[icemark]

I had been thinking for the last 6 months or so that perhaps I had picked up a Mantis shrimp in the last load of LR in my 60 gal. Occasionally I was hearing a distinctive click only after the lights had been out for at least 30 minutes. I didn't think this was a hermit tapping the glass as it is a Acrylic tank.

Just couldn't keep snails in that tank. At first I attributed it to the hermits that I had got at the same time as part of cleaner package. Then to a Lunar Wrasse that chased after any crustation or mollusk that moved.

Well I have over the last month been re-doing that 60 gal. New lights, New ballasts, I had pulled all the Crushed Coral out, really cleaned the tank (for the first time in about 10 years) scrubbing down every surface. I even drilled a couple of holes in the tank for the new plumbing that I had hooked up in the new stand that I built. I had also been battling the dreaded green hair algae, and no amount of cleaner crew was taking care of it. Well, because the cleaner crews kept disappearing, leaving only the solid shell off their back.

So over the last week, I have been scrubbing much of the Live Rock, and then placing it into the rejuvenated tank. This time drilling and zip tying it to PVC supports. So tonight on one of the few pieces of LR that didn't need much cleaning I placed against one of the new LR towers, when I noticed something move in a hole deep in the rock.

I got a flashlight out pulled the rock back out of the water, and there he (or she) was. A mantis as big as index finger from the knuckle out.

Needless to say that piece of rock went back into the holding tank that the other rock has been de-hairing in. Soon to be placed in the main sump.

SO after all that, my question gets down too: What is the likelihood of a second mantis? Are they territorial and one would kill any others in a 60 gal? Or should I be concerned of where there is one, there will be others?

[organicreefer]

ice ,
do they sound like a pistol shrimp,but not as loud?i think i have one in my fowlr(predator reef,it has corals )
also what are you gonna do with the little guy?ill keep him. stick his ass in the mail if youre gonna kill him

[Biomanjcs72]

I know people keep these things as pets, but why? I know their behavior is pretty cool, but it just seems such a waste of a tank to me. (And I'm a crustacean guy, I've even thought of having a tank with just a bunvh of crabs in it before.) I think they serve a better purpose as trigger/puffer food. JMHO

[icemark]

organicreefer,

Yeah kinda like a pistol only not so loud. I guess they say the difference is single pops are often pistols, while most mantis have multiple pops. It is very dark colored, Almost the same shade as the dark purple coralline from Fiji, but browner.

I don't know what I am gonna do with him at this point. He may just go into one of the sumps. I didn't want to do a tank with just him, as the last time I got LR was more than 2 years ago, and I never saw him before. What fun is something you can't see? He must have been very small when he came in.

I am also thinking that I will ask the LFS if they want to buy him (they buy Xenia, Capnella, and Halmedia, and assorted other frags from me) but, if I decided that I am not keeping him I'll keep you on the first refusal list.

[ravenmore]

mantis shrimps are pretty facinating animals. They're very intelligent and their eyes are highly specialized. They have something like 16 different receptors for percieving different colors (humans have only 3 cones by comparison). They can literally see different colors than we do, as well as UV and polarized light. Their strike is one of the fastest recorded movements in nature, and it is performed in the denser media of sea water. Also, I've heard of some stomatopods(mantis shrimp) living peacefully in reef aquariums for extended periods of time...although I certainly wouldn't want to do that myself. They can fetch high prices...I've seen mantis shrimps for sell at lfs for $60 and up. I've heard colorful species like the clown mantis can go for hundreds of dollars.

[Dive_Master]

Hey, everyone. I hear clicking noises in my tank, but I have seen anything even at night. I hear multiple clicking noises. What can it be. It sounds from the discussion that it can be a mantis shrimp.

Well, I have small fish in the tank with cleaner shrimp and everyone is doing fine, so I do not think that i have a manits.

What about this pistol shrimp are they safe in reef tanks or should I be trying to catch whatever it is.

I did not think that Mantis shrimp make clicking noises. Do they?

[icemark]

Dive, Yep they do.

In my searchs today I came upon this site which has a ton of info on Mantis shrimps:

http://www.blueboard.com/mantis/

as well as a whole board at reef central on the beasts:

http://www.reefcentral.com/vbulletin...?s=&forumid=37

[organicreefer]

mantis shrimps do indeed make clicking noises.from what ive read,i wouldnt consider one small mantis shrimp in youre reef a real problem.sure if it isnt too much trouble i would remove it.if its alot of trouble ,and i had no evidence that a mantis had actually hurt anything i would leave it be.i have a pistol in my reef,and i hear similar but not quite as loud noises coming from my fowlr.im not overly concerned about it,i wish i could at least see the little guy if hes in there .
the only mantis shrimps ive seen at lfs's are the common green ones.you can just see the intelligence in there eyes.i want one ,but id like to get one of the colorful ones.in order to enjoy a pet like a mantis you have to keep them in small aquariums or yuoll never see them.

[ravenmore]

Really the only time you'll hear a mantis make clicking sounds is when it is striking hard shell prey, such as snails, or if it's striking the rocks or glass to test a surface (they do this...not sure why but they can crack aquarium glass if the shrimp is large enough)

Pistol shrimps make clicking noises for communication - they're pretty reef safe. Clicking noises can also be from snail and hermit shells clanking against the glass at night.