Carrie

What is the most efficient (and harmless to the mantis) way to remove a two inch mantis that lives in a live rock? I saw commercial traps, are they effective?

Thanks,

Carrie

Hello everyone,

I set up my tank last weekend with live rock. I added a few additional pieces today, but when I was about to dump the water I cleaned the rocks in, I realized there were about 20 tiny starfish of varying kinds. I put them in plastic bags containing the water I was about to discard (it was originally tank water, so it should have the same chemistry.) They are now floating to match temp. Is there any way to keep starfish that are very tiny alive in a cycling tank? Also, there was a hitchhiker that I am not sure if it is the dreaded aiptasia. The picture's not that great. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for a wonderful site and resource!

Carrie

I am also starting a 75g tank. I ordered my uncured live rock from petco online. I was worried about what I would end up with, but it turned out to be beautiful. I have had it for a week, and it is already covered in coralline. Including shipping and tax, 45 lb boxes of Fiji come out to be 159.54 (under $4.00/lb). I had a single rock out of the 90 lbs I ordered that didn't look good, so I called customer service and they are shipping me a replacement to arrive on Saturday. The rock I found in the local stores was either ridiculously overpriced (one quoted me at $10 / lb for uncured Fiji ?!?) or had no visible coralline. Though the process did make me go to a lot of stores, so I found the stores that I was comfortable with to purchase live fish. Obviously, I am about as far from expert as you can get, but I was happy with my purchase.

Good luck,

Carrie