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Juvi yellow watchman behavior?


mndfreeze

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Long story short, I started a new tank, its ready for its first fish, went to LFS, bought a yellow watchman and candy cane pistol.  ALL their pistoles and watchman were kept in seperate containers.

 

For some reason the lady bagged them in the same bag though.  I thought it was a bit odd but knowing candy canes are super passive for pistols and all seemed well I figured no problem, I'll get them in the tank and if they bond they bond if not, well, it is what it is.

 

Floated them for 30 minutes then started a drip.  My computer is on the other side of the room from the tank (29G cube).  Here a little pop, go over, the goby has the shrimp in his mouth sideways and is shaking him like a dog kills a cat.  Shrimp took heavy damage but I didnt notice until a few minutes later when I put them in the tank to seperate them.

 

Shrimp died.  fml.  

 

Both of these were tiny babies.  The goby is maybe an inch, inch and a half total, the candy was like under a half inch.   TINY.  My real question (because I know the goby just stressed the #### out during aclimation and the pistol probably got to touchy feely for a non-bond).  My goby is happily eating etc.  He REFUSES to hide.  He literally hugs the glass.  I know he can see his reflection in it and its almost like he is trying to find others like him.  He's been in the tank all day.  He perches on my rock, speed swims up to the waters edge along the glass/back and noms copepods.  But he is not behaving like any yellow watchman I've ever seen.  If I was a predator this dude would be lunch for sure.  

 

Does anyone know the behavior of juvies?  I know some species have drastically different behavior when young but I didn't think a watchman would be one.  There are no other fish in this tank yet, only snails and hermit crabs, but my last nano tank years ago also had a watchman (adult) and he definitely dug a hold and hid really quickly and only did his perching outside of his hole.  

 

RE: shrimp.  LFS gave me half store credit (grumble..they shouldnt have bagged them together when they are not bonded but its 7 bucks..) so I told them to just order me a tiger pistol.  At least then the goby will be to small to get him in his mouth like the candy cane.

 

RIP future room mates.  

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11 minutes ago, mndfreeze said:

Long story short, I started a new tank, its ready for its first fish, went to LFS, bought a yellow watchman and candy cane pistol.  ALL their pistoles and watchman were kept in seperate containers.

 

For some reason the lady bagged them in the same bag though.  I thought it was a bit odd but knowing candy canes are super passive for pistols and all seemed well I figured no problem, I'll get them in the tank and if they bond they bond if not, well, it is what it is.

 

Floated them for 30 minutes then started a drip.  My computer is on the other side of the room from the tank (29G cube).  Here a little pop, go over, the goby has the shrimp in his mouth sideways and is shaking him like a dog kills a cat.  Shrimp took heavy damage but I didnt notice until a few minutes later when I put them in the tank to seperate them.

 

Shrimp died.  fml.  

 

Both of these were tiny babies.  The goby is maybe an inch, inch and a half total, the candy was like under a half inch.   TINY.  My real question (because I know the goby just stressed the #### out during aclimation and the pistol probably got to touchy feely for a non-bond).  My goby is happily eating etc.  He REFUSES to hide.  He literally hugs the glass.  I know he can see his reflection in it and its almost like he is trying to find others like him.  He's been in the tank all day.  He perches on my rock, speed swims up to the waters edge along the glass/back and noms copepods.  But he is not behaving like any yellow watchman I've ever seen.  If I was a predator this dude would be lunch for sure.  

 

Does anyone know the behavior of juvies?  I know some species have drastically different behavior when young but I didn't think a watchman would be one.  There are no other fish in this tank yet, only snails and hermit crabs, but my last nano tank years ago also had a watchman (adult) and he definitely dug a hold and hid really quickly and only did his perching outside of his hole.  

 

RE: shrimp.  LFS gave me half store credit (grumble..they shouldnt have bagged them together when they are not bonded but its 7 bucks..) so I told them to just order me a tiger pistol.  At least then the goby will be to small to get him in his mouth like the candy cane.

 

RIP future room mates.  

Mine was so freaked out when I first got it that it jumped out of the tank like 10 times in the first few days.  Luckily I was around each time.  I thought she would die for sure because she just couldn’t seem to relax. Finally she settled down and found a home with the shrimp. 

