Loud Clicking noise coming out of the tank
 

Hi there,

I've been hearing this from days coming out of one of my tanks now. its a loud clicking noise, the first time I heard it, I panicked because I thought my tank was cracking or something but it was not. its a loud clicking sound, that's the only word I can think of to describe this loud noise coming from the tank. it happens more often when the lights are out at night though.

Does anybody know what could that be?

Sound to me you have a hitchhiker mantis shrimp or pistol shrimp.

Yeah I kinda read that before somewhere. Are those a bad or a good thing though?

I have the same sound & I know there's no mantis in my tank because a couple of crabs are thriving. A mantis would take care of any crabs in short order. I kind of doubt mine is a pistol shrimp either, I've never been able to see it if it is. Think I may have read somewhere that even certain crabs can make this noise with their body armour.

Pistol. Mantis clicking would be shells being broken open. If you have no broken shells its most likely a pistol.

I have had one 5 years. Never seen it but click click click.

I believe he is responsible for my missing harlequin and 3 peppermints.

Never bothered any fish.

I have those sounds also... Come and goes. Usually lots of clicks, then nothing for awhile (weeks or months) then it starts up again for awhile, usually in the evenings, when the lights are out.

yeah, maybe that explains two of my cleaner shrimps went missing some time ago.

Now that I remember, at the beginning when I brought all my LR for my first tank, I saw a small "lobster" like little creature now and then. kinda brownish color, but I remember it looked like a little lobster.

Uh, yup... that might explain it.

I have the same thing in my tank and I've found that many things actually do it. I thought it was my pistol but when I found him dead in the sump. I've noticed my strawberry top snail do this thing where he twists and pulls himself into the glass really quick and makes a cracking sound. He's been incapacitated for the past week and I still hear it. Haven't seen evidence of another pistol or a mantis... so I leave it to one of the mysteries of the tank.. sorta like how a hawaiian rock boring urchin showed up in my tank without having put anything in my tank for over 6 months and the only thing that went in there in 6 months before that was a piece of dead rock that had been sitting dry for over a year. Weird...

Yup... pistol.