Help me choose a pistol shrimp.

[iamwhatiam52]

Please forgive the double post, but I didn't get much feedback on the invertebrate forum.


Is there any particular pistol shrimp to look for or to avoid?

Do some get too large or agressive? Are some too shy?

I have a 180 with 2 1/2 inches of live sand, and lots of small fish including a Yashi Hashi goby and 4 High Fin Red Band gobies.

[Peter Eichler]

I'd say get one that you like, I'm not aware of any that would be more destructive or get too large for your setup.

[IPowderBlueTang]

I would recommend a Tiger pistol shrimp, I have two and they paired up with my watchmangoby's once introduced in the tank!

[SDguy]

I agree that the tiger pistol (Alpheus bellulus) is your safest bet for pairing with a goby. Also the candy cane pistol (Alpheus randalli) if your goby is really small, like the ones you listed.

Avoid the Alpheus soror or Alpheus bisincisus. IME, they don't always pair up with just any goby.

[SuperNerd]

Yes: Get one of the many Pacific pistol shrimp that are blind and in fact form relationships with shrimp gobies. Avoid the Atlantic varieties.

[Fuegofish777]

ya i'ld go with the tiger for looks, but randall's are really nice too

[cateyes]

my candy striped pistol shrimp started out with a high fin goby. the high fin died after about a year and i put a randals goby in with the shrimp, they're getting along fine... :)

[iamwhatiam52]

Thank you all for the advice!

Even more important, the information is from PERSONAL EXPERIENCE !!

You can't get that by Googling it.

Mitch