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Just now, mndfreeze said:

Was it a juvenile or an adult?  

Mine was probably two inches......so not as small as yours. 

 

She was almost white with dark stripes on her sides. Then once she relaxed she was bright yellow. 

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Mine is not quite bright yellow, more like dark yellowish, and has blue spots.  The spots REALLY stand out but that could be the lightning too.  I'm failing my google foo on finding information on their behavior as young.

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7 minutes ago, mndfreeze said:

Mine is not quite bright yellow, more like dark yellowish, and has blue spots.  The spots REALLY stand out but that could be the lightning too.  I'm failing my google foo on finding information on their behavior as young.

My guess is that it will calm down once it is comfortable....especially if it is eating.  

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My Watchman is an adult, have had it for about 2 years. He will hide around the rockscape at night and generally will stick around it during the day. He will also swim to the top of the tank for food and perch over anything. He’s “bonded” w my fireshrimp (they hang out together in the same area of the tank, the shrimp will clean the goby) and when I introduced a candy cane pistol, the goby ate him. As soon as the shrimp hit the sand, the goby farted out, grabbed him and disappeared back into the rockwork. Parts were found the following day...so yah, I feel your pain. I’ve added some sexy shrimp to the tank (they were fine when added) but they disappeared shortly...I’m concerned the goby is eating them (I don’t have any other fish big enough to eat them in the tank...). So I would say that their behavior can vary from specimen to specimen, but are definitely outgoing. He should settle down after a few days though.

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IME the Randall pistol shrimp is more suitable for the smaller shrimp gobys. The Yasha goby or black ray etc..

I did't know a YWG  would eat a pistol shrimp. 

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Well, at least its not just me had one kill his future room mate.  I thought it was for sure just a stress response to being in the bag being dripped.    Its now day 2 and he spent the entire night sleeping on the sand right up against the glass again.  lol.  The container the pet store had him in was this tiny little 'to go critter cup' that just had some sand in the bottom so I almost wonder if since he is a juvie he is "used" to that container and  doesn't even understand the need to hide.  Or he might just not give a damn until I add another fish.

 

I have a tiger pistol on order to try to pair with him.  Since it will be bigger I don't think he'll try to mess with it.  I'm an invert/weird tank kind of guy and normally don't much care for fish in general, but the interaction with shrimp gobies and pistols is awesome.  7.50$ isn't that big of a loss I guess, but I sure wish the store had bagged them seperate so the shrimp at least had a fighting chance. lol.

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My old watchman dug himself a cave right away and rarely left. My new guy acts exactly like yours does. He doesn't seem to care to dig himself a cave or even go find one. He likes to hang out by the glass on the sand. He looks great and eats well so I'm not worried. Maybe some are just lazy? Mine is over 2".

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The Reef Novice

You mentioned that those are the first two inhabitants correct, could it be that he doesn’t have a reason to burrow or hide. I too acquired a watchman goby and a tiger pistol both were juveniles about an inch long. Both of them acclimated together and was introduced at the same time. Only diffference is I had two clownfish in the tank prior to introducing them. 

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Just now, The Reef Novice said:

You mentioned that those are the first two inhabitants correct, could it be that he doesn’t have a reason to burrow or hide. I too acquired a watchman goby and a tiger pistol both were juveniles about an inch long. Both of them acclimated together and was introduced at the same time. Only diffference is I had two clownfish in the tank prior to introducing them. 

I have other fish myself. My male percula even harassed him a bit at one point. I'm glad to see mine isn't the only one.

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2 minutes ago, The Reef Novice said:

You mentioned that those are the first two inhabitants correct, could it be that he doesn’t have a reason to burrow or hide. I too acquired a watchman goby and a tiger pistol both were juveniles about an inch long. Both of them acclimated together and was introduced at the same time. Only diffference is I had two clownfish in the tank prior to introducing them. 

 

Yeah, there are CUC in the tank, hermits and snails, shit loads of copepods and amphipods, but no other fish or larger inverts besides that.   He doesn't seem to give a #### about me being near the tank either.  He opens his mouth and flares his fins at me in a threat display but doesn't hide or even attempt to scoot towards the rock.  

