Click click click!

[Stephane Cote]

Hello everyone.. i need your input. I think i know what is hiding but i need ur advice/opinion.

for the past 5 days i've been hearing 'clicking' randomly in my tank at night. I did notice this before in the past (every now and then) randomly during the day as well. The clicking is loud, kinda like a clip springing back or like snapping of figures.

I did a bit of research and most sites I've scanned mention either a pistol shrimp or a "shutters" mantis. Now i had 2 hitchhiker mantis shrimp when i got my LR (over a year ago) and that was taking care of. I believe it is a pistol shrimp. The reason i say that is i have not lost anything "yet" and my shells are still intact on dead snails (probably because they were overturned and got eaten by my hermit crabs.) I tried to locate said 'unknown' clicking and i have located it to be in one area of the tank. Cant be sure 100%. I tried looking for it but did not spot the animal. I do spot check my tank very frequently since my bobbit worm with a red light and have not seen anything out of the ordinary indicating anything else was in there.

I thought it was the heater/equipment but i dbl checked everything and it's not originating from there.

i guess if it is a mantis ill eventually see things disappear and shells crack and at that point it should be big enough for me to spot it. Should i get a watchman goby and see if he 'finds' the pistol shrimp. if it is, are they harmful?

Thanks

Steph

 

[sirrealism]

Very interesting. Anything could happen but wouldnt you think that a hitchhiker thats been in the tank for a year, Wouldnt you have seen some remnants? A molt? A mantis would have had to eat during that time right? A pistol shrimp would have molted several times right? Do you have other shrimp that have molted? Dont mantis molt too? I will be fallowing along to see what this is. Good luck

 

[Stephane Cote]

Very interesting. Anything could happen but wouldnt you think that a hitchhiker thats been in the tank for a year, Wouldnt you have seen some remnants? A molt? A mantis would have had to eat during that time right? A pistol shrimp would have molted several times right? Do you have other shrimp that have molted? Dont mantis molt too? I will be fallowing along to see what this is. Good luck

All very good points. I do have 1 other shrimp and have seen molt from it. but i don't recall seeing anything out of the ordinary. like you said.. it's been there for at least a year.. i would have seen something in my opinion.

 

[reefle]

I think it's a pistol. Mine makes the exact same noise at random times. Plus I've never seen a molt from him. Maybe because it molts and deteriorates in his burrow before I see it?

 

[Stephane Cote]

update: i woke up this morning and noticed my yellow tang got his tail fin clipped. so something probably nipped at it when it was sleeping

 

[Stephane Cote]

Hey guys long time no reply. reason is, other than the clicking there were no progress.. until last night. I was scanning the tank and heard very loud clicks from 1 rock, since the rock sits on top of everything else it's very accessible. I took the rock up and from a hole i see a shrimp like creature.. it seemed to have black strips on it's back (hard to say with a red light). i tried to take the rock out but i think i spooked it to run to another rock. I isolated the rock and haven't seen anything. he was about the side of a 5c piece

i remember seeing mantis shrimps when i was setting up my tank, but they looked a bit different.. for one they were all dark and big eyes. this one was more white is with smaller eyes.

Steph

 

[sirrealism]

Fallowing along. Waiting to see what you have