Pistol Shrimp?

[Reefdude5]

Hey Everybody!
Everyone having a wonderful Monday? Lol
Well, quick question. Just wondering about everyone's experiences with pistol shrimp and shrimp gobies.
What substrate and how deep do they need?
Do they get along with everyone else in a reef tank?
What shrimp gobies would ya'll recommend with a pistol shrimp?
And are the rumors true about pistol shrimp attacking some other small fish in a reef enviorment? (can't say i got that one from a good source! Thanks everyone!

[kestrel]

I love my pair!

I have a Tiger Pistol and a Randall's Goby. THey are a great pair, with absolutly no behavioral problems, other than wanting to build with the occasional snail that passes too close to the hole.

My sand bed is 3"-5" deep fine sand, but I had to provide a good bit of rubble to help in the tunnel constructions. I found that with enough rubble (snail shells, gravel, sand dollar shells work well, etc.) the tunneling slows to a managable amount, and generally limited to one area. Just drop it out in front of the hole, and it will disappear by the next morning

I'd suggest that you do a lot of careful research to get what you want. Make sure that it is an Indo-Pacific Pistol. From my experience, the gobies don't recognize the Caribbean variety as a pistol, and so don't pair with them. Don't waste money on a "paired" purchase either, unless it is specifically what you want. If it is an Indo-Pacific shrimp and a true watchman-type goby, they will pair quickly.

I also have a Caribean pistol (reddish body with blue legs and trim), that I am suspect of attacking my snails. I've caught him in the middle of the night roaming all the way up to the top of my rock formations, and snail shells seem to collect outside his hole. He does not try to build with them, and in fact does very little building.

HTH
Daryl

[Reefdude5]

Do the shrimp in general attack snails or is that the exception? That would stink?
Also, do the shrimp and goby need to be added at the same time?

[kestrel]

Austin,

My first shrimp and goby I added at the same time. The shrimp died about a year later, during a molt-gone-bad, I think. That's how I got the Caribbean shrimp. It was going to be a replacement for the first Tiger. That's when I learned the difference between Caribbean and Indo-Pacific. The goby would not pay the new guy any attention. Two months after the death of the first one, and a month after the second one, I added a new Tiger Pistol. The goby and Pistol paired within about ...oh...10 seconds. They have not been more than a few inches apart in the last 8 months.

As for eating snails, I've never seen either one eat, or even attack a snail. I have seen the Tiger grab a shell, occupied, or not, and add it to the structure around the hole opening. (As an aside, the Tiger Pistols are amazing engineers and constructors. They will use whatever they find and actually build roofing, bracing, and walls for the tunnel. It is truly awesome to watch.) As I said before, my snails just seem to disappear, and empty shells show-up in front of the Caribbean's hole. Before I put the Caribbean in, I rarely lost snails, other than to the careless fall, and remember, I had the other Tiger for a year before the Caribbean

HTH
Daryl

BTW, do a search for Pistols, and I think there is lots more info, and a picture of mine at http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/sh...ghlight=Pistol