strange sound

[Diver4life]

Hello guys, last night I was watching my tank,and suddenly I heard like a snapping sound . like (snap snap). I heard it today too.What it could be? any idea? thanks

[baldomero]

diver whats up maybe your live rock has a hitchhiker. maybe a shrimp see u next weekend

[Sk8r]

one of 2 things, primarily: you've got a hitchhiker in your rock, either a pistol shrimp [neat, nice]; or a mantis [neat, if you have a mantis tank, not so if you have small fish.] It can also be a burrowing clam in the rockwork, but my bet is on one of the 2 types of shrimp.
To find the culprit, first look for photos in the Mantis Shrimp forum. Then by night, drop a small piece of raw shrimp or other really nice fishfood into the tank. Wait a little. THen use a flashlight to spot your click-ish type. If it resembles a mantis, consider trapping and trading it to your lfs or another reefer. If it is a pistol [they look like tiny lobsters], probably it will be fine in your tank.

Consult the mantis forum for suitable traps. Every species has its tricks.

[Diver4life]

Thanks Sk8r> I will be watching,hope not a mantis. Hello baldomero I was diving today>

[Saltwaterstart]

It is probably a mantis or a pistol.

If it's a mantis, then look around for traps. If you do catch it, trade it in at the LFS. My LFS would give me about $60 for a 3" mantis shrimp.

If it's a pistol shrimp, and you don't have any other fish in the tank. Your first fish might have to be a shrimp goby, such as a yellow watchman. The only downside to pistol shrimp is that they are sometimes a pain in the butt if you put in peppermint, blood, or cleaner shrimp, because you might not see your other shrimp again.

[burks]

Pistols can also wreck havoc on corals too. Not so much as destroying them but moving them to make a burrow for them to hide in. One time my friend had one using a mushroom as a "door". It was kind of comical.

If it's a Mantis it's up to you whether or not to keep it. Personally I find them very interesting and would set up a spare tank to keep him/her in. Or as someone else mentioned, trade it to a LFS. Not very many places carry them.

[Sk8r]

I have a tiger pistol with my YWG, and he's about, oh, a little over an inch long, and just shoves sand: perfect gentleman with the peppermint shrimp, at least.

[Diver4life]

Ok,so thats a pain in the but cause I just ordered 2 peppermint already. So I think I have a problem. Where i should put the bait? anywhere in the tank? doesnt matter? Im taking the bait without the trap just to see what I have.

[Zestay]

pistol shrimp can also crack your glass tanks.

[Sk8r]

Mantis are alleged to crack tanks, but I personally have yet to hear of an actual incident in RC. My little guy only snapped once, when he was first introduced, and the yellow watchman ran right over to him and took up housekeeping with him, so I think it was more a signal to available shrimp gobies than an attack on anything.

Re your trap: place it with the opening so that the prevailing current wafts the smell of the bait toward the suspected lair, and so that the opening is fairly close to where you suspect It resides.

If you do find he's a pistol, I'd leave him in: if he's readily caught, you can always get him, if he proves to be an inconvenient species.

[NirvanaFan]

I've heard that mantis generally break the bottom of tanks when they're making they're burrow larger. They're hacking away at the rocks and then get to the bottom of the tank and think it's a big rock and break it. I've heard of people putting a sheet of lexan/polycarbonate on the bottom of the tank to prevent this.

[Misled]

The only "breaking of glass" I've ever heard of was people saying they talked to some one that said it happened to them. Never first hand, and I've been doing this over 20 years. I also had a mantis in a 75 for two years, then after catching him in a 10 for 5 years. If you can't trap him, let me know. There's a sure fire way to get him out, though it's quite time consuming.

[ghost48]

I have one I have been trying to get.

What is the sure fire way ????

I would love to know.

[Misled]

Like I said, very time consuming, unless you happen to know the rock he's in. First I must give credit to the person I got it from. This was printed in an aquarium magazine about 15 years ago written by Julian Sprung. Now that that's over, get a five gallon bucket. Fill it with carbonated water, (be sure it's non flavored). Mix salt to match the sg of the main tank and get the temp the same also. Don't worry about the ph cause it will be way off. You will also need another bucket or something to put the rock in after you treat them. Dip each rock in the carbonated salt water and let it sit for about 3 to 5 minutes. Afterwards remove the rock and put it in the holding container. When you hit the rock he's in the carbonated water will cause him to spaz out and leave the rock he's in. Mine was laying in the bottom of the bucket kind of spazing out. I removed him and put him in regular salt water and he was fine. What sucked was I had him in a 75 with about 90lbs of rock. Found him in the second to the last rock.

[Saltwaterstart]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11296079#post11296079 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Misled
What sucked was I had him in a 75 with about 90lbs of rock. Found him in the second to the last rock.

I guess that really must suck. I remember moving every rock in my 29 to get out a dead chromis.

[Diver4life]

ok guys thanks to everybody.Ilearned something today

[yoboyjdizz]

you find out what it was yet?

[uscharalph]

I occasionally hear clicks too. I've spent a lot of time at night with not sightings.

[350nine]

I have a hermit that likes to bang his shell against the glass. He sure can make a loud rap when he does it.

[ghost48]

I saw my Mantis just can not find his rock, bait and traps do not work. He has enough snails and hermits to stay full and happy. I hate to take the tank apart.

[Diver4life]

Last night I try and put a piece of shrimp and turn off the lights.But nothing show up.I recently added 6 scarlet hermit different sizes and the sounds appears after that

[yoboyjdizz]

Could be the hermits shell hitting the glass... I use to have an electric hermit always trys to escape and its shell would bang on my glass at night. This would be lucky for you if it was but i still believe its something else.

[Diver4life]

Well I will be watching thanks anyway dude.