clicking in my tank!

[probe dms]

i keep hearing this clicking sound in my tank. i hope it aint a dam mantis. how small do they start?

 

[user 2204]

How long has the tank been up and running? How long have you been hearing the clicks?

 

[probe dms]

its been running about a month. and like 2 weeks since i put in the second live rock in there. been hearing the clicks after i put the second rock in. i got the rock from a lfs and i already notice a brittle starfish moving around in one of the holes.

 

[edwing206]

It's most likely a mantis or pistol shrimp.

 

[probe dms]

i just turned the lights off and heard 3 loud ass clicks. it startled me a bit. i think im going to have youtube mantis shrimp nightmares. Are there any fish that can get in there and get rid of the mantis. id probably like to keep the pistol shrimp. or would i?

 

[Snowboarda42]

Probably a pistol if you don't have anything else in there. Most of the time Mantis will only strike something it sees as food, while a Pistol will click alot just for fun.

When its light out, get a wooden skewer and put a piece of raw shrimp on the end and see who comes out

 

[wgchristman]

I have a mantis shrimp and I can tell you that mine does alot of clicking, mostly when it is doing rock excavation.

If you know for sure which rock the clicking is coming from and you don't want a mantis, I would isolate the rock until you can spot the source. After some time, you can try to entice it with some food on a stick.

My mantis will actually cover all its holes with bits of rock and they are pretty well hidden. So if you don't know what to look for, it's very easy to pass them up.

Here's a picture of the one of my mantis' holes. It's directly above the dark blob in the middle of the picture.

Good luck finding the culprit.

 

[burning2nd]

wait a min.... if the tanks new and theres nothing in it.... it should be hard to catch... trap it.. if you dont want it.

 

[returnofsid]

Until you're sure about which you have....be very careful putting your hands in the tank. They don't call Mantis "Thumb Splitters" for nothing. Also, I highly doubt you'll find any fish that will take care of a Mantis. It's usually the other way around...lol. Possibly some kind of Trigger, but I don't think that's the answer you want. I'd attempt to trap it or remove the rock it's in....carefully!! If it's a pistol...WooHoo. Heck, if it's a Mantis and you have a refugium...perfect. I'd love to get my hands on (not literally) a Mantis or two to put in my refugium.

 

[probe dms]

should i just take the rock out and put it in my tub with fresh water to lure him out?.

 

[mfinn]

should i just take the rock out and put it in my tub with fresh water to lure him out?.

I wouldn't, you'll just kill off the beneficial bacteria on the rock.

Start watching, look after the lights go out.

 

[BobinCovington]

I made a trap for mine. I took a small plastic soda bottle and cut the neck section off. then I turned it around and inverted into the rest of the bottle, (kind of like a funnel into a cup). I used some plastic wire tires to connect the two, but you can use glue or whatever. I put a pc of fishing line around neck end so I could pull it up quick. So basically it was made like a shrimp trap, where he can get it, but not back out.

I put a pc of raw shrimp in and lowered it in... and the next morning I had a mantis in a bottle!

I took it to the LFS and we dropped it into the trigger tank. (I was younger and more wild back then)

 

[91YOTA]

place the rock in a hyper (more than normal) salinity bath... that will draw him out, whatever it is, since the elevated salt level will irritate most inverts... fastest way and you wont harm anything you want to keep...

 

[user 2204]

I would use a trap first and see if you can trap him.This way if it is a pistol shrimp you will not do any harm to it.
Otherwise you can carefully pull the rock out and use a super salinity solution with a turkey baster and blast all the holes until something comes out. And definatley be careful.

Alex B.

 

[Bainic]

Do you have anything else in your tank? One night I started hearing some loud tapping sounds coming from my tank, I was sure that I had a mantis, until I investigated it further and found one of my snails in front of a powerhead, and his shell was getting repeatedly banged up against the side of the tank. Hope everything works out.

 

[returnofsid]

LOL Bainic, that reminds me of a fairly large Turbo Snail that likes to take a ride on the Hydor Flo unit attached to my MJ1200. It'll spin round and round for hours. Then when it moves a little, each spin around, it taps the glass. Eventually, it moves enough to get wedged and stops the Hydor from spinning.

 

[trillyen]

why would the person who mentioned they would want a mantis shrimp in there refuge

Would it do some good in there or something. If so what kinds good

I'd say to the guy that strayed this topic that he could turn his MIS fortune into fortune if it is mantis shrimp

If sale that bugger

I hope you find what ever it is at first I thought it was got sure some of your equipment

 

[probe dms]

yes i have an anemone, a clown, a domino, a blue damsel, and a royal dottyback, 3 snails and 5 hermits.

 

[probe dms]

i have a bottle with a shrimp in it. been there all day. hopefully he'll be in there in the morning.

 

[BobinCovington]

let us know how i turns out...