Clicking noise.

[-TS-Vash]

The last rock i bought was a 10 lb rock in november of last year since i moved into my new apartment in december i hear a clicking noise every few hours always in the same place all night and day. Could it be a pistol shrimp that was in the live rock? If so what would be the best way to find it or should i say to bring it out into the open so i can see it? I look every night with a flash light and i never see it but i always hear it its driving me crazy if its a shrimp i NEED TO SEE IT lol. What should i do?

[Blindmelonbob]

Hmm, could be a mantis shrimp, too.

[-TS-Vash]

I was thinking that to But i dont know a lot about mantis shrimp. Also I had a pink green and yellow brittle star and a orange linkia all of them i have found missing legs and half dead since i moved in december they look like they went through a blender or some thing I gave all of them to my pet store so they could save them.

[bkwudzjeep]

Try and put a red filter on the flashlight, or get a red light bulb for night viewing. I have read that some, if not all mantis can actually see in the red spectrum however. They are amazing creatures!!

Maybe see if you can lure it out with a silverside on a bamboo or acrylic skewer.

It'll slip up eventually, and make itself seen...and it could be a pistol shrimp too, like you said.

[davocean]

My first thought was mantis, but I was trying to think positive for you on the pistol, but what you describe of brittle star and lankia
sounds like the nasty works of a mantis.
They can be nasty.

[-TS-Vash]

Hmm i also lost my porcelain crab i saw him one day and never saw him again that was a month ago but that happens i guess so i didnt think any thing about it. Im by my tank right now and i can hear a clicking every few minutes most of the time its more than one click more like a few in a row. Do the traps really work?

[bkwudzjeep]

Traps are really hit or miss.....when I found mine I took out the whole rock and waited for it to pop out.....it never did, so I carefully started chiseling, and found some cool stuff.

He has made a lair with the entrance masked off to look like the rock. He also had 3 ways in/out and it was like a maze of tunnels in the rock after I broke it open......pretty cool!!

[BadOleRoss]

I recent trap idea I read about somewhere seemed pretty simple and it might be worth a try. You simply place a weighted piece of bait in the bottom of a jar and place the jar in the tank leaning against a rock. The theory here is that the shrimp/crab will slide into the jar to get he bait and will not be able to get out. Havn't tried it myself but there is really nothing to lose.

[rhiggsbear]

You simply place a weighted piece of bait in the bottom of a jar and place the jar in the tank leaning against a rock.

Mantis shrimp can swim. They will swim right out unless you are there to put the lid on.

[Bathel]

Originally posted by bkwudzjeep
Traps are really hit or miss.....when I found mine I took out the whole rock and waited for it to pop out.....it never did, so I carefully started chiseling, and found some cool stuff.

He has made a lair with the entrance masked off to look like the rock. He also had 3 ways in/out and it was like a maze of tunnels in the rock after I broke it open......pretty cool!!

I had a trap sit in the tank of many months ... the first month I baited it and then after no luck ... I just let it sit in there thinking that once the critters felt it was part of the tank I would bait it again.

Long story short ... 6 months or so later ... without using any bait I looked and found a very curious mantis shrimp caught in the trap. Next day he was shipped off to a guy form the Mantis forum that wanted him.

[mystikdragon7]

-TS-Vash, when you hear the clicking sounds are they repeatedly over and over, or are there just a few clicks here and there?

If the clicking is over and over like non stop, it might be a mantis. If the clicking is only a few here and there it's probably a pistol shrimp.

[BadOleRoss]

As you can see I have never had the pleasure of a mantis shrimp. Thanks rhiggsbear, good to know.

[-TS-Vash]

The clicking sounds are they repeatedly over and over But only every few hours some times. Like 10 or so in a row then nothing.

[kclewis]

if its a mantis or a pistol be careful. those badboys typically have a pretty nice claw with them that can split your finger

[-TS-Vash]

Would a mantis or pistol shrimp hurt my new gigas clam?

[mystikdragon7]

Also was thinking about your sea stars. Could they be losing legs and what not from the move? Maybe they just couldn't handle the stress of being moved. I know I have lost a few things everytime I have moved.

If the clicking is very rapid for long periods of time, I'm leaning more towards a mantis. The only way to really find out is to catch what ever it is with a trap.

[-TS-Vash]

I was thinking it may have been them move but i just bought a yellow brittle star in feb and last week i had to give him away because his legs were holding on by a thread and i feed him frozen food every night so i know he was ok untill one day he was just messed up like a blender got him.

[mr pink floyd]

take the rock out, dip it in codl freshwater, hell come out

i dipped my rocks in hot freshwater, and i found soe weird things, i see them sometimes, the yare littel clamshells, maybe 1/2 inch, and when they open they hace spiney lookign thins in them