Need help with feeding Hi Fin goby/pistol shrimp pair

[drfu]

I jist placed my first livestock in a build i did on the weekend. Both fish & pistol shrimp have been acclimated, have already built a home but im unsure/worried how to feed them. Here is my problem.

After 24 hours, like i said built a home so i placed a thawed piece of Omega One reef cube beside their home, my Nassarius snails, like the Walking Dead, attacked the food, trampleled over they openings and grabbed the food. This scaired the %#*+ out of them and they hid for the rest of the day/evening. They stopped construction, didnt eat(i think) and never came out.

This am they were in full force building their home, goby out front keeping an eye on things while mr shrimp dug up a full cub of substrate this morning. Again, i was thinking of feeding them so i tossed some mysis shrimp with the pumps on to get the nassarius snails attention, the after turned off the pumps and placed some neer their home. Again crashing the party and goby&shrimp are nowhere to be seen again and building has stopped.

How/what is the best way of feeding these guys and keep them happy, out & about?

Do i need to get rid of the Nassarius snails? If yes, what would be a good replacement to stir up the sand. My tank is only a 15 gallon column so my choices are limited.

Love to hear some ideas to my problem!

 

[MacWilliams]

Gobies are pretty skittish fish and tend to hide for a while before getting comfortable enough to come out and eat. Just give it time mine took months before it was out regularly.

 

[drfu]

Gobies are pretty skittish fish and tend to hide for a while before getting comfortable enough to come out and eat. Just give it time mine took months before it was out regularly.

Makes sense, ideas on feeding though, i don't want to put food in that doesn't get ate or i hope my cuc & corals eat it all. Im worried about water quality as i don't have a skimmer since its only 15 gallons?

I use frozen cubes mostly, should i do a half cube daily or qtr 2 time a day? I also have flakes too

 

[MikeandNicole]

Don't put food in the hole. When my pair wa settled they would come out and pick the food out if the water column. Hey are much more likely to eat from the water then from the sand bed. Food getting in their whole my get left alone and just kind of rot.

 

[drfu]

Don't put food in the hole. When my pair wa settled they would come out and pick the food out if the water column. Hey are much more likely to eat from the water then from the sand bed. Food getting in their whole my get left alone and just kind of rot.

Thanks for the advice, the goby came out tonight so I'm hopeful all is good. What do you feed your goby and how much do you you feed them. I only have the shrimp/goby pair right now. I have marine flakes, frozen cubes of bryne & mysis shrimp and omega one reef cubes, thanks again

 

[71Percent]

"Build over the weekend". Did your tank cycle already?

 

[71Percent]

As far as feeding - I just take some frozen shrimp chips (scrapped with a knife) and use tongs to hold it right inside the opening. Both shrimp and goby will snatch it directly from the tongs. Worked right away and is not "learned." I do this twice a week. Rest of the time they get pellets that sink when the fish feed.

 

[drfu]

"Build over the weekend". Did your tank cycle already?

Lol, bad writting on my behalf, i meant to say that this weekend i added my first livestock to my new build. Tank is just about 4 weeks old amd solid chemistry.

 

[drfu]

Well its been a week, my Goby is still kinda skittished, but does come out and pertch in front of his cave if i dump a half cube of mysys, at least i know he is eating! Havent seen the shrimp come out as of yet. My water chem hasnt taken too much of a beating, nitrates still only around 5-10ppm, phosphorus around 25ppb & phosephates @ .06ppm which is a bit of a concern but managable.

 

[Paul B]

I take one of these and shoot somc clams in their hole almost every day. They do come out to try to grab food but they usually fail at that with all the hungry fish.


This video shows my pair of shrimp.

 

[drfu]

I take one of these and shoot somc clams in their hole almost every day. They do come out to try to grab food but they usually fail at that with all the hungry fish.


This video shows my pair of shrimp.

Well he is now out most of the time now, the pistol has now made 6 exits from my live rock structure, hope it doesn't cave in on them!

Thats quite the set of turkey basters, where did you get them? I need some just to feed my tube coral!

 

[Paul B]

I made them

 

[MacWilliams]

They arent very active fish so you dont have to worry about them eating too much at the beginning. Just allow them to get comfortable and they will show themselves all the time.

 

[drfu]

They arent very active fish so you dont have to worry about them eating too much at the beginning. Just allow them to get comfortable and they will show themselves all the time.

Im starting to realize that now. It does come out each morning waiting for me to feed him, but of course hides when i walk by, but am seeing him out more & more, thx

 

[Betta132]

Your pistols will show up more as well.
Put a bunch of smallish flat shells around their burrows, the pistol shrimp will use the shells as shoring. By 'smallish', I mean anywhere from 50 cent coin size to maybe dime size or smaller, plus a few larger shells like mussel shells. Those shrimp are crazy strong!

 

[Fish Biscuit]

My Randall is pretty bold & he was out & about from the beginning. I had a Yasha previously that was extremely shy. It took me 2 weeks to see him & the tank is at work so I'm looking at it all day.

 

[Fish Biscuit]

Oh & these two piggies eat everything, flakes, frozen, pellets. I break off a piece of algae wafer for the shrimp every few days & sometimes the Randall takes it. I need to sign that fatty up for weight watchers lol.