Pistol shrimps VS. Mantis shrimps. Who will win???

[weekf]

I am building up my new 132g as you can see from my gallery. It has been cycling for 3 days now. Ammonia is spiking now so nothing special just wait, wait, and more wait…

However, I can already hear click, click things going on in my tank for the past 3 days. Not sure if I got a mantis shrimp in there or not but definitely got at least one pistol shrimp because the other day when I added liverocks one pistol ran out from 1 of the rocks and I caught it and put it back into the tank as I heard they are good for stirring up sand and they are good scarvenger as well.

So if I have got a mantis shrimp and pistol shrimp in the tank if they happen to meet each other (it is a looooong tank) and fight who will win? I was hoping the pistol shrimp will win because I heard mantis pray on crustacan (did I spell that right?). I want to know this because I am thinking of putting my cleaner shrimp into the main tank later on (he is currently in my nano). I was worry if the mantis will win over the pistol then I can’t put the cleaner in because it will surely get killed by the mantis. But if the pistol will win there is another question: will it co-exist with the cleaner?

Whether I have mantis or pistol in there it is too late to take them out now. I just want to know if I can add my cleaner into the tank or not. This will mainly a tangs fish tank so I thought the cleaner can at least do some cleaning job for the tangs.

 

[Jarred Darque]

Mantis hands down I am sure.

 

[Guest]

There is a chance that the clicking could be the pistol as they do click. However, IME it is very difficult to differntiate the two by sound alone.

I would say just take things slow. You are along ways from when your cycle can be complete and you can safetly add any livestock anyway.

Where did you get your LR from, and how much? If you have enough 1.5lbs-2 per gal. you should be able to cycle with just the LR. Either way, if you have a mantis it will most likely surface itself eventually either being curious or looking for food. Watch at night and see what you can spot.

Just let your tank go through the normal cycling and during this time you can figure out what, if any, bad hitchhikers need to be removed.

 

[weekf]

Can pistol and mantis and cleaner shrimp co-exist in a tank?

What about pistol and cleaner combination?

What about pistol and mantis combination?

Hope you guys can help me out here. Thanks.

 

[roka64]

Can pistol and mantis and cleaner shrimp co-exist in a tank?

The mantis would probably kill them all and also some fish.

What about pistol and cleaner combination?

Sure, you could even add a shrimp goby, for the pistol.

 

[weekf]

Oh wouldn't the pistol kill the cleaner? As it has got a big claw

 

[roka64]

Oh wouldn't the pistol kill the cleaner? As it has got a big claw

No, pistols are nearly blind and use the goby for an early warning system. The pistol will live in the substrate and the cleaner will hang out amongst the rocks.

 

[weekf]

But my cleaner (currently in the nano) hides in the rocks when all the light are off. So I was worry if that's the case it will get killed by the pistol at night. The cleaner cost US$110.00 here in Australia, that's right I paid that much for it!!!

 

[roka64]

But my cleaner (currently in the nano) hides in the rocks when all the light are off. So I was worry if that's the case it will get killed by the pistol at night. The cleaner cost US$110.00 here in Australia, that's right I paid that much for it!!!

WOW!!! That's a lot of money. They should be ok together. One lives in the bottom and one above.

 

[afishyonados]

The pistol would smoke the mantis shrimp.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpheus_bellulus

Be sure to read about the snapping effect. Mantis are tough, hands down, but they cannot do that!

Either one MAY make short work of crabs and snails. Both will tend to keep carcasses around their dwelling, like a dragon's lair.

 

[roka64]

The pistol would smoke the mantis shrimp.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpheus_bellulus

Be sure to read about the snapping effect. Mantis are tough, hands down, but they cannot do that!

Either one MAY make short work of crabs and snails. Both will tend to keep carcasses around their dwelling, like a dragon's lair.

Hmmm, I stand corrected. Thanks for the info. Now we can add a pistol to hunt down a mantis?

