what the...

[BR549]

So we had company over this weekend and im outside grilling when my friends daughter comes running outside. excitedly she tells me theres a green thing in my aquarium. Thinking to myself there are lots of green things in my aquarium. I reply thats cool. when I come inside my buddy (not a reefer) tells me there was a green thing that came out of the rocks then swam to the other side of the tank and disappeared in to the rocks again. Ive had the rocks for over two years. and havent added anything in quite a while. no green fish.. doubt its a mantis although i do seem to lose a hermit every other month. any ideas what it is or how I could catch this thing in the open. i look at my tank at all hours and have a red light to see things at night. thanks.

 

[Tahoe61]

Hmmm maybe Polyclad Flatworm, they can swim very well and pretty darn fast.

 

[Squishie89]

Polyclads are definitely not green. They are brown and white, and they eat snails not hermits. (Sorry if I sound like a jerk).
Is green and it swims all we have to go on? Any size? Fins? Legs?

 

[Naiad]

Could be a nudibranch or a swimming crab though these are highly predatory so you should have noticed. There is the possibility of a pistol shrimp. So many options with just green and "swimming". I would just try the pop bottle trap near the last known location and see what happens.

 

[BR549]

Ok so now it gets weirder and im getting really frustrated. The other day I noticed my cleanup crew is pretty much non existent. started with a buncha snails n crabs. now im down to the biggest hermit and the big turbo. so I go to the LFS and buy a pile of hermits and snails. Then I leave the house for an hour and come back. One of the new hermits has already been murdered. It wasn't the big old hermit hes still right where he was when I left. This was two weeks ago. after 1 week all the hermits are gone. Also probably a week later my giant turbo snail comes up missing. the one Ive had for two years. now heres the real heartbreaker. I come home today and my yellow tang looks like it has a broken dorsal fin. its cocked upward and looks like half of its ripped off. Im so frustrated. this tank is in my living room and gets viewed all the time. now that I think about it there have been several unexplained seemingly traumatic deaths in this tanks history. its not fish on fish violence. I don't know how a mantis could go unseen in a system for two years. if I cant figure this out then I may just give away all my buddys to keep them safe. then I will buy a full grown dwarf mantis name him memow ninja assassin. he will avenge theyre fallen tank mates. Any one? I don't know what to do.

 

[Nemesis]

Maybe there was a mantis shrimp larvae in there for a while that somehow survived and now it has developed to the point where it is starting to do some damage.

 

[fishroomlady]

wow, that is pretty amazing.

 

[Tahoe61]

Polyclads are definitely not green. They are brown and white, and they eat snails not hermits. (Sorry if I sound like a jerk).
Is green and it swims all we have to go on? Any size? Fins? Legs?

Thanks for the clarification, next time I will just leave the assist for you since you're such a whiz at third person interpretations, my apologies.

Yes sounds like a mantis.

 

[BR549]

Thanks for the replies. IF it is a mantis how in the heck have I not seen it? Ive even moved the tank to our new home. excuse me while I vent BAAAHHHHHH!

 

[Nemesis]

Cause it's very very sneaky. Lol

 

[Squishie89]

Thanks for the clarification, next time I will just leave the assist for you since you're such a whiz at third person interpretations, my apologies.

Yes sounds like a mantis.

I sincerely apologize for my response and upsetting you. I was just trying to narrow it down as you were as well.

Thanks for the replies. IF it is a mantis how in the heck have I not seen it? Ive even moved the tank to our new home. excuse me while I vent BAAAHHHHHH!

With the newest update I think mantis as well. They swim fast, can be green colored, love to eat hermits and snails. The good news is these guys can be trapped. Do some looking around on the interwebs for traps and bait ideas.

 

[Tahoe61]

LOL, not upsetting just amazed how snotty a fellow reefer can be to another. Perhaps spend more assisting the op rather than trying to tear down others offering the same op assistance. There is a diplomatic way to addresses mis-information without coming across as an internet/forum bully.

 

[Ryan2428]

LOL, not upsetting just amazed how snotty a fellow reefer can be to another. Perhaps spend more assisting the op rather than trying to tear down others offering the same op assistance. There is a diplomatic way to addresses mis-information without coming across as an internet/forum bully.

Lol Tahoe I find this very funny comeing from your mouth and I'm sure i am not the only one but I will not feed into you and threads with you in it . On that note have a wonderful day everyone