How to Catch Mantis Shrimp in Your Tank

Mantis shrimp are large, aggressive, voracious and a threat to virtually any aquarium animals equal to or smaller than it in size. Solitary creatures that spend most of their time hiding in holes and crevasses in rocks or corals, they strike at almost anything. Most find their way into aquariums accidentally inside pieces of dead coral collected from the ocean. Once in the tank, they are notoriously difficult to remove due to their reclusive and aggressive nature.

Things You'll Need

  • Method 1:
  • Live bait (preferably small shrimp)
  • Tweezers
  • Aquarium net
  • Method 2:
  • Clear plastic bottle
  • Medium pair of scissors
  • Fishing line (10 lbs. or more)
  • Live bait
  • Method 3:
  • Large pair of heavy scissors
  • Live bait
  • Tweezers
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Instructions

  1. Bait and Net Method

    • 1

      Buy live bait with which to lure the mantis; small shrimp work well. Keep the bait alive; mantis shrimp are hunters, not scavengers.

    • 2

      Hold the bait carefully with tweezers in one hand to protect your fingers from the mantis; hold the aquarium net in the other and lower both into the water simultaneously.

    • 3

      Dangle the bait in front of the mantis̵7;s hole while holding the net above the hole; when the mantis comes out to snag the bait, lower the net quickly.

    • 4

      Note: mantis shrimp are lightning fast; this method only works if you have quick reflexes.

    • 5

      Twist and lift the net out of the tank quickly so the mantis will not escape.

    Bottle Trap Method

    • 6

      Cut the top of a clear plastic bottle off at the midway point of the taper at the top with medium scissors. The opening of the bottle must accommodate the mantis, if barely. Then use one scissor point to poke a small hole into the base of the bottle.

    • 7

      Remove the bottle cap. Pass a length of fishing line--longer than the bottle--through the hole in the bottle̵7;s base from the outside and pull through enough to tie the end around the bottle top threads in the piece cut off earlier.

    • 8

      Invert the top and place it onto the bottle, making a concave funnel out of the top, then pull the fishing line through the base to seal it tight. Wrap the free end of the fishing line around a twig or anything available to secure the top to the bottom of the bottle.

    • 9

      Fill the bottle with aquarium water and pass the live bait through the funnel, into the bottle; rest the bottle on the floor of the aquarium near the mantis̵7;s den. Once the mantis sees the bait, it should go for it.

    • 10

      Remove the trap from the aquarium as soon as possible, or the mantis may break the fishing line and escape.

    Guillotine Method

    • 11

      Lower the large, heavy scissors in one hand and the live bait held in tweezers in the other hand into the tank simultaneously.

    • 12

      Open the scissors and hold them over the mantis hole so that the blades are to either side of the opening.

    • 13

      Dangle the bait outside the hole where the mantis can see it.

    • 14

      Quickly close the scissors when the mantis races out of the hole to snatch the bait, severing the mantis̵7;s body. As mantis shrimp are lightning fast, this may require several attempts.

    • 15

      Note: this method will kill the mantis shrimp.