Clicking sounds in my tank...

[Quinn]

Something like a machine gun in the distance, if you've ever heard one, short burst, maybe 3-4 clicks, max. It's been going on for about a week now, but generally at night. I have a feeling it's a pistol shrimp of course but I would have expected to have seen him already. Could it be anything else? I had two mantis shrimps when I got my live rock, but I don't feel that this is a third because of the noises, apparently mantis shrimps have more clicks in chunks, a few at a time, rather than one-offs. Any thoughts? I'd just like to see the fellow, know exactly what it is.

[ABreefkpr]

Put a red filter over the beam of a light to view the creatures that come out at night. You can watch them all night.

Keith

[christyf5]

Gang wars...:razz:

[gophia]

Sounds to me that you got a mantis shrimp hiding sonewhere in your tank. Take care, they can catch and eat fish as well as your finger!

[Quinn]

The noise mantis shrimps make is reportedly from when they are smashing their way into a mollusc, not from their own physiology. Therefore it would more likely be a series of single clicks, rather than a single burst. I had two small mantis' when I got this live rock, one died at the end of a rogue screwdriver and the other was living in my sump up until I went nuts trying to pull a mushroom out of it and knocked everything over. He may still be there. I won't rule out another but based on the sound I am leaning towards pistol shrimp. Either way it is odd it has only just come about, perhaps I am simply hallucinating.

[Canadian Man]

:rainbowa:
Hey Quinn, when you look in the mirror, does your hair look like this?

If so, I think the answer is, YES, you are halucinating!

[AI Man]

Definitely a pistol shrimp. It's easy to miss them as they can be quite cryptic. He may be small or have a burrow at the back of your tank. I see dozens of them on good live rock shipments all the time. They're harmless. If it's a species that gets bigger, you may be able to match him to a goby when he gets bigger.

[Buccaneer]

I had one for a couple years that I never saw not even once but I could hear him/her every nite clicking away ... only a few months ago I was moving some rock and found a claw in the sand :frown: ... must have squished it cause the clicking stopped after that :rolleyes:

Cheers

[Delphinus]

:rainbowa:
Hey Quinn, when you look in the mirror, does your hair look like this?

If so, I think the answer is, YES, you are halucinating!

It's a good thing I wasn't drinking coffee or something as I read this because otherwise it would have been splattered all over my monitor by now. :lol:

[Quinn]

:rainbowa:
Hey Quinn, when you look in the mirror, does your hair look like this?

If so, I think the answer is, YES, you are halucinating!

Well I don't have the hair but my eyes are black dots and the inside of my mouth is yellow... :razz:

[Canadian Man]

:lol: