Shrimp and Goby combo

[dling]

I really want to get a goby, shrimp combo. I just may not sure how much of the shrimp I will see.

Seems they stay hidden most of the time. I dont want to buy the shrimp if I never see it.

Could someone that has this combo let me know if I'm right or wrong about the shrimp staying hidden.

Thanks.

[Donny41]

Ive heard some people say they rarely see them but I see my pistol all the time. Him and my watchmen have about 5 spots they dig out of from their burrow and as long as it's not the one in the back of the tank I constantly see him out moving sand and shells. Easily one of my favorite things to watch in my tank

[dling]

Thats good to know. Are you worried about them causing any of the rocks to fall over due to the burrowing.?

[Donny41]

Not really, although i guess it depends on your rock work. My shrimp is between 3 big rocks and he comes out from under each one and I've never had an issue. The only problems he used to cause was taking coral frags and using them but I've learned to keep those well away

[dling]

 I think I'll go for it. Thanks for the reply. 😉

[mndfreeze]

It really depends on the species of pistol/goby you get and the tank layout.  I have a yellow watchman and tiger pistol. They are super active.  So active I question if I should h ave ever gotten the frag stealing asshole.  He is out non-stop, always trying to use snails as building materials and stealing frags from my sandbed like he has a shifty buyer at MACNA about to leave.

 

As long as your base rocks are stable you will be fine.  They dig constantly. I mean CONSTANTLY, so if thats going to bother you then don't do it but IMO they are super awesome and unique animals.

 

Make sure you get the right pistol for the right goby.  Some pistols and gobies don't pair at all, some only pair with certain species.   If you have a really small tank you will probably want a candy cane pistol instead of a tiger.  Tigers are more aggressive and active, and get much larger.  

[dling]

I spoke to a guy at my LFS and he advised against it. He said there's a high probability of the shrimp killing my snails and crabs. 

I'm not willing to risk losing my clean up crew for something that I may end up getting rid of later.

[Donny41]

Like @mndfreeze said mine sometime take snails and hermits and try to build with them but I've never lost any to it. It does have the hardware to do so though 

[dling]

I'm rethinking the combo. I do want them.Sent a text to my LFS and asked if he could get me the pair.

Haven't herd back yet.

 

[dling]

Went ahead and pulled the trigger. Saltwaterfish.com and a sale YWG + Randalls pistol shrimp combo sale for 19.00+ shipping.

I should have them by Friday.

[RayWhisperer]

I've never had a pistol kill anything that I knew of. Like others, it did take snails and small hermits to shore up the entrance to the cave. However, they just moved out once they were left alone for a few minutes. I've even kept a tiger and a candy cane in the same tank. After the tiger found a new place to call home, I got a candy cane for the goby. Both were fine. They both snapped incessantly anytime a hermit, or fish went near the entrance. Beyond that, I never heard from them much. I saw the goby, far more than the shrimps. But, it's not like I never saw the shrimp. 

[dling]

Thats good to know. Thanks.

[mndfreeze]

My arsehole tiger decided to drag a 20 head acan plug down next to my blasto when I was asleep.  I woke up to the bottom of the blasto exuding guts and eating the acans. I lost half the colony or so.

 

Keep that in mind when housing a pistol. They move stuff around, a LOT.  I cannot have any loose coral on my sand bed unless they are so heavy he can't move em (they are stronger then you think) and he sometimes piles sand on em too.

 

 

[JustinReef]

I have a Randall's Goby and a Tiger pistol shrimp. I see the shrimp all the time, she rarely stops moving sand out of their burrow. Sometimes, when she gets really active with the sand renovations, the goby will go for a little swim and hang out in the front of the tank until she is done. It's pretty funny. Other times, the goby refuses to move and the shrimp just pushes the sand AND goby out of the way. 

 

They actually compete pretty hard for food. I used to be a little concerned but they seem to work it out. 

[dling]

Mine will be in tomorrow. I'm picking them up from Fedex after work . Really looking forward to getting them in the tank

and watching the interaction between them.

[specore]

On 12/1/2018 at 11:05 AM, dling said:

Thats good to know. Are you worried about them causing any of the rocks to fall over due to the burrowing.?

Ideally your rocks should go in before sand so they sit directly on the glass.  That way they can't become destablilized by changes to the sand underneath them.  I do think the tiger pistols are a little less shy than the candy shrimp.  

[dling]

Man!!! That hindsight thing about being 20-20 is so right. Had I known a year ago that I would be getting a sand sifting anything I would have surely put my rocks on the tank bottom instead of on top of the sand. 

[Snow_Phoenix]

Pistols steal corals. Mine stole one of my purple shrooms to plug a hole in her burrow. And I never saw the shroom again afterwards. 

[dling]

Sorry, but thats kinda funny. I have plenty of frags on plugs in the sand getting ready for mounting on the rocks. I will try to keep an eye on the missing piece's. 

[GOBRAVES]

I didn’t see my pistol shrimp for the first couple weeks after I got it, but now I see it every couple days or so.  It never did pair up with my goby, though.  They stay in separate spots for the most part.

[dling]

U live in the Atlanta area?

[dling]

Just released the goby and shrimp into the tank. 6 line wrasse killed the shrimp with in seconds.

Both of them are so very small. Now the wrasse is messing with the goby. I need a bigger shrimp.

I had no idea it would be so small, around an inch or so. This is very disappointing. 

[Donny41]

Well that sucks

[mndfreeze]

2 hours ago, dling said:

Just released the goby and shrimp into the tank. 6 line wrasse killed the shrimp with in seconds.

Both of them are so very small. Now the wrasse is messing with the goby. I need a bigger shrimp.

I had no idea it would be so small, around an inch or so. This is very disappointing. 

 

6 lines are assholes, and notorious invert killers.  You definitely need to release the shrimp after the lights are out and the fish is asleep, directly into the rocks where he can't get it.  

 

At least it wasnt your goby that killed him.  That's what happened to me.  My LFS keeps their critters in separate critter container things hooked up to a large piping system.  The candy cane pistol and baby yellow watchman were separate.  LFS decided they should bag them together for some dumb reason so they were not bonded or anything.  While acclimating the YWG tore the pistol in half.

 

Assholes only gave me half credit for it too.  Needless to say I don't shop there anymore.

 

[dling]

Yea. I didn't think that would happen. I plan on getting another pistol shrimp after work today.

A LFS by where I work has them. The guy said their about 2 inches long,much bigger then one I had.

I dont know if the YWG is still alive. IT's 2.30am and all the lights are out. Hope so.

He's also very small.