Emergency !! Is my tank going to crack / burst !!! (strange sounds)

[alexkid]

Hey everyone, hope all is well (late night post here as its 345am)

For the last few days myself and my wife have noticed very strange noises coming from our tank. The noises generally come on strong when we turn the lights off in the evenings (and go away after an hour).

The noise is a constant "click click .... stop click click click" the best way I can describe, it sounds as if the upper portion of the tank is cracking.

I spent hours looking for any cracks or scratches (anything in the tank) nothing.

Also I have taken the time to try and look for any Mantis shrimp and nothing so far (I do have a pair of blood-shrimp) but watching them shows no signs of them making any noise.

The only thing that seems different is small (very small) shrimp looking creatures floating around in the tank nesting near the side of the tank (some sleeping in the suction cups). I found I had more of these upon introducing a new clam into my tank.

What are my steps to ensure my tank is safe (I have children and worry of the tank cracking and spilling all over and causing a serious hazard / electrical). Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

Thank You

GoodNight

[alexkid]

Setup (sorry I should have included this)

bowfront 120
300 pounds live rock maybe more
3 koraline jets
eheim 2215
rena fx4
rena fx2 turning into refugium
prizm pro deluxe skimmer
nova extreme pro 600 watts

Hippo Tang
Brown Powder Tang
Clown Fish
Blue Wrasse
Purple Basslet
Lrg sand-sifting goby
2x blood shrimp

bubble coral
mushroom
daisy coral
hammer
clam
(few others I am missing)

[DarthAWM]

Originally Posted by alexkid

Setup (sorry I should have included this)

bowfront 120
300 pounds live rock maybe more
3 koraline jets
eheim 2215
rena fx4
rena fx2 turning into refugium
prizm pro deluxe skimmer
nova extreme pro 600 watts

Hippo Tang
Brown Powder Tang
Clown Fish
Blue Wrasse
Purple Basslet
Lrg sand-sifting goby
2x blood shrimp

bubble coral
mushroom
daisy coral
hammer
clam
(few others I am missing)

300 Lbs of live rock? How do your fish swim in there?

But seriously, it sounds like you may have a pistol or mantis shrimp in there

[JCJHET]

pistol shrimp

[swannyson7]

+1 on a pistol shrimp. They piggyback in on live rock regularly. Nothing to worry about....unless of course it's a mantis shrimp. Then you should worry

[khaosinc]

My first thought is to check for something in a powerhead or a pump. I once had a snail shell in a korilla 4 powerhead that made a noise that took me a couple days to find.

A pistol or mantis is also a good possibility.

Lastly, sometimes cooling of a light fixture or a cover over the tank might make a bit of noise. Might be worth pulling the fixture off after shutdown to see if you can narrow down where the noise is coming from.

I don't think it is an imminent tank failure, as if you were hearing that much noise over several nights I would suspect there would be noticable damage, or a tank failure already.

[SoCalDude]

I call a mantis shrimp

[lordofthereef]

I would be shocked if it was your glass or tank cracking/failing in any way. once you hear noise I would imagine the blowout would be soon to follow (way sooner than you have experienced seeing as how your tank is still intact).

[alexkid]

Observations :


I stayed up till about 6am this morning trying to find some answer, and yet I am still left with nothing.

I did not see any movement from any unwanted creatures in the tank.

I checked all my hardware to ensure the noise was not coming from them
-lights checked
-powerheads
-filters
-skimmer

How big would a pistol or mantis need to be to make a fairly loud clicking sound. I can easily hear the 5-10 feet away from the tank

and what should I do about these little critters (if it is the issue in the tank)

ps. it is 824am right now and not a peep of noise from the tank now (looks like whatever it is likes the nightclub hours

cheers

[dirtStar]

I get a few clicks from my MH after they shut off.

Also last night there wa clickin that was scaring me.
Turns out that it was a h crabs shell bouncing off the glass.
fromm time to time, they do that in my tank, but I have tons of them

[krowleey]

if you hear this click only when you turn the lights off, its going to be a mantis or if your lucky a pistol.

[mfinn]

A tank that blows out usually doesn't give any warnings. It just goes.
What you have is most likely a mantis or pistol shrimp. They don't have to be very big to make alot of noise.

[peiloy3196]

My MH Lights click for about an hour after they turn off.

[Mentat]

Could have a small smasher Mantis within all those rocks. I have two Mantis pets that can hear across the room when they are hollowing rocks out. One Mantis confirming sign is a collection of empty shells and/exoskeletons near borrow entrance (smashers will eat mostly invertebrates).

If confirmed a Mantis and it starts decimating your clean-up crew faster than you like, moving out the rock where it lives or trapping are possible solutions. Once caught, they make great pets or you can find an adoptive home for it.

[Fish4Me2]

I have owned several lights in the past that made clicking type noises for close to an hour after being shut off. When it first happened, I wondered if the house (or tank) was haunted. If the noises really go away after an hour, I'd say it's your lights. Can you borrow someone else's light and test?

[rbnice1]

I can hear my pistol shrimp up stairs and they are only about 1 inch. My old pistol that was close to 3 inches made loud clicking noises. My old scooter blenny used to ride around on top of it till he started clicking a bunch.

If its a mantis shrimp you could be in for trouble.

[Saltyllama]

I have two pistols that are about 1/2" and I can hear them from the other room. Don't worry about it unless you start missing livestock.

They will freak out visitors to your house, and give you a laugh.

[DC_40gallon]

300lbs of live rock. If there is sand in there too hell the bottom is probably going to fall out!