Can a Fire Shrimp break the tank glass?

The LFS that we use really isn't so local. So, I heard about this other LFS that is a tad bit closer. Since we are fairly new to saltwater aquariums, I was asking a lot of questions, told her what we had in our tank, what we eventually wanted, etc. When I mentioned the Fire Shrimp, she said they don't usually stock them because she heard they could break the glass with sonar sounds. Has anyone heard of that or have any experience with it?

For the record, I actually visited the store this past Saturday and I was NOT impressed. I will drive the extra distance from now on and stick with our original LFS.

~Kendra

 

lol. No, i think you were thinking of a mantis shrimp. They have an arm that can shoot faster than a shot gun!

 

No I do not believe this is true.

I have had fireshrimp ( love them) and they are not capable of breaking glass nor is a pistol shrimp which sounds more like what the LFS was thing of.

 

Thanks! I trust our original LFS, and they have been most helpful to us getting started. I am sure they would have told us that info when we bought it.

 

I agree with Corailline. They were thinking pistol shrimp - though not true about breaking the glass.

 

There are a few species of shrimp that have claws that snap closed with tremendous speed...the result is cavitation bubbles that stuns their intended prey. It's commonly regurgitated info that these animals can break glass...and while it is possible they can/could break glass, it's actually a very rare occurrence. That said, the Fire Shrimp does not posses such a claw. Other than potentially stealing food when you spot feed corals these are, IMO, perfectly safe reef additions.

 

lol yes.. masters at stealing corals food.... little buggers. Love them though

 

I've found that to be the case with most shrimp. :-/

As for the original question, certain species of mantis have been reported as having the ability to break glass, although it's through a direct hit, not sound. As pointed out earlier, the pistol shrimp makes a "sonic boom" that can kill prey from a distance, although to my knowledge, it has never broken glass. Your fire shrimp is safe in that respect; the LFS lady was definitely confused.

 

some shrimp can break glass like mantis(although I believe some mantis will owners argue they cant unless it is really thin) , fire shrimp and cleaner shrimp and peppermint shrimp aren't able to do that.

also none of them actually have sonar lol.

 

Thank you everyone!