Calappidae
Harlequin Shrimp
Although it's common sense, make sure your rockwork is fastened and supported properly from getting knocked down. Even though it looks still.. double check it.. especially with overhangs and custom caves.
Other than making sure the rocks fit in place.. you can also glue rocks together with 100% sealant silicone (must say FOR AQUARIUMS or AQUARIUM SAFE) . They also sell alot of different types of puddy and glue at the LFS. You can also drill holes through the rocks and stack them on sticks of PVC pipe and hide anything showing with corals or let algae blend it in. There are numerous methods, be creative and safe.
Rocks can very easily tumble down in.. urchins.. starfish.. snails, hermit crabs, almost anything bulky can push down a rock.. however the creature in question has a different method of destroying rockwork whether it's fastened or not.. the pistol shrimp.
Pistol shrimp aren't what you expect them to be.. nothing you see in their world's deadlist and natgeo vids and such are true as they can't harm anything in your tank.. they're very peaceful and harmless actually. However apon adding one the first thing you'll see it do is digging.. and these guys do not ever stop digging.. dig dig dig is their niche rather than their gun which you'll probably never see in use directly anyway. This digging behavior can affect some rockwork by caving it in from underneithe.. fastening it helped prevent caves from collapsing on fish.. but it may shift entire rockwork.
I'm probably making it sound like a big deal.. technically it very rarely ever happens that a pistol successfully tumbles rocks.. it's probably something not to even worry about. Those of you hobbiest more than likely never had a problem with yours. However this is one concern to consiture when setting up frail or "Shakey" rockwork for setups containing these shrimp. I woke up this morning to see a few rocks tumbled down that were right above the shrimps mine..
Now what if the rock falls on our shrimp? Don't worry about it.. if the rock is out in the open not supporting anything then I'm sure the shrimp wouldn't mind help.. but the shrimp can dig themselves back out if rocks fell on it.. I found mine digging under the newly tumbled live rock hours later.
All in all.. just be careful with rockwork. Pistol shrimp have been reported doing this.. and just because of this threat they pose to your aquascape.. is no good reason not to get one. As long as you're not making a tower of cards in your tank.. then the shrimp should be fine.
Other than making sure the rocks fit in place.. you can also glue rocks together with 100% sealant silicone (must say FOR AQUARIUMS or AQUARIUM SAFE) . They also sell alot of different types of puddy and glue at the LFS. You can also drill holes through the rocks and stack them on sticks of PVC pipe and hide anything showing with corals or let algae blend it in. There are numerous methods, be creative and safe.
Rocks can very easily tumble down in.. urchins.. starfish.. snails, hermit crabs, almost anything bulky can push down a rock.. however the creature in question has a different method of destroying rockwork whether it's fastened or not.. the pistol shrimp.
Pistol shrimp aren't what you expect them to be.. nothing you see in their world's deadlist and natgeo vids and such are true as they can't harm anything in your tank.. they're very peaceful and harmless actually. However apon adding one the first thing you'll see it do is digging.. and these guys do not ever stop digging.. dig dig dig is their niche rather than their gun which you'll probably never see in use directly anyway. This digging behavior can affect some rockwork by caving it in from underneithe.. fastening it helped prevent caves from collapsing on fish.. but it may shift entire rockwork.
I'm probably making it sound like a big deal.. technically it very rarely ever happens that a pistol successfully tumbles rocks.. it's probably something not to even worry about. Those of you hobbiest more than likely never had a problem with yours. However this is one concern to consiture when setting up frail or "Shakey" rockwork for setups containing these shrimp. I woke up this morning to see a few rocks tumbled down that were right above the shrimps mine..
Now what if the rock falls on our shrimp? Don't worry about it.. if the rock is out in the open not supporting anything then I'm sure the shrimp wouldn't mind help.. but the shrimp can dig themselves back out if rocks fell on it.. I found mine digging under the newly tumbled live rock hours later.
All in all.. just be careful with rockwork. Pistol shrimp have been reported doing this.. and just because of this threat they pose to your aquascape.. is no good reason not to get one. As long as you're not making a tower of cards in your tank.. then the shrimp should be fine.
