loud clicking sound

[2revup]

I have been meaning to ask this for sometime but always forgetting.

I have this very loud click sound going on at night mostly i have no idea what it is,
this list i have is:
fish list
1 blue tang
1 cleaner wrasse
3 blue/green chromies

invert
5 hermet crabs
2 turbo snalls
1 inka

Ann/corals
Purple tip
open brain
polyops

its not the hermys I can see them, it seems its comming from rock but i cant see the one i think its comming from i have trued torches but i cant see the critter. Any ideas?

 

[Marc118]

Ive been reading that tangs can make a clicking noise...but I have no experience with them

 

[abnmojo]

Two words for you - pistol shrimp. See if you have substrate moved arround, they like to do this. If you have 'fresh' moved little piles of sand, you have a pistol shrimp. Don't worry, they are safe, get a shrimp goby to go with him, it will be cool to watch.

 

[ZoozFishMaster]

Could be a mantis shrimp...keep an eye on your inverts and smaller fish.

 

[angelscrx]

Use a flash light with a red lense to look at night. it doesn't bother things too much and you may be able to catch the clicker in action!

 

[Civicman86]

Yeah it probally a pistol or mantis. Hope for the first

 

[EELectric]

Agree with the others, it is probably a pistol or mantis shrimp in your tank. The pistol shrimp is fine but a mantis is dangerous unless it is by itself.

 

[FishFrik]

If it's a mantis... i hope u don't get injured T.T

 

[OceanMaiden]

Aren't them the nasty little buggers that can give razor sharp cuts orr remove pinky fingers??!! I dont know if a mantis shrimp is the one that does this, but they had one in aa national geographic magazine that can do just that. I never thought shrimp could be dangerous!!

 

[2revup]

thanks for all the info i will try and spot the bugger somehow thanks again

 

[seaham358]

agree with others, mantis or pistol. where is the LR from..

 

[abnmojo]

from what I have seen and read, mantis don't burrow as much as a pistol. I have kept about a half dozen pistols over the years, and each and every one has made LOTs of burrows - every night.

I think the pistols look for food in the sand, and the mantis hunt the bigger stuff like your fish and fingers.

All Pistol shrimp look like little lobsters, but in all sorts of colors and one claw a little bigger than the other and with a funny knob. Mantis dont, they look like......mantis shrimp, so if you catch him at night, you should be able to tell the difference.

Oh yeah, and if you wake up in the morning and the tank is shattered on the floor and/or all your fish are missing, you had a mantis.

David

 

[OceanMaiden]

I was right the mantis shrimp is the one that can cut you to the bone and actually BUST your aquarium, no joke. Here is a website that tells about them and what they look like.

http://www.divegallery.com/mantis.htm

Please be very careful if this is what you find in the tank. Gloves will not help unless they are chainmail, because they can slice through any divers glove. Id use pincers and a net to catch it. Just don't go sticking your hands in there if you can avoid it.

 

[abnmojo]

OceanMaiden - awesome pics, now I want one! I have spare tank or two arround here somewhere.......

 

[OceanMaiden]

I hope its real strong. These things get to be 10 inches and their claws act like switchblades. The force with wich they hit is only slightly less than that of a 22 caliber pistol. Imagine that digging into your flesh, or aquarium walls. Divers call these things thumb splitters for a reason. They will kill and eat all inhabitants of your aquarium. A species only tank, with its live food tossed in for him, would probably be best. The tank would also have to be a very thick polymer or plexiglass to withstand his jabs. Think almost like bullet proof glass. As stated above it is almost equal in power to a gun shot so glass aquarium wouldnt be a real cool idea.

 

[CMD26]

Just because they can shatter glass doesn't mean they will. I've kept one in a normal aquarium for a while now with no glass shattering. I think it's usually a case of them hunting something that happens to be against the glass when that happens. I wouldn't worry about it otherwise.