possible mantis shrimp?

[mnewsom]

i am pretty new to the hobby(addiction) and am afraid that i may have a mantis shrimp in my tank. i occasionaly hear tapping in the tank like a coin tapping on glass, it usually happens in twos or threes, and today i found the front end of a dead hermit. all i have in the tank is snails, hermits, a watchman gobie, two clowns, a peppermint shrimp, a coral banded shrimp and two emerald crabs. one emerald has become quite secretive while the larger one is still bold.the coral banded is also quite secretive. i have not seen a mantis but have to wonder.

 

[aujay]

Its possible. Do you have new live rock?

If you do find one, I would be interested in taking it off your hands for you.

 

[H@rry]

Another possibility for the noise is a pistol shrimp. I've got one and it sounds exactly like a mantis but they are harmless and quite interesting (when it comes out of hiding). The dead hermit may simply be the shell of a moulted hermit. It does look like a dead crab.

 

[aujay]

I agree with Harry. I was meaning to post that as well. I would look for broken shells. Pistol shrimp and mantis both break the shells of crabs and snails. I'm not sure the pistol is as much predatory as just protecting its burrow.

 

[andyjd]

I have a pistol (i think) in my 90, i dont mind him being in there...but the damn clicking is driving me nuts

 

[mnewsom]

sorry for absence
changed e mails
crab must have been a molt because still count same amount of hermits
clicking continues though
maybe a pistol? my goby has built one heck of a nest under a rock, it cleaned out 2 inches of sand down to bare glass for about a 4 inch diameter, is this normal?
thanks for the replys

 

[MaryBebo]

They are diggers!!! That was what I named mine...lol...But he lives no more, I think a rock that he was digging under fell on him. He would get mouth fulls and blow it out, it was cute to watch him, but I was worried about all my rocks shifting with his remodeling the tank sand.

 

[mnewsom]

thanks mary
will make sur rocks are stable on glass and not sand

 

[kg4izw]

Has anyone heard of putting a clear cutting board on the bottom of the tank before any rock or sand are added? I guess the idea is to give the rock some traction so it does not slide around on the slick glass bottom of the tank. That sounds to me like it would keep a rockslide from occuring.

 

[wpecoul]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9269976#post9269976 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kg4izw
Has anyone heard of putting a clear cutting board on the bottom of the tank before any rock or sand are added? I guess the idea is to give the rock some traction so it does not slide around on the slick glass bottom of the tank. That sounds to me like it would keep a rockslide from occuring.

I have black cutting boards on mine. Rocks don't move at all.