How to Remove a Mantis

Catching the Mantis: Hands-Off Approach

• 1

  Bait and set a packaged mantis trap according to the manufacturer's instructions.

• 2

  Watch for the mantis at night with a red night vision light to see if the mantis goes near the trap. Geena Sarns, a pet store owner and aquarium specialist, says that if you see the mantis avoiding the trap or if you have not caught the mantis within a few days, move on to another method.

• 3

  Add trigger fish, lightfoot crabs or pistol shrimp to your tank, advises pet store owner Alan Hirsch. Choose predators that are compatible with your other fish. If your new additions are larger than the mantis, they should dispatch the mantis within a few days.

Catching the Mantis: Hands-On Approach

• 4

  Listen for the mantis's clicking after dark. Switch on a red night vision light and approach the aquarium slowly. Watch to see which crevice the mantis ducks into.

• 5

  Fill a large bucket with salt water.

• 6

  Put a pair of protective gloves.

• 7

  Lift the mantis's home rock and place the rock in the bucket. Keep your fingers out of crevices large enough for the mantis to hide in.

• 8

  Fill a turkey baster with club soda.

• 9

  Squirt the club soda into each crevice large enough to harbor the mantis. Be ready--Sarns warns that a mantis can "shoot" out of the crevice and may even attack the turkey baster.

• 10

  Scoop the mantis into the net and deposit it in a separate saltwater aquarium.

• 11

  Remove the rock from the bucket and return it to your original tank.