Pistol Shrimp or Mantis Shrimp??

[TXSea]

Okay here's the deal,
I sometimes will hear "clicking" sounds in my tank. Usually the clicks will come in 2 to 3 clicks at once. Most of the time I hear it after I do a feeding. It happens during the lights on and the lights off periods. More times at night this happens. I never see anything and all my inverts and my diamond goby are unscathed. None of my corals have been affected either. I have been told you can't hear a pistol shrimp outside the tank but you can hear a mantis shrimp. If it is a mantis shrimp.... I never see it and have no idea the best way to try and catch it. Any help with this matter is greatly appreciated!

[Scream311]

Try surprising whatever it is at nite. When lights are all out. Shine a red flashlight at the tank. To get a glimpse of what ever it is. Oh and posting a pic helps ;-)

[tebstan]

I hear my pistol shrimp all the time.

Unless there's a mantis in there I don't know about...?


I haven't had good lucks with DIY traps :( Good luck catching it.

You could try getting a shrimp goby and see if he finds a friend

[Europhyllia]

and if it's a mantis shrimp it will just eat the goby and then you know for sure!

just kidding ;)

what kind of liverock is it and where did it come from?

[ramsey]

Yeah, I also hear my pistol outside the tank all the time and it's not a faint sound.

[TXSea]

and if it's a mantis shrimp it will just eat the goby and then you know for sure!

just kidding ;)

what kind of liverock is it and where did it come from?
I bought the live rock from reefs2u.com by 1604 and nacogdoches. It is fiji rock that craig (the last owner) had in a tank that he broke down. He sold it to me for 2.99 a lb. I couldn't turn that down. I also have a 6 lb. piece of tonga in there. The only pests I noticed that came on the rock were bristleworms, brittle stars, astrea stars, some sponges, and 1 aiptasi which my peppermint shrimp made light work of...lol. Like I said, I haven't seen any damage thus far from the possible mantis. Most people I have asked really think its a pistol shrimp based on what I have told them.

[TXSea]

Oh yeah... I have already tried making a trap out of a coke bottle and using brine shrimp as bait but no luck with that.

[Europhyllia]

any chance pinning it down to certain rock and taking that rock out?

[TXSea]

Yeah that's possible. I'd hate to tear my rock apart though :/

[tonyydeee]

Try leaving some food out on the sand at night and wait for it to come out? Do pistol shrimp normally make their little noise a few times? Because I know mantis shrimp make the click noise alot in a short period of time.

[kkiel02]

Pistol- One click
Mantis- Multiple clicks

Thats what I have always heard/gone by.

[alton]

I had a pistol shrimp in my 158 for years, never did see him and never lost anything in the tank. I sold the tank and he went with it. It was just wierd because you could hear the click but never see him.

[hobogato]

the pistol that we have does three or four clicks at a time about a second apart. when i had a mantis, it also did multiple clics, but they were in rapid succession. not sure if this is always the case, just thought i would add my experience.

[Bluepowdertang]

If it is three or so clicks in a short time I would say mantis, but if they are spread out by about 1-3 seconds I would say pistol

[LuckySingh]

I dnt know by just hearing the clicks h can tell if that's mantis or pistol... I hear my pistol all the time and I mean u can really hear it it's loud.... If u see pile of sand disturbed around the rock or moved than that's pistol unless u hve sme sort of goby that does that if not u just hear the rapid click I would assume mantis....


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[Oilers7134]

We hear our pistol shrimp all the time. It's usually because a hermit crab or snail have gotten to close.

[polarbear]

I have a pistol shrimp in my tank that I hear all the time as well. Mine does rapid clicks all the time. And yes I'm sure it's a pistol shrimp. I put it in there and see it all the time in the corner of the tank under a rock.

[Zephyr Aquatics]

Come by my shop and I can feed my mantis....I atree with lucky you can here the differnce.

[THE_BEAST]

I thought I had a mantis at one time too. I would hear the click. And one day it clicked as I walked by. And I whipped my head around and it was a conch scooting forward straight into the glass and making a clicking noise

[Zen Reef]

I have a peacock mantis and although I hear him all the time, I can't recall if there is any kind of pattern and I don't think there is a definitive pattern. It seems more dependent on what he's doing at the time. Usually its him clubbing the tank in an attempt dig deeper and sometimes its him swinging at the clownfish and missing against the rock. I know this doesn't help you resolve your issue but it's my experience.

[BlueKoran91]

I have a peacock mantis and although I hear him all the time, I can't recall if there is any kind of pattern and I don't think there is a definitive pattern. It seems more dependent on what he's doing at the time. Usually its him clubbing the tank in an attempt dig deeper and sometimes its him swinging at the clownfish and missing against the rock. I know this doesn't help you resolve your issue but it's my experience.

Like tuan says it depends on what they're doing. I have 2 peacocks and I'll hear them click against the bottom of the tank when digging, they'll try to bash a giant rock to move it or if I walk by and startle them. Other than that they're quiet


🐠Manda🐟

[kkiel02]

Wow this is an old thread. Good info though! I would like a mantis species only tank but I know it will get shot down by the wifey.