Pistol Shrimp & Symbiotic shrimp

[mling]

About over a week ago, I added a Pistol Shrimp to my tank and never got to see it again until last nite when I sneaked down to my tank under the cover of darkness.

The live rock in my tank has many caves and I did expect it to be hiding in one of them. I also believe that they are nocturnal. I was however hoping to be able to see it some of the time.

I know that it has a symbiotic relationship with some Gobies. Would my adding the correct Goby to my tank make my Pistol Shrimp less shy ? If so what type of Goby is best for this purpose ?

[Nafe]

In my experience when they are healthy they are usually very shy.

While my tank was cycling, and they obviously werent feeling too well in the bad water conditions i had at least 20 Pistol shrimp out and about in the day time. The cloudy water also seemed to make them a little less worried about being seen out in the day time.

Water cleared up and parameters returned to normal and they disapeared back into the live rock, only coming out at night time.

I doubt they will be less shy with the introduction of a Goby. But i dont know anything about that symbiotic relationship, so could be wrong.

[kestrel]

I have two pistols in my tank, a Tiger Pistol, which is an indo-pacific species, and another one, which has a reddish body and blueish-purple edges that keeps his tail curled, which is a Caribbean species. I also have a Randall's Goby.

As I have learned, the Goby will pair with the Tiger Pistol, but won't look at the Carribbean. I've been told there are not goby-pistol symbiants in the Carribbean, and I'd believe it based on these two. I had a pair, that matched up within seconds of introduction, then lost the original Tiger pistol. I added the Carribbean, not knowing, and they ignored each other. I added another Tiger, and they paired within seconds, again.

The Carribbean is totally nocturnal, and the most I'll see during the day is antennae sticking out of the rock. He doesn't do much digging in the sand. I have caught him eating my snails. He'll move out when I upgrade the tank.

My Tiger on the other hand is socially paired with the goby, and they come out of their hole throughout the day, but never very far from it. He comes out at every feeding. He is a digger, and you need to be sure all rock-work is well fondationed, as he will mine it out. You never know where his 'door' will be in the morning. His biggest threat to other animals (snails and hermit) is incorporating them into his mining support structure. I've watched him for hours build around his doorway with a snail, have the snail move away, and have to retrieve his doorpost

HTH
Daryl



P.S. I've had the goby and at least one pistol for almost four years now.

[DaBear]

I’m afraid I have no direct experience, having never owned a Pistol shrimp myself. However the relationship between the goby and the shrimp has always fascinated me, and I’ve been reading up on the topic. Below are a few links that might help you out.

fficeffice" />>>

Good luck let us know how things work out.


http://www.liveaquaria.com/general/g...al_pagesid=236

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/s...21&pCatId=1852

[mling]

Thanks for all the info. It sure did help. My Pistol finally got busy and showed it's face. Looks like I got a Tiger Pistol. It has been busy digging in the many caves of my live rock. It is very interesting to watch it shoval aragonite for these caves and dump them on the outside of the rock.

Now I'll try to find a suitable Gobie.

[DaBear]

if you find a gobie that works well. let us know.

good luck.

[yardboy]

My lfs have a pair, but at $59 for two <1" critters, I think I'll pass. (though if I can keep them around for >4 years, maybe I'd try)

[kestrel]

FYI - Don't buy the "matched pairs." Just do your homework. Make sure you are getting a gobie that will naturally pair with your pistol, and nature will take care of the rest. It's only taken seconds for me - twice, and the guy that I originally bought them from has been pairing them in his LFS for years - with the same sucess. He pairs them because he can then charge the high mark-up.

Daryl

[kestrel]

Hey DaBear - Welcome to TRT !

Mine is a Randall's Goby - Pairs great!

Daryl

[ShirleyM]

The Tiger Pistol Shrimp and the Watchman Goby pair very nicely. We had a pair for about 3 or 4 years. We saw the pistol quite often during the day...working his tail off moving sand and rock. The Goby feeds him, and he makes tunnels and caves for the Goby. The pistol makes clicking noises to find the Goby, then the find each other and are not far apart thereafter.

~ Shirley

[ShirleyM]

Regarding the price discussion...I've never seen them sold as "pairs", but they usually try to have both when one is for sale. The Watchman was around $23-25 and the pistol was about the same. When our first pistol died during a molt, about 2 yrs later, we bought another single pistol and they paired instantly.

Shirley