Pistol Shrimp/Goby Pair

[mikexreefer]

Has anyone ever had experience in keeping these pairs? I recently bought a very small Yasha Hashe Goby and a pistol shrimp from my LFS. They were alrerady a pair. Fascinating pair when I saw them. Had to buy it ($60!!!). So I put the two in my tank (18 gal nano, almost 1 yr old and running great). Both got separated and ended up on opposite sides of the tank. So the shimp starts burrowing himself under some rocks, and the gody hid behind or under the rocks. Woke up the next morning and saw my goby in a nice little hole with his head peaking out. That was the last time I saw him. Been almost a week now....do you think it died? I've read that they're really shy, but it would really suck if it died. What do you guys think?

 

[Drifter9]

I ordered a Hi Fin Red Banded Goby and a pistol shrimp from the live aquaria website last year. I’ve always found symbiotic relationships interesting. However, even though I introduced them both together and actually placed the shrimp in the area that the goby swam into… they are never together.
My goby lives above the crushed coral in a particularly porous piece of live rock. The shrimp lives under the coral on the opposite side of the tank. He makes small tunnels under a couple pieces of rock. He is almost always on the back side of the tank so I rarely see him.
Since then I've seen a pair for sale at a fish store living together... it made me a bit jealous.
Its funny that you said the same problem happened in your nano because I was thinking maybe a smaller tank would help the problem. I guess thats not the case.
They are both doing OK. They both eat. The goby darts in and out picking bits of food out of the water. The shrimp has made his lair in a perfect spot. He's by a dead zone in the back corner of the tank where food just sort of swirls around on the bottom, making it fairly easy for him to catch. They are still alive so I guess thats a plus but it would have been cool to see them living together.

 

[Racso]

Got a HiFin Red Banded Goby, he lived in my tank for a few months alone. Then got a Tiger Pistol Shrimp and added him in. They PAIRED!!! WOOOOO!!! Then the goby went carpet surfing...

So I got a new goby, Diamond. He would live in the same cave/burrow as the shrimp, even when the shrimp would move to a new one, but the goby never really watched over the site like the old goby did. The new one would leave the poor shrimp all alone every now and then. And during feeding time, they were every fish/shrimp for themselves. But with the old goby, even during feeding time, the two stayed together.

 

[Paul Davies]

hi mikexreefer, i have a tiger pistol and yellow watchman in my tank, I didnt buy them together but when i introduced the goby i fed him straight into the hols where by pistol lived. a few bangs later from his snapper and they get on just fine.

I think with this its just the case of submission, if one of them is prepared to live as a pair then there should be a relationshp formed, if not then they live as single specimines.

Have you thought of replacing one or the other ?

 

[vsnsofadrgn]

sometimes it can take them awhile to pair up again. give it some time. i bought a watchman/shrimp pair at a lfs and when acclimated; they got seperated, then within a few months, they paired again. im def goin to get a new pair, they are awesome.

 

[dc]

They can be elusive. Mine tend to move around, sometimes I see them a lot, others not at all. I can count on them moving homes at least monthly, sometimes more.

 

[Paliya]

I got a randalls shrimp goby and a tiger pistol shrimp. Bought them as a pair from an LFS and they haven't left each others side since.

mikexreefer: My goby sometimes goes a few days with just hiding. Has your tank seemed 'dirtier' lately? Whenever a fish or something dies in my tank (has happened twice already) my water reflects the increase in dissolved organics with significant algae growth and my skimmer really goes nuts. If this hasn't happened in your tank, I would guess the little guy is just hiding out for some reason. I'll keep my fingers crossed for ya.

