Mantis or Pistol Shrimp?
 

Over the past two weeks I have heard some clicking in my tank. This has occured around 4:00am when the tank is completely dark except for some stray light from the refugium.

My first thought was that a mantis hitchhiked in with my rock, but I read elsewhere that it could also be a pistol shrimp.

I kind of freaked out at first although with a bit of reading about mantis shrimps I am bit calmer here today.

So a couple of questions:
1. How do I determine if the clicking is from a mantis, pistol, or my imagination?
2. If I have a mantis or pistol what have other peoples experiences regarding losses of critters and fish?

I've had a pistol/goby pair for about a year. He will "click" at night sometimes. A pistol shrimp wouldn't go after a fish as far as I know. They would go after a shrimp like a cleaner or peppermint. Investigate your tank with a flashlight after lights out and see what you find. Although my pistol will poke his head out during the day and stay hidden all night.

HTH

It could also be snails clicking against the glass :biggrin:

I will keep looking at night. Another interesting item I saw float by yesterday was a "shrimp" molt. It was about 1/4" in length and looked like a small version of a shrimp you put on the barby. Have not seen this live critter yet.

Doing a jig?

im going thru this right nnow as well my tank is just about 1 year and now i hear clicking wonce in a while and in the last 2weeks my jawfish and tobbacco bass have gone missing, yesterday i found a half eaten cleaner shrimp and saw a sandsifting star upsidedown in the jawfishes old home. later that day i came home to see one of my fire shrimp the diameter of a nickle being dragged under. have set a bottle trap to no avail. just have no time to take apart my tank. im hoping nothing else goes in by thurs when i have some time. if i trace back to day one i can say that i didnt realize that my smallest hermits were going missing i asumed they were growing and killing each other for shells. also noticed one of my marg snails has a crack all the way around.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAw Crap this hobby can be frusterating at the best of times.

I need to do a head count on my snails and hermits as well.

Oscar,

I just bought a pistol/goby pair for my "in progress" nano tank. They are very cool when in a pair.

It sounds to me like you have a pistol shrimp in there somewhere. Usually they are harmless to to most things except other shrimp, like cleaners, etc.

I would keep looking with the flashlight, but I wouldn't worry too much.

The pistol would explain the molt that floated by. I will keep my eyes open. I had been thinking of getting some cleaner shrimp but I will wait until I know what is lurking in the tank.

I have a small pistol shrimp in my tank. It is always moving the sand around to make his burrow. He sometimes piles the sand up pretty high and changes location often. Have you seen rocks or sand collecting up in piles?

No nothing like that.

Although when I got home last night I discovered a crab molt. I have not ID'd it yet, I will try to post a photo tonight. No idea I had a crab in there. And then this morning I discovered the 3rd lobster molt in 2 months.

So at least 2 of the critters are feeding well.

And I heard more clicking this morning.

Well I still hear the occasional clicking but other than a molts a few months ago no sign of a pistol shrimp. I removed a hitchhiker crab a few weeks ago.

I do have one suspicious pile of sand in one corner of my tank that has been there a few months. I have changed the water flow thinkig it might be a "dead spot" but it is still there. Looks like an ant hill with no real opening.

Before I add a shrimp goby to the tank I would like to confirm I have a pistol shrimp in residence. Will dismantling the ant hill tell me anything
? Any other tricks?

I have a heard a clicking for 3 months since I inherited a 12g nano and never seen a molt or anything to suggest what it is. Always two fast clicks together, "cliclk-click!".

No missing inhabitants, no empty snail shells so I think it is a pistol. I have looked everywhere and being only 12g I should have seen something by now!

there are so many different types of pistols, and thy are not all of the same temperment.
I assure you that some pistols are capable of killing fish and may even prefer fish to anything else.

When I first set up my tank, I literally had between 10 and 15 pistols that came with the 70 lbs of cuban LR I bought.
I didn't feed my tank at all for the first couple months as it cycled etc.
As soon as i dropped fish in there (a gramma and a clown gobie) the clicking really started and I noticed these shrimp for the first time (although I had heard SOME clicking before, this was concentrated).
It took about 3 days for both fish to dissapear.

I feed my tank now and that helps, but if a fish gets too close to a pistol lair (the kind I had hitchike are not sand burrowers, they live in the LR) SNAP.


People always base their opinions on their experience and the tiger pistols (I actually bought one of them and hate his burrowing now) along with the other LFS varieties don't seem to be anywhere near as aggressive as the ones I recieved as a LR bonus, this is my opinion based on my experience.

Pistols in live rock...That might be what I have since other thant the "ant hill" I do not see any burrowing. But I do have a couple of snails that have gone missing. I have had 2 clowns since July but even in my small tank they do not wander very far.

What do you feed your hitchikers or do they just feed on fish food that was missed?

I just feed my tank a revolving door of mysis, brine,blood and coral frenzie with salifert pellets every now and then.

I talk a little about it in my tank journal as I was pretty concerned for a little while as I thought my tank was unable to host anything but pistols.

If you didn't hear them click, you would never know they existed other than the odd piece of LR that they have pulled out of their cave to enlargen it and left mysteriously on the substrate.

These guys will actually attack snails and my kent want when too close to their respective piece of LR.
They also appear to live in colonies as I have seen at least 4 in one piece of LR in my tank at one time.

They seem to be happy to scavenge at night though as I haven't lost any more fish and they click way less now that their is a better food source.


hey snaz, did you get your pod' from a member here?

I hear lots and lots of 'clicking' from my tank, even in the other room.. I'm 90% sure its just hermits and snails smacking their shells against the glass. The other 10% of me wonders where my snails and hermits disappear to...

What would entice them to smack against the glass? Trying to escape? Signal the mother ship?

I find its mostly when they're fighting against the flow in certain areas.. they cling up against the glass, waddle *clack*, waddle *clack* on the glass.

With every little smack, they are slowly weakening the tank.... TO ESCAPE!.. Maybe I should put a tv in front of the tank and play finding nemo for them...

I don't think he was a member, it was listed on Craig's list. I love it.

I think I saw my clicker today, two banded legs were sticking out of a hole in the LR. I'm glad it is not a mantis!