Mantis or not?

[Spyogenes]

Hi y'all how ya doing? So I have had my 10 gal nano going for over a month. Ever since putting in my Bali LR I keep hearing click click coming from the tank, sometimes its pretty loud others not as loud. I have been told by my LFS where I bought the rock that my chances of a mantis are high, which is cool. So i have bought hermits and snails to see if they disappear instead fo the cool tiny crabs that came on the rock, no such luck and they have been in there for over a week now. Should I have seen the clicker by now? Any help as to figuring out what this clicking is? Thanks for your input.

SF

Spyogenes :rolleye1:

 

[30mini]

Could very possibly be a Pistol! They will make that loud clicking noise also. Check around the bottom of the tank and see if any sand has been moved. Pistols are VERY good diggers and love to move sand around to suit them!

 

[Spyogenes]

no disrutpion in the sand bed except that which my blue legged hermits (bait) have done. The LR has extensive nooks curves tunnels ect... I really hope i have a mantis, espically after reading up on them. WOW their visual system is stunning compared to ours. thanks

SF
Spyogenes

 

[Rass]

IME the pistols usually sound more like one loud snap or pop, while mantis' usually sound like multiple click-click noises. Also the mantis' seem to click more often, do to there propensity for boring holes in rock, whereas the pistols only do when they are threatened or attacking something. Somebody feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[dantodd]

well. My mantis won't touch anything alive in the tank. He really prefers to have me feed him. Kinda silly since he was a hitchhiker so he must be able to hunt. I have a number of astrea and hermits in the tank with him and he simply ignores them. As soon as the feeding stick goes in he's waiting at his hole for something good to eat. He also doesn't come out of the rock unless he absolutely has to.

 

[JmLee]

dantodd, do you know what species ur Mantis is?.

 

[dantodd]

not sure. Most likely G. virdis but Dr. Roy suspects that he may be a Neog. but I can't get a picture with enough detail of his telsons for him to be able to confirm.

 

[dantodd]

And he almost never comes out of his holes. His burrow has atleast 5 different exits from his big hunk of LR. atleast 2 on the bottom and 3 up front. I don't know if/how many on the back.