PinayReefer's 10g Turbid Lagoon w/Sump

[fish.freak]

looks like a closed up sun polyop. Are you planning to add any fish?

[yardboy]

Yep, a Tubastrea. I want to add a fish or two, but haven't figured out what yet.

[fish.freak]

You could go with a trio of 2 hi-finned banded gobies w/ a pistol shrimp, or a trio of small fairy wrasses 1 M 2 F.

Thats just what I want, I bet you have somthing better in mind, just my $00.02.

[yardboy]

A very good suggestion fish.freak, I just wish they only cost $0.02!

Yesterday, Genie and I did a road trip to Pensacola, ostensibly to go Christmas shopping, but it ended up being a visit to Aquaria, Inc. to visit our friend David, who'd just got back from Cebu, engaged to a Filipino girl, and drooling over the thirteen dives he'd made.
We picked up an Amblyeleotris steinitzi, (Steinitz Prawn Goby) and an Alpheus bellulus (Tiger Pistol Shrimp).
We did then go to the mall to shop for gifts for our family, then stopped in Destin and had an excellent supper of Crab and Grouper. Genie also indulged in two Mango Margarita's, so she crashed on the way home, and then with a two hour acclimitzation, I didn't make it to bed until 12:30am. I wasn't going to rush the process, as they are so little and cost so much (but cheaper than an Yasa Hase (or however you spell it).
Here's a shot of them digging a hole:


And another of them working on their extensive burrow system:


Hardest working critters I've ever seen, and obviously the slow acclimation worked, as they've been busy all day, figured they'd not do that unless the shrimp felt well.
Okay, okay, so my camera skills are lacking! It's obviously going to take some patience to get a shot! Sorry if you strained your eyes looking for them. I was fortunate to have them go where I wanted, I piled some rubble up in the corner and they went right to it. I think their abode will be stable once they get it laid out. Obviously there are several entrances, so I'll have to aim the camera at more than one spot. Help Dick, I need your skills with a camera here!!!

[fish.freak]

its tough unless you have one of those 2000$ digitals. I have the cannon powershot A70, and it has a big delay, but I just keep shooting till I get somthing...

Were they allready bonded when you got em?

[yardboy]

Yep, they were living in the same hole in the lfs, don't know how long they'd been there. When I put the shrimp in the tank he instantly went to the rock pile. The fish sat on the bottom for a minute, until I turned the light off, then when the moonlights came on he was gone too. They are really cool, but I hope they will be a little less shy after awhile. I'd really love to get a shot of the shrimp hauling sand. He can carry quite a load at one time, sorta puts his claws togeher to make a basket, then kind of throws it out the entrance. They will grab food, so hopefully they'll start associating me with food. It took the copperband and pallette tang in the 70 about a week to get over their shyness, hopefully these guys will get over it too. I haven't tried to cover the top, they spend so much time in the hole I can't imagine them trying to jump out. I'm feeding them mysis, along with the tubastrea. The tube has started coming out to the garlic smell, even in the day, so he's gotten trained pretty well. We can't wait to see some new polyps start to grow. The three that are on there are quite gluttonous.

[yardboy]

Genie's a lot more patient that I am, she managed to get this mug shot of the goby this afternoon. Seems to be getting over his shyness.

[dobejazz]

What a face! I love it Great shot Genie

[Tim224DT]

Thats a great shot of the goby. My two gobies took about 10 days to get over the shyness and i was able to get some nice pictures of them.

Tim

[fish.freak]

Just got a red pistol shrimp today too. Its only 1/2 an inch long, but boy can it dig. It bonded to my goby within one hour of being put in the tank.

[yardboy]

A red one! I can't wait to see pics. I'd heard that it was a waste of extra money to buy "bonded pairs", your experience seems to bear that out. I didn't pay extra, there were several fish and shrimps in the tank, I just chose ones that I think were in a hole together.

Now to figure out how to aquascape the tank without anything collapsing! Mine look like they're working their way across the back of the tank.
Getting a little quicker with the camera, but it has a hard time focussing in the dark, so the images aren't too sharp yet.

[yardboy]

Has anyone else who has these shrimp/goby pairs had trouble with them bulldozing the tank? I've had to put every rock and coral in the tank on pieces of PVC due to the excavations of this pair! The tank looks like a sand quarry, with piles and holes everywhere. I'm not going to post tank pictures until I figure the best way to deal with these rascals and their digging. Maybe I'll cut back on their feed so they'll get weak from hunger. As it is now, I think they're drinking Red Bull or Guiness down in their "pub".

[fish.freak]

my pair seem to stick to their hole, but they may be afraid of my other fish.

try to place base rocks on the glass so they cant dig under, it worked for my africans.

I just added a new digger, a Bali Tiger Jawfish, I hope the goby can protect it's pistol shrimp from it.

[yardboy]

Hopefully resolved my goby/shrimp digging issues. Thought this looked pretty, fluorescing in the led moonlight.

[yardboy]

It was very frustrating trying to get this Yellow Fiji Leather frag anchored. I tried everything short of nailing him with a spike. One morning I got up and there he was in what seems a great spot, a few days later I bumped him and he's anchored. What a treat. Here is his Christmas photo.