6 months in and clicking sound

[eferna]

I heard a clicking sound now and then when I first got the aquarium, but didnt think much of it. I thought maybe that it was my heater switching itself off. Low and behold 6 months later the clicking sounds are getting more frequent. I am really hoping its not a mantis. I have read up on this about 1 click and its a pistol and 3 clicks and its a mantis, but its weird cause sometimes I heard 1 click and sometimes i hear more, but more that often its just 1 click.
Also i noticed some crabs that have grown quite big. I removed 3 of them before but there is another 2 more that are huge.
What should I do? Should i remove the rock and try to get the critters out?

[eferna]

Also what is the best way for me to get them out? Should I use soda water and pour it on the rock? and once i do that do i just put the rock back into the aquarium.

[Paco]

Tagging along -- also have clicking. Thought it was probably powerheads chattering (wishful thinking). I'm doubting it.

[Pacific Reefs]

Maybe you could try a baited trap near the suspected area/ cave?

[eferna]

problem is my aquarium is a nano and it really leave no plaec to put the trap and most of the time the hermits get into it and nothing else.

[Tangalong]

If you are finding smashed hermit/snail shells and clicking often then I would say maybe you have a Mantis. But, if you have crabs that are big, then I would think you probably are hearing their shells click against the glass.

In a Nano, you would see a burrow with rubble around the entrance most likely.

Another tip to recognizing a Mantis (Stomatopod) is that you will probably hear more than just 3 clicks depending on the size and thickness of the hermit/snail shell. The Mantis has to get it opened enough to dig the inhabitant out for dinner !!! You will also hear the clicking when they are breaking LR into small pieces to use in their burrows.

Good luck if you have one in catching it...they make wonderfull and fascinating pets. They are very fast also. I would suggest you take your LR out, keeping it in SW and check each one out for a burrow if it has made one it a piece. Do wear gloves.

[eferna]

Its strange cause i dont see smashed shells and I do have 2 clown fish and 1 small goby and a fire shrimp all seem to be doing well.

[luvreefs23]

Sounds like a pistol shrimp. I added one to my tank about 4-5 months ago and thats when my clicking started, i know its him cause i was told thats what they do. Kinda sounds like someone tapping the glass from inside the tank with a small hammer, sometimes 1-3 or 4 times and sometimes its a lil louder than other times.

[eferna]

yeah its loud though, I sometimes feel like the glass is gonna break. If its a pistol how come i dont see him?

[luvreefs23]

mines loud too, my tank is in the basement and i can hear it over my gurggling euroreef sitting in the dining room upstairs. In the 5 months ive had mine ive only seen him maybe 3-4 times and its quick glimpses and thats only cause i know where to look.

[Reef'in Colorado]

I also think it's a pistol shrimp.

They are very shy and rarely come out of the rockwork. They can be VERY loud...I have a tank with 3-4 pistols upstairs and I can hear them popping all through the house.

Mine hitchhiked in on some LR I brought home from the Caribbean.

[Paco]

That would explain all my hermits disappearing

[Tangalong]

Good Call !!!! Definitely sounds like a Pistol...my brain is getting too old..lol..

Maybe you could get a small Watchman Goby and see if he finds your culprit and makes buddies with him. I don't know if a 12 Gallon is big enough though. I have a Blue-spot Watchman and he is 5" long. He had a Pistol that died and I recently got a Peppermint for Aiptasia control and he is trying to make friends with him. That might happen for you and give you a fun pair to watch also..it is a neat relationship they have. Just a thought.

Whatever you do, please do not place the LR in tap water or flush it with soda...it will kill whatever is in there. If it is a pistol, it most likely is in a burrow under the LR and not actually in it. You could gently remove the LR and gently sift your sand to see if he is in there. I would think a Pistol would be a lot harder to catch than a Stomatopod. Good luck. Can't you move some of the LR and put the pop-bottle trap in a corner? Look for a place in the sand by the bottom of the LR that looks like there is disturbance around it like something has gone underneath. Put your trap by that and be sure to tie something to it so you can pull it out quickly.

I had a lot of fun trying to outsmart my Pistol....never did.HA!!

[eferna]

thanks guys!!! i dont really mind having a pistol shrimp as long as it doesnt kill anything in my tank. good thing its not a mantis. I remember one morning i saw a white thing behind the rocks and it disappeared. I thought i was seeing things cause i never saw it again. It looked like a shrimp to me. Good things its not a mantis.
Will the pistol shrimp try to attack anything in my aquarium?? I have a fire shrimp there already and hes still alive

[heller792]

red tourch after lights out will show you where he is and a proper id of the culprit

[SeaWeed89]

i've had a aqueon(sp?) heater that did this. so loud i thought the glass was going to break.

[Imzadi]

I miss my Pistol... Dozer and Lurker (his Watchman buddy) were AMAZING to watch. Odd though, mine was out ALL the time. Shovelling out his den, and tidying up. I always could find them by looking UNDER the tank, and seeing his productive little butt diggin diggin diggin...

[eferna]

I found where the guy is hanging out and indeed its a pistol shrimp. He is sorta white and about 1 inch. So what should I do? Should I remove him or let him be?

[heller792]

leave him be, get him a watchman goby to be friends with. The pair will provide hours of fun for you to watch.

Dave

[Tangalong]

Congrats!!!! How neat!!!! I never even found a leg in all 50 lbs of my LR and it was Pohnpei!!! I agree to leave him. I would really get a Goby and be sure it is one that forms a symbiotic relationship. . . not all do.I also was going to tell everyone I found out another source of the clicking...my stupid glass thermometer...when the water moves it ...it sounds exactly the same..who would have thought?

Good luck whatever you decide...wish I had your luck.

[lougotzz]

What makes pistol shrimp make this noise? Are they hiting glass? cracking hermit crabs shells?

[eferna]

Its better I send you a link and you can read all about the pistol shrimp, its quite amazing if you ask me.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/n...ingShrimp.html

[Tangalong]

There is a video on U-tube of a Pistol killing a Cleaner Shrimp with his "pistol". Amazingly, he actually shoots a spurt of water through his claw at such a speed that it knocked the Cleaner for a loop and killed it. He then retreived his prey and took it to eat.
Kind of sad, but that's nature. It is the sound of the water going through his claw and both ends of the claw meeting, I believe that make the sound. Think I'll check out that site too.

[username in use]

I agree with keep it and get a goby. Watch waht kind you get with a small tank. The steintz goby doesn get too big and defenitely pairs up with the pistol, check my avatar.