Clicking is freaking me out!

[cstar]

I've heard quiet clicking (mostly at night) ever since I started my tank up a year ago. Early on I set traps to no avail. No fish has ever been injured or disappeared so I started to ignore it.

But these days it's starting to get a little louder and I'm getting worried.

I really don't want to hear that I have a mantis, but obviously I'm worried that I do.

I've been trying to find and I D this £%$&er for a long time now.

Any chance it's a pistol shrip? What am I going to have to do to make sure my fish stay safe?

 

[Tiresias]

My aquarium had the very same noise since its inception. I too never lost any fish or snails. How's your snail population? If you're not suffering any losses I'd bet on a pistol shrimp.

 

[monkeyboy]

If you've lost nothing at all, like no snails, hermits, etc, then i would assume its a pistol. But then again it could be a mantis waiting for you to stick your hand behind that rock...

I'd check out the tank at night and see if you can sneak a peak.

 

[KrakenSeas]

This is really weird I have been to 3 different bbs tonite and their is a question about clicking in eveyone.I to have a clicking noise in the morning and it drives me nuts,maybe it is breeding season for what ever it is in our tanks and they are trying to find a mate.

 

[Demonhawk]

Don't worry guys your not alone i too have the same sound and have been for several weeks now trying to catch a look at my little noise maker. However this little guy is quite the evader.

 

[myaquarium]

I have read that clownfish can make a clicking noise as well as some triggers. Not sure what you have in your tank, but it could be a fish as well.

--Andy

 

[cstar]

Only snail deaths concerning turbos have been falling on the back problems.

I have had some tee tiny snails go MIA (I would not necessarily suspect foul play).

I do have clownfish, but I've only had them since May. That could possibly explain the louder clicks recently.

I have a blood shrimp, I assume he'd be a prime target if the clicker is a threat of any decent size?

 

[Al Z]

If you haven't lost anything it's just a pistol shrimp. They can be surprisingly small (like 3/4") and still be loud enough to hear several feet away - maybe that's why you haven't seen him.

 

[GMH320]

I have had a clicking noise since I set up about 4 months now. At first I thought it was the skimmer, but now I know its a mantis. I've seen it come out and it's around 3" long. I've only lost snails so far, but the larger this SOB gets the more it's going to eat. Actually, I don't think the mantis is responsible for the snails, because they seem untouched until the hermits start in on them. I am on a mission now to get this guy...dead or alive!

 

[Giarc]

Lots of reef fish use clicking, grunting and other noises to communicate using sound. In my old fish-only tank my humbug damsel (Dascyllus auratus) was a champion clicker. I'm pretty sure my blue devil and fiji damsel answered back too. Mostly this sounding off is used as a warning signal in territorial behavior, but can sometimes be a part of mating rituals etc (unlikely in my old tank but maybe they were 'singing' to attract a mate

). The coolest thing about fish communication was where some scientists speculated about one species of cod that emitted lots of clicking sounds rather like dolphins and whales do when they echolocate. The cod lived down pretty deep so there was no light to see by etc. The difference was that the fish used deep pitched sounds instead of ultrasonic sound. That'd be less efficient for echolacation but still pretty kewl if true. They've never been able to prove it though.
Where I lived in New Zealand, there's a place called fiordland where there are lots of fjiords where 'unexplained' loud clicking and 'barking' sounds can be heard underwater. Some of the local scientists believe they are sounds produced by large temperate grouper and bass in the deep water of the fjiords.
Ok, end of rant. Just another reason to love fish though IMO

 

[MedicineMan1]

I may have this backwards, but I believe, in general, that multiple clicks in a row are suggestive of a mantis and single clicks are suggestive of a pistol shrimp.
When I was snorkeling in Maui the clicking noises were pretty constant. I was told that it was the parrotfish eating coral but I never saw any nipping going on. So, it could be many things making the clicking noise!

 

[Chucker]

I can vouch for the single pops of a pistol- I have one in a nano in my bedroom. They rarely come more than one or two at a time. They can be much louder than you'd expect though.