Pistol Shrimp Claw/Pincher

[mginani]

I added a pistol shrimp to my tank on Tuesday. He immediately went under a large rock and I have not seen him since. This morning I checked on the tank and there is a claw/pincher sitting on the sand bed. Is this a bad sign?

I have two clown fish who have been in the tank for a while. I added a small yellow tang, a chromis, and a orange spotted goby with the shrimp.

 

[cloak]

The claw your seeing might be from a molt. I would give it a few more days before you start flipping rocks looking for it.

 

[SKurj]

One day I found the corpse of my emerald crab on the sand.. I had had him a couple of months. Looked completely undamaged, no idea what killed him.

A month later I see an emerald crab in the tank.. but I only bought one.. hitchhiker? unlikely ...

Just a molt.. yours could be the same, my clowns never touch my shrimp.

 

[Slystone]

Hopefully just a molt and you will see your little friend very soon.

 

[mginani]

Thanks!

 

[Johnz]

One nice thing about pistol shrimps is you can always hear them. I had a red pistol I never saw in first 6 months I had him. Every couple of nights I'd here the snapping though. You'll also know if he's still alive because they are huge diggers. The one I had moved all the sand that was under the rocks and behind them to the front of the tank. Completely remodeled my sand bed. Cool additions, I had a lot of fun with mine.