Shrimp vs shrimp: should I worry?

[Moorahs]

So I added a teeny tiny (body no longer than an inch) coral banded shrimp to my tank a few days. First non snail inhabitant - at least, the first one I've deliberately added.....

 

Last night I thought I heard a few clicks. Tonight I hear another. Close inspection and there is what looks to be a pistol / mantis shrimp molt near some live rock, right near where the CBS hangs out.

 

Can this end badly for the CBS? Should I be trying to scare him over to the other side of the tank so he makes himself a home base there?

 

From the size of the molt I don't think the hitchhiker shrimp is any bigger than the CBS but is there a bad end to this story coming?

[MainelyReefer]

Pistols send out warning shots, mantises murder.  Identifying the hitchhiker shrimp will indicate how this plays out.  Either way congrats on a cool hitchhiker

[Nart]

Dang... if it's a mantis shrimp keep it a specie only tank.

I'm jelly...

[GunslingerGirl]

If its a mantis... No don't keep it. Send it to me!!! LOL

 

 

[Moorahs]

On closer inspection the molt has one big claw - so pistol, yeah? 

 

So I'm assuming all will be well and I just have a free, little, occasionally noisy inhabitant who I probably won't ever see and who won't smack down the CBS.

 

Thanks all for replying  

[Friendly]

is it enough for snack?

 

fish may be our friends, not food...but inverts are a different story!   

[GunslingerGirl]

Pistols have been known to kill fish. Particularly hitchhiker pistols... I would be wary about keeping one in my tank.

 

I have also seen pistols kill small inverts.

 

If you aren't feeding it directly.. it will kill some of your tank critters eventually.

[Moorahs]

27 minutes ago, GunslingerGirl said:

Pistols have been known to kill fish. Particularly hitchhiker pistols... I would be wary about keeping one in my tank.

 

I have also seen pistols kill small inverts.

 

If you aren't feeding it directly.. it will kill some of your tank critters eventually.

Please tell me "remove all the rock from your tank and look for it" isn't the answer to the question I'm too scared to ask!!!!!! 

[SelectedByNature]

1 hour ago, Moorahs said:

Please tell me "remove all the rock from your tank and look for it" isn't the answer to the question I'm too scared to ask!!!!!! 

Feed it directly

[Moorahs]

 cool. Will leave offerings and hope it's enough to pleaseth the invisible Clicky God. 

[GunslingerGirl]

I have had success with the glass/bottle method. Essentially put a bit of food in a bottle and stick in in the sand. Can crawl in but not out.

 

I tried to get a measly rock crab out with the rock dipping method and that didn't do anything.

[Moorahs]

Ooooh even better, offerings to the Invisible Clicky God in a bottle. I'll overthink that one for awhile, I'm a bit worried about catching the CBS and/or snails instead - or even worse, as well. Don't wanna cage fight... 

[jesseatam]

I have a hitchhiker pistol in my tank and he hasn't messed with any other inverts that I've added, it even shares it's rock with two hitchhiker reticulated brittle stars with no issues. That being said however the pistol is quite small and my fire shrimp and hermit crab dwarf it. As long as nothing blunders into the pistol shrimps home I doubt you'll have a problem. 

[GunslingerGirl]

 

On 9/16/2017 at 8:13 AM, jesseatam said:

I have a hitchhiker pistol in my tank and he hasn't messed with any other inverts that I've added, it even shares it's rock with two hitchhiker reticulated brittle stars with no issues. That being said however the pistol is quite small and my fire shrimp and hermit crab dwarf it. As long as nothing blunders into the pistol shrimps home I doubt you'll have a problem. 

A pistol ignoring a snail or sea star is a lot different than being in close proximity to a CBS. 

 

If you make the opening small enough for the pistol but too small for the CBS that could help deter. OR feed the CBS as you put the trap in and watch it for a few hours. You want to put the trap close to the pistol and away from the CBS if possible.

[jesseatam]

37 minutes ago, GunslingerGirl said:

 

A pistol ignoring a snail or sea star is a lot different than being in close proximity to a CBS. 

 

I guess, but personally I don't think there will be an issue though but then again it comes down to the individual personalities and the species of pistol shrimp and it's behaviors. I'm not aware of the size difference between the two shrimp in question but as long as the CBS is a decent amount larger I can't see the pistol doing too much damage to it. 

 

Question for the poster though, do you know the origin of your live rock?

[GunslingerGirl]

15 minutes ago, jesseatam said:

I guess, but personally I don't think there will be an issue though but then again it comes down to the individual personalities and the species of pistol shrimp and it's behaviors. I'm not aware of the size difference between the two shrimp in question but as long as the CBS is a decent amount larger I can't see the pistol doing too much damage to it.

I would be more concerned as the pistol grows, of course. As the competition for food increases, the more likely the pistol is to strike out. We also have no clue what type of pistol this is. I'm guessing not a randall's. That'd be awesome though.

 

Without a proper ID, everything that any of us are saying is really just subjective. But if it isn't a known peaceful specie... it's a gamble for sure to keep a predator in a tank. Even if it is cute. I would just be safe and give it it's own tank. It may even come out then. Usually the smaller mantis species will come out once they are on their own.

[jesseatam]

4 hours ago, GunslingerGirl said:

We also have no clue what type of pistol this is. I'm guessing not a randall's. That'd be awesome though.

That's why I'm curious as to the origin of the rock. Carribean species don't pair with gobies and I think are mostly rock dwelling, while the some of the pacific species are known to pair with gobies. If you can narrow down which ocean it's from you can then probably compare the colors of the molt to some of the common hitchhiker species from that area to try to get an ID.

[Moorahs]

I'm in Australia, it'll be Coral Sea L/R.

 

No chance it's a Randall's; the molt claw I saw was all white. (Side note: It's hard enough to *buy* good pistol shrimp here - you're looking over $200, closer to $300 paired with a YWG )

 

And for size ref said claw was only about 5mm long but the CBS is tiny (as in body about 20mm long) too. 

 

I havent tried a trap yet. Pretty sure I will need to though, while I still haven't seen Mr Invisible Clicky God I hear him daily and trying to target feed him doesn't work coz the nass snails just get it even if the CBS doesn't.

 

 

[Moorahs]

OMG nearly had a heart attack... just walked past the tank after posting that, and the CBS has molted overnight so at first glance it looked like 2 shrimp standing off