Pistol Shrimps & Goby

[cap11885]

im looking at a pistol shrimp and goby pair at my lfs and wondering if i have and tankmates that would threaten the little pistol. would other larger shrimp or hermits harm it?

[heathlindner25]

Dude its a "pistol" shrimp ,he can hold his own

[Luck_of_the_Dra]

As long as the pistol gets to cover before getting attacked, it'll be fine.

[cap11885]

cool thanks

[kriv4o]

I have a tiger pistol and barely see him. Most of the time he is building tunnels for him and his buddy the YWG.

[J2T]

What fish do you have in there?

The only shrimp that I may worry about with a smaller pistol would be a coral banded shrimp others should leave him alone.

[Chris27]

The pistol can hold his own, I have one in my 180 and took me three weeks before I stopped thinking my tank was cracking. Once they get in their "lair" they don't leave, so a predator is highly unlikely.. especially with a fish posting guard.

[MrG]

The pistol would probably only be at risk right when it is introduced. After introduction, it will most likely find a place and dig a home pretty quickly which should keep it safe. I don't think other inverts should bother it and in fact may need to worry more about the pistol harming them. Biggest threat would probably be fish, such as certain wrasses, that prey on inverts. You could minimize this threat by introducing the pistol at night after the fish have gone to "sleep".

Two things you may want to think about before purchasing if you haven't already:
1-Pistols like to dig which may cause a problem if your rockwork is not secure and/or is resting on top of the sand rather than on the tank bottom.

2-Not really a problem per se, but in a larger tank such as a 125, there is real possibility you will never see the pistol after you put it in. They spend a lot of time underground or very close to their burrow entrance which may be something to consider before spending the money (JMO).

[cap11885]

I went ahead and got them. I put them in at night and prepped an area I thought they would like. I floated the bag then sealed it put it to the bottom of the tank and dumped them right where I wanted them. pistol tried to run off then hid in an old hermit I just picked up the shell and placed it back near the coral fossil and rubble I piled up for him and he burrowed it out. They have a nice big den right near the front of my tank. Only issue I notice that I didn’t foresee is that the burrow is too close to clown territory and the goby just stays in the burrow due to the clowns constantly pestering him. I’m considering relocating the burrow to a different part of the tank. It should be relatively easy and the pistol hides in the same old hermit shell that he incorporated into the burrow. My thought is take a small cup and scoop the shrimp up move his pile and coral skeleton real quick and put him on that. i think he will take to the same pile again. What do you guys think? My thought is if the goby can’t come out he will be unhealthy. I think I will give it 3 days to see if the situation changes with the clowns. Then possibly take action.

[cap11885]

I went ahead and got them. I put them in at night and prepped an area I thought they would like. I floated the bag then sealed it put it to the bottom of the tank and dumped them right where I wanted them. pistol tried to run off then hid in an old hermit I just picked up the shell and placed it back near the coral fossil and rubble I piled up for him and he burrowed it out. They have a nice big den right near the front of my tank. Only issue I notice that I didn’t foresee is that the burrow is too close to clown territory and the goby just stays in the burrow due to the clowns constantly pestering him. I’m considering relocating the burrow to a different part of the tank. It should be relatively easy and the pistol hides in the same old hermit shell that he incorporated into the burrow. My thought is take a small cup and scoop the shrimp up move his pile and coral skeleton real quick and put him on that. i think he will take to the same pile again. What do you guys think? My thought is if the goby can’t come out he will be unhealthy. I think I will give it 3 days to see if the situation changes with the clowns. Then possibly take action.

[cap11885]

- all of my rockwork is on the glass

[inigomontoya]

Give them some time and see if the clowns realize they aren't a threat and leave them alone. If you disturb they could vacate the whole area. I have had a YWG and Pistol in the same spot in the front of the tank for a while and then they suddenly disappeared and I saw my engineer goby poking his head out of their hole.
They popped up a few weeks later a rock further down in the reef, though less visible. Let them figure it out and it should be ok.

[cap11885]

ok i will just let them figure it out.

thanks all!

[fredanthony]

I got a pair too over the weekend. I have no clue where the pistol went. He was tiny and disappeared under a rock. Haven't seen him since :( The goby I see throughout the day.

[mandarin_goby]

I've got a pistol and can see his little antennae poking out from under the rock when I feed my fish. In the morning I'll see fresh holes along the rock and clean little sand mounds nearby. They're too cute.

My 2 larger peppermints and 3 hermits leave him alone, so no worries :)

[deebs]

I bought a pair and when I put my pistol shrimp in my blue spotted goby came out and ate him in one bite =/. When I told the fishstore they said no way, but i assure you I watched it happen. Was a lobster dinner for mr. blue.

This is rare but I thought id share as it a *** moment lol.

[cap11885]

wow. thats sucks? did you introduce him to the sandbed directly or drop him in and make him float down?