-P

 

[DrBegalke]

Re: Pistol Shrimp/Goby Pair

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9121361#post9121361 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mikexreefer
Has anyone ever had experience in keeping these pairs? I recently bought a very small Yasha Hashe Goby and a pistol shrimp from my LFS. They were alrerady a pair. Fascinating pair when I saw them. Had to buy it ($60!!!). So I put the two in my tank (18 gal nano, almost 1 yr old and running great). Both got separated and ended up on opposite sides of the tank. So the shimp starts burrowing himself under some rocks, and the gody hid behind or under the rocks. Woke up the next morning and saw my goby in a nice little hole with his head peaking out. That was the last time I saw him. Been almost a week now....do you think it died? I've read that they're really shy, but it would really suck if it died. What do you guys think?

I had a yasha hashe/randalli shrimp that were paired in 12 g. then i didn't see the goby for a couple of weeks, so i bought a yellow watchman.. It paired pretty quickly with the shrimp.

Then a week or so later, I see the yasha, watchman, and the shrimp all paired together... have been a team since....

So, I think it might still be alive. If you have an aggressive fish, the gobies won't come out much....

 

[mikexreefer]

I found my goby! I found it's head peeking out of a hole...can't seem to find the shrimp though...which sucks. I'm going to give it a week or so and if I don't see the shrimp, I'll go find another one.

Question: What if I do buy another pistol shrimp. Can I buy any kind of pistol shrimp like a tiger pistol shrimp, or should I buy a randalls shrimp which was the original pair? Would it work? Also, what would happen if my shrimp mysteriously appears? Would the shrimp get along? Two shrimps and one goby would be pretty awesome...

Thanks for the replies. It helped!

 

[Charlie Davidson]

 

[Loralie]

I bought a Randalls shrimp goby and a red and white pistol shrimp as seperate individuals and they were put into the nano togather and have been togather since. Never more that 1/2" for each other

 

[gmh320]

Not to get off the topic, but does anyone have any thoughts on how you would remove a goby and shrimp pair from an established tank? I may be moving in the near future which would mean breaking down the tank. Once the goby and shrimp are down in their hole, how would you ever get them out? I thought of setting a trap, but don't have a lot of confidence in that approach. Could you just scoop out a large portion of the sand in hopes that you get them? Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

[Ghandi]

Re: Re: Pistol Shrimp/Goby Pair

Re: Re: Pistol Shrimp/Goby Pair

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9124888#post9124888 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by DrBegalke
I had a yasha hashe/randalli shrimp that were paired in 12 g. then i didn't see the goby for a couple of weeks, so i bought a yellow watchman.. It paired pretty quickly with the shrimp.

Then a week or so later, I see the yasha, watchman, and the shrimp all paired together... have been a team since....

So, I think it might still be alive. If you have an aggressive fish, the gobies won't come out much....

Do you have any pics of this 'threesome'? Would be most interesting, I'm sure!

Thx

 

[DarthBaiter]

My LFS refused to sell me another shrimp saying that two gobies are fine but two shrimps are not. Anyway, I would give the shrimp a bit more time. The shrimp out of my pair is definetly more shy and I hardly ever see him. I know he is doing fine because he make new holes in the sand every day. If you see new holes in the sand near the rocks, that's the shrimp doing it's thing. Give it a few more days and you'll see him.

 

[miracles38]

I added a tiger pistol shrimp and then a month or two later added a YWG. After I added the shrimp I never saw it again. The YWG hung around in a corner for a couple of weeks and then disappeared. That was like 6 months ago. About 2 months ago I had to remove all my fish, which meant removing all the rock. One day after I had put all the rock back in I was walking up to the tank and saw something yellow on the sand (there are still no fish in the tank). It was the YWG and it had paired with the pistol. They must have been somewhere in the back where I couldn't see them for all those months. It was really cool. Now they live toward the front and I get to watch them. Once in a while the YWG will leave the shrimp for a day or two, but mostly stays right there with him.

 

[cowboyswife]

I have a pink and blue spotted goby with a tiger pistol shrimp, and they are inseparable. The shrimp started digging, the day I brought him home - making holes under rocks, and moving around the sand in half of my tank. Sometimes I wonder where my shrimp is because he hides so much. My goby started out really shy, so I would just give him some time.