 

I'm fairly certain he is seeing his reflection in the glass as well because I see him randomly threat display at it. haha.

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1 minute ago, mndfreeze said:

 

Yeah, there are CUC in the tank, hermits and snails, shit loads of copepods and amphipods, but no other fish or larger inverts besides that.   He doesn't seem to give a #### about me being near the tank either.  He opens his mouth and flares his fins at me in a threat display but doesn't hide or even attempt to scoot towards the rock.  

 

I'm fairly certain he is seeing his reflection in the glass as well because I see him randomly threat display at it. haha.

Mine also get's pissy if a snail gets to close. He picks them up and tosses them away.  Maybe he just needs a shrimp to domestic him a little bit.

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The Reef Novice
3 minutes ago, mndfreeze said:

 

Yeah, there are CUC in the tank, hermits and snails, shit loads of copepods and amphipods, but no other fish or larger inverts besides that.   He doesn't seem to give a #### about me being near the tank either.  He opens his mouth and flares his fins at me in a threat display but doesn't hide or even attempt to scoot towards the rock.  

 

I'm fairly certain he is seeing his reflection in the glass as well because I see him randomly threat display at it. haha.

Sounds like your goby has an aggressive temperament naturally. Goes to show that not all fish are the same, they each individually have there own personality.

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27 minutes ago, Nocturnal said:

Mine also get's pissy if a snail gets to close. He picks them up and tosses them away.  Maybe he just needs a shrimp to domestic him a little bit.

I laughed my a** off the first time I watched mine toss a hermit across the tank! 

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Just an update, I finally got a small tiger pistol yesterday to replace the candy cane my goby murdered in cold blood.  At first I thought for sure it was bad news bears as the goby continued to just hug the glass like a weirdo. However upon waking up today for work I discovered that the goby has moved in with his new room mate and they are happily acting normal. hurray!  

 

I almost think as juvies they just swim and swim along the bottom until they find a shrimp to pair with.  It would explain why mine was always trying to swim through the glass across my room and literally NEVER went into the rock work at all.  Once the pistol dug out a home he moved right in and hasn't hugged the glass once since then. 

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I have one that has been with me for two months (small one).  He is fine in his cave until the damn hermits come along, then he stays at the top of the tank for a day or two.  I have a blood shrimp in there but did not expect them to bond.  I was planning on getting a pistol and getting in via tube to the cave and see how it goes.  Won't blame them since everything I add to the tank is normally food.  To be continued.  But I wanted to get something neat for the pistol so I will need more research.  

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Just make sure you get one of the pistol species that bonds with your type of goby.  Some gobies will only pair with certain pistols.  I've heard of Caribbean pistols being one of the types that commonly WONT bond.   

 

Usually candy cane pistols and tiger pistols are the common species that bond with most common shrimp gobies like watchman and randalli (high fin gobies)

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37 minutes ago, mndfreeze said:

Just make sure you get one of the pistol species that bonds with your type of goby.  Some gobies will only pair with certain pistols.  I've heard of Caribbean pistols being one of the types that commonly WONT bond.   

 

Usually candy cane pistols and tiger pistols are the common species that bond with most common shrimp gobies like watchman and randalli (high fin gobies)

Thanks for that info :)

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Update. I picked up a tiger pistol shrimp yesterday from AQ depot. Randomly, the day before the shrimp arrived my yellow watchman decided to find a home and act normally instead of hanging out like a weirdo

 

The shrimp was pretty annoyed the first day. He found a rock to hide in and while I was watching TV I heard his snapping. My pair of clowns were trying to mess with him and he/she was instructing them on the power of the claw. It was pretty comical. This morning I see him in the same burrow that the goby already found and he was helping dig it out more so seems like they are bros already. 

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Once they pair up it's a pretty awesome interaction to watch.  Mine already have burrows literally across the entire tank on all sides of the rock and the shrimp just non-stop keeps digging and moving sand around.  He'll dig out a new entrance, goby moves over to it, they spend the day there then by that night it will be buried and closed up and they dug a new hole on the other side of the same rock.  It's silly.   Pretty sure the shrimp can't help himself and just has to keep digging non-stop.  Like someone with OCD who can never get their living space 'just right' and has to keep making adjustments,. lol

 

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