i'm sorry, but...

[mr_x]

yep. this is one of those i.d. threads without a picture.
the story goes like this-
when i change out my filter socks i turn them inside out and pick off any living things i see and toss them in the frag tank. pods, bristleworms, asterinas...
anyway..as i'm doing this, i notice a tiny(3 or 4mm long or so) crusteacan that resembled a lobster, or crayfish. it was clear, but it had 2 definite claws, like a lobster. all of the sudden, he jumped off of the sock into the frag tank below. too fast for a picture.
i also hear a click sound from the tank from time to time. i've never lost any fish, so i figured it wasn't a mantis. how difficult is it to breed pistol shrimp in captivity? i've never owned a pistol shrimp, but i hear they make a sound that resembles a pop or click. i've never bought a pistol shrimp, or seen one in my tank either, but this is the only possibility i can think of. maybe a pistol shrimp hitcher, that had pups?

any ideas or thoughts are welcome.

 

[mkzimms]

i do the same picking of my filter sock and feed all the live pods directly to my seahorses, they love the live treats. strangest thing ive ever found in the filter sock was a 6" long, 1/2" thick medusa worm. i knew he was in the tank but he disappeared one day and then reappeared in my sink after cleaning the sock. hah
do you have any hermits in the frag tank? the sound may be attributed to them banging their shells against the glass. as for your tiny critter its hard to say. i dont think a pistol or a mantis at 3mm could make an actual audible sound unless you were really listening hard.

 

[mr_x]

yeah...i do have 1 or 2 hermits somewhere...but this sound is louder than something they could make. i didn't mean that i thought that tiny thing was making sounds. i meant to suggest that that tiny thing is offspring from the thing that is making the sounds.

 

[mx#28]

Might it be a shelless hermit crab??? 'Tis difficult with no photo, but that could well fit your description.

 

[reefreak29]

did you add anything recently , shrimps .

 

[mr_x]

no. i added no inverts lately. this sound has been going on randomly, for about 6 months. it's not a shell-less hermit. it had a tail like a shrimp, and a couple large claws in front, along with smaller legs, like a pistol shrimp, or lobster. it had the ability to fling itself off of the filter sock and swam to a safe place so fast i didn't get a chance to see it swim.

 

[scrombus2]

More than likely it is the offspring of a hitchhiking pistol shrimp.They are industrious little buggers. I frequently catch pistol shrimp in a little pushnet in the grassflats here on the Treasure Coast. I have a thriving population in my 75 FOWLR. They tirelessly tunnel behind the rockwork, I see them sometimes at night, but you can definitely hear them. I'd say they'd be coral safe.

 

[mr_x]

that would be cool if you are right. i don't sweat pistol shrimp.

 

[jimvette1]

Mr. X
The sound you are describing sounds like a pistol shrimp.
I just purchased one for my Yellow Watchman Goby to play with but he shacked up with my engineer goby instead, go figure.

Back to your sound, it does sound like a mantis shrimp! A loud clicking sound whenever anything approaches it. Really neat.

What is interesting is how small the little guy is and how loud he can be. So maybe he did hitch hike on something and grew up in your tank, how cool is that?

 

[mr_x]

it's excellent, except, it can't be. what is he eating? scraps all this time? he didn't kill a single invert or fish? that is so unlike all of the horror stories i have heard.

 

[cranberry]

Originally Posted by JimVette1
http:///forum/post/2742170
Mr. X
Back to your sound, it does sound like a mantis shrimp! A loud clicking sound whenever anything approaches it. Really neat.
A pistol is more likely to click when someone approaches the tank.... it's their warning sound amongst other things. A mantis "clicks" when he's breaking up rock or food.... not an activity that is influenced by someone approaching the tank.
A mantis also does not have claws like a lobster... I'm guessing a pistol.

 

[mr_x]

this creature has been making sounds for months. even when you are sitting across the room and only the moonlights are on.
is a pistol more likely to click when fish swim by too, or doesn't that phase them?
also, how easy do pistol shrimp reproduce in captivity?

 

[jimvette1]

Originally Posted by Mr_X
http:///forum/post/2742509
this creature has been making sounds for months. even when you are sitting across the room and only the moonlights are on.
is a pistol more likely to click when fish swim by too, or doesn't that phase them?
also, how easy do pistol shrimp reproduce in captivity?
Mr. X
Every time my scooter swims by he clicks.
We can hear him while watching TV in the living room.
He clicks day or night.
How easy do pistol shrimp reproduce in captivity?
The Pistol Shrimp may also be known as Symbiosis Shrimp, or Snapping Shrimp. They are found in a variety of colors and sizes. Pistol Shrimp are not easily sexed, but the males of many species are thought to have a larger pincher.
Unlike the Mantis Shrimp, it is not harmful and will not pose any threat in the tank, with the possible exception of smaller shrimp.
REPRODUCTION/GESTATION: The male deposits sperm into a gelatinous mass produced by the female and located between her fourth pair of walking legs. The female then lays eggs, in batches of up to thousands at a time. The sperm fertilizes the eggs. Females usually care for the fertilized eggs in a brood chamber found on the underside of her tail. The eggs hatch to produce drifting larvae. The larvae change shape as they grow, developing an adult body after shedding (molting) their skin several times. Once the change in shape is complete (from 30 to 160 days, depending on the species), the young shrimp are sexually mature and able to breed.
Sounds to me like you got a drifting larvae?

How else could you get him?

 

[cranberry]

Originally Posted by Mr_X
http:///forum/post/2742509
this creature has been making sounds for months. even when you are sitting across the room and only the moonlights are on.
is a pistol more likely to click when fish swim by too, or doesn't that phase them?
also, how easy do pistol shrimp reproduce in captivity?
Definately will click more when something swims or walks by...... They snap to stun food and/or to frighten other critters away.
I hear mine more at night when nothing is going on..... well that I can see..... have no idea what's going on in the tank.

 

[scrombus2]

Here's a pistol shrimp story for ya-several years ago I put a large piece of coquina rock in my tank. This rock was the size and shape of a football and weighed about 10 pounds dry. I had several pistol shrimp in the tank. The rock was in there about 3 mos. During a water change, I moved the rock. To my surprise, it was hollowed out, with tunnels running through it, looked like swiss cheese. The pistol shrimp had been working on the rock. It was 90% gone! Tireless little engineers!

 

[beansandmia]

I had a pistol shrimp a long time ago then one day he was gone, not too long ago I was taking a tank down and found this a baby one. Not sure how he came to be seeing as I only ever had one, but in the sump he went...