 

[FishFrik]

The pistol would smoke the mantis shrimp.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpheus_bellulus

Be sure to read about the snapping effect. Mantis are tough, hands down, but they cannot do that!

Either one MAY make short work of crabs and snails. Both will tend to keep carcasses around their dwelling, like a dragon's lair.

I believe I've read somewhere that mantis can do this too. Something about the speed of the smash is 30miles/sec or as strong as a 22mm bullet. B/c of the extremely high speed, it creates a very high pressure hit.

IMO, mantis can kill anything with its size. Not only it's the only shrimp that has color reconigtion eyes (true or not I'm not sure but I remember reading it somewhere when I was researching about them), its speed is faster than almost every shrimps.

Just my 2 cents XD

 

[DragonForce]

I currently have a mantis alone in a 6g nano cube and I also have a pistol in my 37 reef. The mantis shrimp would hit the pistol so hard and fast they would most likely just explode into little shrimp bits.

I dont think a wimpy pistol shrimp could EVER have a chance against an animal that can do this....http://ib.berkeley.edu/labs/caldwell/rubiksindex.html

 

[Jarred Darque]

If you believe everything that wikipedia had on the snapping effect, you need to take some non-theoretical physics classes. I mean, 1,000s of Kelvins? If you could get even an area the size of a pin head to that temperature in water, you would flashboil hundreds of gallons, killing anything around it...including the shrimp. Shrimpoluminescence....

If you google it, you will find the supposed web-page this comes from. Follow the links, only two of them work, one leads you to what I will agree appears to be a foreign college university site. Then read the report on it, they are assumptions, theoretical analysis.

While I am not saying that the cavitation wave nor the light does not exist, I agre that it is quite possible, 5,000K would be a temperature that no living creature would be able to be near. And again, reach temperatures that high, regradless of pressure would either flashboil the surrounding water, or seperate the water into Hydrogen and Oxygen atoms along iwth seperating all the ions of any trace elements, including the salt, in the surouding water.

So that you know, anyone can post anything they want at wikipedia...take what is on that sight with a grain of salt.

 

[angelscrx]

I currently have a mantis alone in a 6g nano cube and I also have a pistol in my 37 reef. The mantis shrimp would hit the pistol so hard and fast they would most likely just explode into little shrimp bits.

I dont think a wimpy pistol shrimp could EVER have a chance against an animal that can do this....http://ib.berkeley.edu/labs/caldwell/rubiksindex.html

That is hilarious.

 

[lando]

I tend to agree that the mantis would win out. Pistols are not really set up for predation as a mantis is. The most common types of stomatopod that hitch hike into the home aquarium are of the "smashing" variety. They use a club like appendage to smash or crush prey. Of these, Gonodactylaceus falcatus and Pseudosquilla ciliata are most common. These species really are not the sea monsters they are made out to be but do pose a high threat to all mobile inverts and mollusks. Both mantis and pistols are known for creating the tell-tale popping sound. Some say you can tell the difference by the variety of the pops, several in rapid succession vs. random pops. This has proven to be a very poor mean of ID. the best way to is to get a visual ID and go from there.

 

[afishyonados]

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/10/1003_SnappingShrimp.html

http://www.wildsingapore.com/chekjawa/text/g341.htm

I was wrong?

 

[roka64]

afishyonados, cool read! I was SCUBA diving in Belieze, quite a few years ago. I wigh I had known more about SW back then!

 

[lando]

I was wrong?

I do not recall anyone saying you were wrong. Only people weighing in on the matter. However, the links you provided (while interesting) do not really speak to compatibility of the pistol or suggest a species-only environment for it. Just about every source I have found on the mantis strongly suggests a species-only tank and sites crustaceans and mollusks as its main source of food. They are also revered as highly intelligent predators. Sorry, I think the ball is still in the court of the mantis.

 

[afishyonados]

OK, you win...

(shuufles off, head bowed low.)