth is pretty beat up. I spent a good 30 mins messing with the anemone to get it to dislodge from the rock, and now i have it in a Tupperware w/holes magnetized to the glass.

I saw that little mantis shrimp poking around as soon as i removed the BTA

I was wondering if it would be possible to pull the whole LR out and irritate the mantis out, with either high SG or iodine. I fear if i kill too much on the LR i may cause a mini cycle and not help the BTA's recovery when i put the LR back in the tank.


Should I set up a QT tank for the nem? or will frequent (every 3 days) prevent a mini cycle...
 
Will a quick splash of freshwater damage the "life" on the liverock that much? It flushes the mantis's out pretty quick IME. Damage should be especially limited if you know which hole the mantis lives in.
 
He can pop out of pretty much any hole. I'm pretty sure a pistol shrimp i got is somewhere in that LR too (lol when i got him he swam to a hole ontop of the LR and doesn't even know sand exists in my tank.) I watched the mantis shrimp ninja attack my pistol from 3 different holes. So i figured an iodine dip would just irritate them in case i see my pistol shrimp during the dip he'd be Pissed Off but ok. Would he be ok if i did a fw dip and quickly put him back in the tank if i saw him?
 
With iodine or revive I'd worry about too much residue remaining on the rock and causing problems when you put it back in the tank. Freshwater sounds safer to me.
 
Eh, I would still just try pouring FW out of a cup etc into the holes of the rock (while over a bucket). Keep in mind though that you need to find some way to scoop the mantis up out of the bucket. hands and/or nets won't work too well. (the net will work, but can damage the eyes/appendages). Please don't kill the lil bugger either.
 
I just happen to have a large soda water i got at a dollar store lol. I want my pistol shrimp to live though! I'll be doing this after class 7pm so expect an update around 8-9
 
I used a water pick to flush a pistol shrimp out, spraying saltwater at high pressure in the holes till he crawled out the back to get away from the spray.
 
I may put this off till tomorrow, I found a cheapo 2.5 gal tank and I'll turn it into a QT for the mantis + any future additions to the tank. Just need to finish drilling the acrylic and gluing it to the inside.
 
Well, I got him by splashing fresh water over the rock in a bucket. I'm suprised at how easily I got him, my emerald crab and my pistol shrimp were not phased by the fresh water. I'm pretty sure he's a mantis shrimp and not a really big pod. He has the 2 little flap things in front of his face. I could have sworn he was bigger, maybe it's because my tank has a bow front... or maybe I have 2. Also, my fire shrimp decided to molt.


What should I be feeding this guy?

front view
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back view
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qt tank
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fireshrimp molt
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