shrimp???

[shy07guy]

I have finally seen parts of what is making a clicking noise in my tank. When my snails climb onto this one rock in my tank I hear the clicking. It is some kind of shrimp about 1/2 to 1 inch in length. All i can really make out is a grayish body and a black and white striped tail. It is either a shrimp or a lobster they way the tail is shaped but i dont know of any lobster that makes a clicking noise. I have not really be able to get a good look at its claws but any ideas would be great or any ideas on how to get a better look. I also have a crab that is a little smaller then a dime that hides in a hole i think he is gray doesnt come out at all any thoughts on him would be good to.
Thanks for the help
Derek

 

[paats]

Sounds like a pistol shrimp.

 

[ricky1414]

stick your hand in there, see if you can pull him out... just kidding, don't do that, it could really hurt. see if you can buy one of those trap thingamabobs at your lfs to try and catch him...

 

[wade1]

I'd aim to remove both the shrimp and the crab. If the shrimp is a pistol, its not too much of a concern. If its a mantis, it could be a very destructive force in the tank as it grows. The same goes for the hitchiking crab. If its got furry appearing legs, I'd take it out. I had one reach 3.5" over a couple years and ate around 3 dozen snails in that time (many of the shells were stacked right around its favorite hole under the rock too). Its much easier to do it now than later as well.

Good luck with em!
Wade

 

[shy07guy]

thanks for the help any recomendations on how I should go about doing this?
Thanks
Derek

 

[wade1]

If you know which rock they live in, ideally, remove the rock. You can then make up a bucket with 1/4 tank water and 3/4 freshwater and dunk the rock in it. Anything living in there will start jumping off. You can catch any pods etc and toss em back in the tank, but swirl the rock around until the shrimp/crab hop off. Once its off you can put the rock back and it'll be fine. The corraline and like will most likely survive.

You can try traps, but mantis are very smart and extremely fast, so its not easy.

Wade

 

[prowler]

Get a plastic coke bottle cut the top third of it off and invert it back inside the bottle and either glue it together or as i did stich it with fishing line to stop it coming apart and bait it. i tried various baits with no luck until i baited it with bloodworms and the next morning i had a pistol shrimp in the trap along with my purple dottyback. Be careful removing it from the bottle they have powerful claws. Get it out and poke the large claw with a knife and you will see what i mean. Good luck...