Can anyone help me to identify this creature, and more importantly, how to remove it!!!! It hides in the rocks and seems to scrurry like lightning when it moves, I saw it snatch my damsel fish and proceed to eat it. It has a prawn like body but the weirdest front on view I have seen. Its about 1.5 inches long, I think this may be the creature that is making a "clicking" noise coming from tank.

Any help much appreciated.
Shayne

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Its a mantis shrimp, very bad creature, yes it makes the clicking noise
sorry i dont know how to get rid of it
i hope someone tells you how

YIKES!!! catch that bugger and send it into deep space!!! I never had one but i have a friend who did. he says the only way short of killing the tank is to catch it and do away with it.

on second thought send it to me...i like shrimp

Yes. This is Mantis shrimp. There are 2 types which in marine. Yours is colourful. Another type is just grey color which we can get in sea food restaurant.

You can keep only mantis shrimp inside a tank without any tankmate. But i did saw some members keeping it with bigger fish. They are aggressive and like to dig holes. Don't use yr hand to catch. You might cut by it's body part and you gonna seal the wound by doctor.

they attrack to the lighting or anything colorful thing. try to locate something inside the net n trap it.

great predator.... it will wipe out your tank populations .... eh, sound like those sci-fi movies, huh?

but it will be interesting to know how you take it out. also it will be interesting how you got it .... hmmmm. been fishing lately?

you mean 'wee-wee' prawn?

normally in restaurant they called it "Ha Poh" in Cantonese.

I heard Copper is the best solutions to rid all invertebraes. That's if your tank doesn't have corals or other cleaner shrimps, etc.... Don't use too much...

Like Dom said watch your hands; it will take a finger off .

Probably came in on some live rock , but they do make traps for them if all else fails.

Pretty cool looking creature imo , too bad the temperment makes it a species only thing.

shayne,

Any luck so far? I hope the member infos gave u some useful tips..