Think I got myself a pistol shrimp for free!!

[jamal-188]

Found this guy in some of my LR today when I was adding it to my display tank. I"m pretty sure he's a pistol but I can't figure out what kind, has blue legs? Funny because I've just been posting about how I want a pistol shrimp I hope my CBS doesn't mess with him, he's tiny.

Anybody know why type of snail this is, it has really neat red foot. I found two of them so far but have never seen them to buy anywhere?

 

[cj10488]

That is a Pistol srimp.. You got your LR from LiveRocks.com I am guessing.. I have one that looks Identical.. From My personal opinion I ID'd the sucker as a Blue Legged Pistol Shrimp.. I have a mated pair in my tank though..

Congrats on the find.. Mine Has been ok in my tank however I believe it might have had something to do with my clam death..

HTH<
James

 

[jamal-188]

Yep got it from liverocks.com. They really are an amazing company, I have to post my entire experiece of what happened, guess I should post it in the vendor forum?

I'm happy I found this little guy, right when I was going to go buy one

 

[cj10488]

LOL may I ask how you caught yours.. I have been trying to catch my pair for about 3 months now with no luck.. Used traps and everything..

James

 

[jamal-188]

It was actully swimming around in the bottom of my rubbermaid tub when I was transfering the rock to my display tank. Are you trying to remove them from your tank? I don't have any corals or clams or anything yet but I know how difficult it will be catch problem makers later on so....

 

[cj10488]

Yes I have been trying to remove them from the tank with about 100# of LR in a 55gal.. Man Is It hard.. Lol I am just mearly tring to remove them as I dont like being woke up in the middle of the night to LOUD pop pop noises..

James

 

[Zack]

Very nice grab there jamal! Most do very well in tanks as min has not bothered any of my clams.
Zack

 

[snapcrackler]

AHA!!!!!!!

Mystery solved!!!!

I am glad you posted that.......

I got LR from liverocks.com too (awesome rock) and here's what happened to me:

1. Got rock, found a mantis in the box that had jumped out and QTed him.
2. Negated the FW dip because I didn't want to hurt anything.
3. Put all of the rock in the tank and skimmed, worked out great.
4. Kept hearing SNAP SNAP SNAP snap snap snap, snap snap SNAP every day.
5. Pulled every single rock BACK OUT and performed a freshwater dip, looking for a mantis shrimp.

Well lo and behold, NO mantis came out, but I did see a bright red "baby lobster" thing that shot out, I quickly put him back in the tank.

My baby lobster ain't no lobster, it matches your pic exactly..

And I still hear snap snap snap every day so he must have survived the dip just fine. He snaps a lot during feeding times, and also snaps and pops sometimes and little clouds of rock shoot out, so I know where he's at.

I'm gonna keep him because the tank is downstairs and we sleep upstairs so he can't wake us up.

THANKS for posting that pic!!!!

 

[CountZero]

What causes the snap? Does he click his claws or something?
Zero

 

[MantisFreak]

They snap their big claw together so fast that it creates an underwater air bubble (cavitation). My pistol was named Butch Cassidy and his yellow watchman was named The Sundance Kid. I could swear one of my fish was throwing rocks at my glass.

Pistols are from the family Alpheidae

Even though there are a number of different members, they all make the same noise, a sound similar to a pistol. Most are very small, less than 2 inches (4 cm) or less in body length. They are nocturnal, usually hiding during the day under a rock until dusk. At night they come out and search for food and use the large claw to either scare away intruders or shock/stun other mealtime small crustaceans. Usually come in on live rock and the only way you'll ever know one is in your aquarium is by hearing these single shot sounds, probably when you are trying to sleep! Some live in a symbiotic relationship with watchman gobies. (The proper term is mutualism and not symbionism but most people have never heard of mutualism).

 

[snapcrackler]

In case you did not notice, MantisFreak knows a thing or two about weapon-carrying shrimps.

The first thing that people say when they are at your house is probably this: "What's that snapping noise"?

MF, thank you for the excellent and very cool information.

 

[MantisFreak]

LOL----that's the first thing they say after, "get your stupid labrador's to leave me alone".

 

[CountZero]

Wow Mantisfreak! Thanks for the detailed information! You could write books
I am so glad I discovered this forum, No matter what question you ask, someone allways has the answer and is nice enough to share it with you.
Thanks again!
Zero

 

[snapcrackler]

Update:

A whole lotta snappin goin on , not only do I have a pistol, but I have since caught another (#2) mantis and have also spotted a little 3/4" (#3) mantis in another little piece of LR. How many fricken snapping creatures do I have?!?!

I have started to appreciate my little mantis friends, I moved the bigger on to my 10g fuge to feed him separately until he gets big enough to blow out the 10g tank glass , and the other little 3/4" main tank guy just hangs out in his little hole and drags silversides in to eat when I feed him.

Jeanene is revolted by them LOL!!!

Mike from liverocks.com always keeps a couple in one of his main tanks and feeds them by hand. I just talked to him again yesterday. Very interesting conversations with that guy I must say.. knows a lot about live rocks and critters too.. when they dive for rocks he says the little mantises will end up on the deck of the boat and they just jostle them in their hands and toss them back overboard, occasionally they will get snapped, but not snapped too bad as long as they don't give the shrimp any good leverage points. Heh!

 

[jamal-188]

I"m starting to think I have more than just my 1 pistol shrimp I found. I hear snapping all the time but I can never find anything. I"ve looked and looked, when the lights are on, when they're off but I cannot find anything. I've never even seen my pistol shrimp since I've added him to my tank a few weeks ago.

 

[snapcrackler]

Hehe.. I will bet you a dollar you have more than one of something... I never saw anything either until, within 2 days of eachother I saw the 2 additional mantises.

Try this: Don't feed the tank for a couple of days, and then drop something really meaty in throughout the tank and watch really quietly, sitting in front of the tank and not moving. Your snappers will smell the food and start peeking out looking for it. That's how I saw my little guys.

Hope you find your snappers!