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Pistol,or many is shrimp?


Bcb577

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So,over the last cpl of months I've been hearing a snapping sound commuting from my tank,it drove me nuts over the period of a few days so I got online and looked things up and I'm guessing I may have a pistol or mantis shrimp somewhere in my tank.I've not seen any burrows and none of snails or anything have been damaged.I must have gotten it as a hitchhiker.is this something to cause concern?I'm doing more research but thought I'd ask on here,I'm posting on this forum as I thought this might be a normal beginner question,don't worry for those of you who get offended if someone posts the same question in two forums,lol (a little too serious),lol jk. Ill be patient and just leave it on this forum,lol for those of you who may have strained your eyes reading a question twice I apologize,again I'm being funny

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Pistol shrimp aren't to big of a concern, but most mantis shrimp require a species specific tank since they are excellent hunters with those clubs of theirs. I would take a red light and inspect the tank every night until you can spot something.

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Most likely it's a pistol. Mantis have an odd clicking noise (not to be confused with snapping). You can google the sound a mantis and pistol makes on youtube and compare it to the sounds you hear coming from your tank. If you begin to spot your inverts going missing one by one however, there's a chance it -might- be a mantis after all.

 

In the event you do discover a mantis as a culprit, don't kill it. There are reefers out there willing to set up species tanks for them, so you can always pass it along.

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Most likely it's a pistol. Mantis have an odd clicking noise (not to be confused with snapping). You can google the sound a mantis and pistol makes on youtube and compare it to the sounds you hear coming from your tank. If you begin to spot your inverts going missing one by one however, there's a chance it -might- be a mantis after all.I'll definitely Google it tonight, that could be a possible answer to another question,I've gone through two emerald crabs that were thriving for about 48 hours,then inexplicably died,I tested my parameters,all checked out ok,I even took some samples of water to have it tested and the lfs said they couldn't find any problems with my parameters that would cause them both to die,hmmm?

 

In the event you do discover a mantis as a culprit, don't kill it. There are reefers out there willing to set up species tanks for them, so you can always pass it along.

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Were the crabs intact? As in, no cracked shells? Also, are you sure those weren't molts? An easy way to tell if it's a molt or not is to take out the crab and gently depress the center with your finger. If it sinks, this means the insides are empty (no internal flesh) and you have a molt on your hands.

 

Of course, if both crabs did die (fleshy bits still there), it could either be your water chemistry, or your pistol/mantis friend (I'm inclined to think the former, unless there really is a mantis in your tank). In which case, it would be best for you to give us full details of your setup including numbers back from the water sample test at the LFS.

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GunslingerGirl

In the event you do discover a mantis as a culprit, don't kill it. There are reefers out there willing to set up species tanks for them, so you can always pass it along.

 

OP I see you're in OH. If you are remotely near the central area I would be glad to take a mantis off your hands if it does indeed turn out to be one.

 

If you are more NE there is a store in Cleveland who would probably take a mantis. One of their employees had like 10 of them at one point I believe lol. Slightly obsessed I would say.

 

In the meantime, let us know about the molts and the look into the difference between the sounds. I would not have mistaken my old mantis for anything else lol little terror he was.

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Well.....after doing some research I'm leaning more towards a pistol shrimp.I hear it mostly at night and usually hear a series of between one or two snaps.everything I watched and listened too points towards a pistol.I have a yellow watchman goby and he lives in the back of my tank and it's possible the two are working together?,I'm positive that the dead shrimp and crabs were the whole body and not just a molt.it's interesting now that I look back,one of my emerald crabs after having it about a day I noticed a hole on the top of his shell and I brushed it off as damage from the lfs.it died the next day.I'm ok with keeping him,I just wish I could see him,but I'm not going to be putting anymore shrimp or crabs in there lol.the other funny thing is I have two blue legged hermits I've had for a year,hopefully they don't networked!

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I had they same thing happen yrs ago when i had my first reef.

 

I started hearing sounds from my tank one night, thought my tank was cracking. Nope it was a very small shrimp in my liverock.

 

My peppermints went missing, I saw broken rubble from its liverock tunnel, and my watchman switched his home closer to where the sounds came from.

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i have a big snapper. He minds his wn business under the rocks, makes lots of entry points and comes out when i feed, usually late but manages to find a a pellet or two and back under he goes. I have a CBS in there too, it just stays away from the snapper. First time i heard it, i thought the glass in my tank cracked

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Man - I want an alive cool hitch hiker shrimp or something someday.

 

I got a cool dead squat lobster on some dry rock I ordered once...

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I had they same thing happen yrs ago when i had my first reef.

I started hearing sounds from my tank one night, thought my tank was cracking. Nope it was a very small shrimp in my liverock.

My peppermints went missing, I saw broken rubble from its liverock tunnel, and my watchman switched his home closer to where the sounds came from.

I'm convinced it's a pistol,and I can't find him but my ywg hangs out I in the back of the display so they are probably both back there,I don't mind him in there just wish I could see him working with the ywg if infants t they are

i have a big snapper. He minds his wn business under the rocks, makes lots of entry points and comes out when i feed, usually late but manages to find a a pellet or two and back under he goes. I have a CBS in there too, it just stays away from the snapper. First time i heard it, i thought the glass in my tank cracked

that's exactly what I thought,it sounded like the glass was cracking,scared the heck outta me,lol
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