Reef Aquarium Fact #179 If you hear popping in your tank and at the same time your snails are disapp

[revhtree]

We are going to continue discussing the reef aquarium facts submitted by our members. Do you agree or disagree? What are your thoughts?

Fact #179


If you hear popping in your tank and at the same time your snails are disappearing, you might have a mantis shrimp.


True or False and what do you have to add to this subject? Please share your photos as well!

image

 

[turbo21]

Or..... you could have a pistol shrimp and a polyclad flatworm that munches your snails:tongue:

 

[chort55]

Its true.... you MIGHT have a mantis, but its possible it could be something else. But the MIGHT in the fact statement makes it true

 

[Bluejawtrigger]

I think odds are you have a pistol. But, I have heard of a few people getting smasher mantis. I just think its more common to get a pistol than a mantis. IMO.

 

[HoaglandDiver]

I purposely purchased a pistol shrimp.. hope that wasn't a bad thing :-( I hear him "snap" all the time.

 

[Kano]

Pistol shrimp are safe. You can even pair him up with certain types of gobies. Mantis will hunt and kill. If things are dying and you hear the popping a mantis is probably the cause.

 

[Pkunk35]

I have this situation in my tank. Consistent popping noises daily, mostly at night, but see nothing that could cause it. Definitely not a mantis tho.

 

[wysiwyg]

i would agree it may be a mantis but also may be a worm

 

[ritter6788]

If you have a mantis the snails may disappear but the shells won't. I would only suspect a mantis if you find broken shells. They smash the shell open and eat the snail/hermit from inside. They are smart too, they know exactly where to hit the snail to open it easily. Most hitchhiker mantis are small and won't take out larger snails like turbos until they grow more. I've lost more snails to whelks than I have all my stomatopods combined! Mantis shrimp aren't reclusive creatures either. You may not see them all the time but they will show their faces especially at feeding time. I think they get a bad rep since everyone sees the YouTube videos of the large O. scyllarus busting crabs. Not all of them are 6 inch monster smashers. You'll never find one like Rev's pic above as a hitchhiker in your tank unless you're collecting rock from deeper waters in Indonesia!

Here's my N. wennerae at feeding time.

 

[garynpr]

The snap is a mantis they will also eat your small fish. I had one
chased him for months one morning he was in a rock on top of the tank . Got him the snap was gone.

 

[Pkunk35]

i would agree it may be a mantis but also may be a worm

Worm? What type of worm?

 

[CJO]

I was also wondering what kind of worm makes a snapping sound.

CJ

 

[Cl0ne1]

I love my pistol shrimp. If you have a large enough pistol shrimp hitch hiker...he could do some damage to a snail. Maybe not a turbo, but it also depends on the size of the pistol. It could be a large pistol too. My friend purchased a tank from craigslist that came with a firefish. When we moved that tank, I thought the firefish jumped out somewhere. About 6 weeks and 3 rock rearrangements later...VWALA purple firefish. He was hiding in the rocks for 6 weeks. So if your LR has large enough holes, you could have had a large pistol shrimp. Then a snail goes by his hole and POP.

Tank you for your time,

Kevin

 

[droblack]

I threw a pistol and yasha in my office nano 2 years ago. Never saw either again since. But still hear a mighty poppin every now and then. We even moved the office a year ago, and the mysterious poppin goes on.