Loud sounds at night!
 

Ive just recently added some moon lights to the tank. So know i can see whats going on at night. So the other night i was checking it out and i was hearing this loud clicking sound. It happens now and then its not constant. My tanks been running for little over month and a half now.. Any idea on what this could be?

Mantis Shrimp!!

... or a fish snapping at the surface, or a shell hitting the glass, or a pistol shrimp, or a heater turning off for the night etc etc etc.

added any new LR lately?

Yes i have added some LR lately. I know the sound of my crabs/snails hitting the glass and it is way louder then that. My heater is not that loud as well.. Say it was a mantis shrimp or pistol shrimp. Would i see them come out at night? Thanks for the help.

any mantis that you'll ever see will be diurnal; very unlikely you'll actually see it at night although my mantis has been up late clicking away before (not often though). pistol shrimp are secretive pretty much all of the time. some pistols will make pretty obvious tunnels in the sand. watch around the tank for broken shells of hermits/crabs/snails (mantis).

Also a Mantis usually sounds like something clicking on glass where a Pistol Shrimp has more of a snapping sound.

Sounds like you have a hidden pest in your tank. If it is a mantis and it is aggressive like my old mantis you could use some bait to try and lure out.

What would lure him out. Shrimp? Mysis shrimp? Would this work for the pistol shrimp as well?

http://www.stomatopod.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=71

mantids aren't picky. pretty much any meaty marine meat. I would avoid any bivalvemeat if it stays in there for a long time... that stuff degrades faster than others. dunno bout pistols though.

I used clams to lure my mantis out. I purchased the cold water variety from the grocery store and placed it in the open sand area. The mantis would appear instantly to snatch it up.

I don't know if pistol shrimp are that aggressive since I have never owned one. The lure method might not work.

[quote=Reefhawk1;301340]I used clams to lure my mantis out. I purchased the cold water variety from the grocery store and placed it in the open sand area. The mantis would appear instantly to snatch it up.

QUOTE]

Sorry to cut in but I have a mantis and he eats mysis. I'm wondering, could I give him a clam every now and then for a treat?

mantids should be fed a variety of frozen foods. they aren't picky, so clams, krill, mysis, silversides, etc. are fine. If the mantis is a smasher it should be fed a hard shelled meaty food at least once or twice a month. hermits and snails serve well and so would clams.

I use snails and hermits because the clams would be much messier and are probably aren't the cleanest things around... clams (as suspension feeders) are notorious for accumulating unhealthy crap.

Good to know thanks.

get this
 

the other night when i was feeding my brian coral after all the lights whent off i turned off all my power heads and my sump and proceded to feed the monster well for some reason all the fish woke up and stared to mess about
and i noticed that one of my damsils would make a fairly loud sound when he chased my chromis around the damsil is the 3 striped kind you know the black and white ones maby thats it

Ok so looks like im down two peppermint shrimp and an emerald crab. I have yet to catch what ever it is that im going for (mantis or pistol). Will the mantis shrimp eat peppermint shrimp? Or do you think i have a pistol shrimp?
Also will this bottle trap work for a pistol shrimp as well? Thanks Kris.

With you missing two peppermint shrimp and a crab I would say you have a mantis shrimp. Pistol Shrimp don't kill other crustations

dont listen too carefully to the narrarator... and if you do, take it with a grain of salt, but the point of me linking this, is to demonstrate that pistols are predators and will indeed kill shrimp and crabs if they are hungry (and big) enough. Ive heard of one pistol that even killed off a mantis.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKPrGxB1Kzc

my mistake.

Man.. Ok my bad i found the crab but both my shrimp are gone.... The funny thing is, is that i dont see no carcass. Will the bottle trap work for the pistol shrimp as well? What a headache.

Well you have to realize that peps can be very secretive. Ive had a couple before that i couldnt find for days at a time. That and if they are eaten, a mantis could either eat the whole thing, eat some, throw it out and have your CUC eat the leftovers (which can happen surprisingly fast) or just bury the leftovers. Just a thought.

Im not convinced that pistols would be caught with a bottle trap but ive been wrong before. Worth a try at least.

I've tried the bottle trick to catch fish before, with adding some mysis shrimp in the bottle, and only ever caught my peppermint and cleaner shrimp with that trick. Stupid fish!