VacavilleFC3S
New member
i'm going to say complete BS i have 2 mantis shrimp both 3" long which is much larger than most pistols shirmp and neither come anywhere close to breaking glass.
pistol myth buster?
- Thread starter Brent RH
- Start date
Whys
New member
I don't know what the odds are, but I'd say it's certainly possible. This will of course depend on many factors, such as: size of the shrimp, thickness of the glass, proximity, angle, the presence of flaws in the glass, etc.
Like I said, I don't know what the odds are, but you'd sure hate to have several years of work and thousands of dollars to suddenly burst out onto the floor at the... dare I say... snap of a finger.
Like I said, I don't know what the odds are, but you'd sure hate to have several years of work and thousands of dollars to suddenly burst out onto the floor at the... dare I say... snap of a finger.
jesseakruger
New member
I have a pistol and a cleaner in a 75 gallon for three years no problem. I just added some smaller peppermint shrimp yesterday so well see if he goes after them like the video :eek1: I am on the fence about buying my pistol shrimp and watchmen goby combo. The shrimp is only active at night, otherwise you never see it out of its deep cave. Now I really want to put several Jawfish in my tank and I am worried the pistol will devour them for sure. Unfortunately now it is next to impossible to remove the pistol from the tank without completely tearing it down
sunfish11
Premium Member
I have a blue spotted jawfish with my larger tiger pistol and the tiger doesn't bother him.
I really think you have more chance of your kid breaking your tank with a stray baseball or the tank failing on it's own, than any shrimp readily available in this hobby has of breaking your tank.
More likely you will get sued for water damage because you forgot to shut off your RO unit, your automatic top off failed, or a pump or plumbing failed, a seal went bad on your tank etc. Get insurance.
Lisa
I really think you have more chance of your kid breaking your tank with a stray baseball or the tank failing on it's own, than any shrimp readily available in this hobby has of breaking your tank.
More likely you will get sued for water damage because you forgot to shut off your RO unit, your automatic top off failed, or a pump or plumbing failed, a seal went bad on your tank etc. Get insurance.
Lisa
greggnyce
New member
A pistol will not break your tank, a Mantis can. As for killing tank mates. My first tank was a jbj 24gl nano, the first invert I purchased besides cuc was a japanese bullseye pistol. These are much larger thatn the pistols that host with gobies. When I added a cleaner shrimp it relentlessly tried and did kill it. That being said, when I upgrade to a larger tank the pistol shrimp did not touch anything. I beleive the size of the tank had alot to do with what could be kept with it. When it was in a smaller environment it may have felt more competiton for food and attacked. I have had this shrimp for over 2.5 years it snaps loud enought to hear it in another room and the glass has never cracked. This is my experience with them , hope it helps. The pistols that pair with gobies are small and unless your glass is defective I do not see how it could break it.
jkrentz2515
New member
Mine has eaten a firefish and a ywg.
pistol breaking glass is rubbish. Mantis breaking glass is real. There are 2 types of mantis, smashers and spearers. Spearers will spear and eat your fish. Smashers kit and kill with ferocity. A large smasher when tunneling will smash anything in its path including the glass of your aquarium. The mantis will not hit the glass just to test it but they are persistent creatures about where they wish to go. Very intelligent as well.
Pistol shrimp tunnel everywhere, will eat soft polyps, snails, hermits, crabs and fish. I am currently trying to rid myself of the pair that hitched in on some rock. I have eradicated seven smasher mantis that entered the same way. If you buy rock from TBS be sure to check it over very carefully before placing in your tank. Mine hit the airport at mid-night and I was placing it at 2am and couldn't/didn't check it well enough. The pistols stayed hidden until the mantis were gone or I would have removed them at the same time. The shrimp goby thing is cute but not worth it IMO.
Pistol shrimp tunnel everywhere, will eat soft polyps, snails, hermits, crabs and fish. I am currently trying to rid myself of the pair that hitched in on some rock. I have eradicated seven smasher mantis that entered the same way. If you buy rock from TBS be sure to check it over very carefully before placing in your tank. Mine hit the airport at mid-night and I was placing it at 2am and couldn't/didn't check it well enough. The pistols stayed hidden until the mantis were gone or I would have removed them at the same time. The shrimp goby thing is cute but not worth it IMO.
kevantheman35
New member
i am thinking about putting a pistol goby pair in my 12 nano, now not so sure, i might end up with my inverts left lol
Whys
New member
Pistol Shrimp
"The snapping shrimp competes with much larger animals, like the sperm whale and beluga whale, for the title of 'loudest animal in the sea'. The shrimp snaps a specialized claw shut to create a cavitation wave that generates acoustic pressures of up to 80 kPa at a distance of 4 cm from the claw. The pressure wave is strong enough to kill small fish…
The snap can also produce sonoluminescence from a collapsing cavitation bubble. As it collapses, the cavitation bubble reaches temperatures of over 5000 K. The light is of lower intensity than the light produced by typical sonoluminescence and is not visible to the naked eye."
-- http://tywkiwdbi.blogspot.com/2009/01/pistol-shrimp.html
"The snapping shrimp competes with much larger animals, like the sperm whale and beluga whale, for the title of 'loudest animal in the sea'. The shrimp snaps a specialized claw shut to create a cavitation wave that generates acoustic pressures of up to 80 kPa at a distance of 4 cm from the claw. The pressure wave is strong enough to kill small fish…
The snap can also produce sonoluminescence from a collapsing cavitation bubble. As it collapses, the cavitation bubble reaches temperatures of over 5000 K. The light is of lower intensity than the light produced by typical sonoluminescence and is not visible to the naked eye."
-- http://tywkiwdbi.blogspot.com/2009/01/pistol-shrimp.html
I wouldn't worry about them breaking a tank. Any glass tank bigger than a 10g will probably be safe.
Mantis shrimp can break glass tanks, but this rarely happens, and it is way overblown.
And.... shock waves aren't the same as sound waves. Every sound wave is a shock wave, but every shock wave isn't a sound wave.
Mantis shrimp can break glass tanks, but this rarely happens, and it is way overblown.
And.... shock waves aren't the same as sound waves. Every sound wave is a shock wave, but every shock wave isn't a sound wave.
I always thought sound waves traveled at the speed of sound (faster under water, through objects, etc), but shock waves could travel much much faster. Not that I always trust wikipedia, but from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shock_wave...
Shock waves are not conventional sound waves
Shock waves are not conventional sound waves
