C0lin Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 The stupid thing is up and inside my biggest rock. Every time I try to bait him out with food and yank the rock up before he gets in, he GETS IN. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 Why do you want him out? I love my pistol shrimp, watching the interaction between him and my hi fin banded goby is really neat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C0lin Posted April 26, 2011 Author Share Posted April 26, 2011 He just tears up the sand. I'm going to put him in the sump and let him have his own palace down there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 Thats a good thing though, keeping your sand bed turned over is what he's supposed to do, and it's extremely beneficial for your tank. If you take him out, you'll have to get something else to turn over the sand, and a sand sifting goby, such as a diamond goby, will make a huge mess and you'll get sand EVERYWHERE...Leave the shrimp in the DT, you'll come to appreciate what he does for the sand dude, trust me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C0lin Posted April 26, 2011 Author Share Posted April 26, 2011 I was thinking about a sand star. I don't know. I'm OCD about having things relatively flat on the bottom, haha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 Then you're in the wrong hobby, your sand will never be flat on the bottom, no matter what you do, unless you have 0 flow and 0 clean-up crew. Sand stars are bad ideas, IMO, they burn through the food available to them in our sand-beds, unless you have a very large system, so fast, that it doesn't replenish itself(the sand-bed that is) before the star starves. Leave the pistol in the DT, get a shrimp goby, such as a yellow watchman or a hi-fin banded or something similar, and watch them pair up, it's a really unique relationship and is a lot of fun to watch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C0lin Posted April 26, 2011 Author Share Posted April 26, 2011 Ok, you might be convincing me. Thanks for the advice. What do they do when they pair up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 You'll see the shrimp a lot more often for one, I get to watch mine all the time, since their burrow is right in the front of the tank. The goby will sit on the sand right outside the burrow while the shrimp redecorates it, an sometimes, they'll just both sit there, chilling, right on the lip of the cave entrance, it's really cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C0lin Posted April 26, 2011 Author Share Posted April 26, 2011 Mine does but rocks and shells in front of one of the holes. I might have to pick up a goby soon. Do all gobies do that or just a specific few? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 Just certain ones, you need to get what's known as a shrimp goby. Such as the following: http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+31+2109&pcatid=2109 http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+31+2755&pcatid=2755 http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+31+181&pcatid=181 http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+31+197&pcatid=197 http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+31+195&pcatid=195 Personal Favorite http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+31+1145&pcatid=1145 http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+31+228&pcatid=228 There might be more, but that's what a quick search showed me, maybe(hopefully) some of the more knowlegable members will chime in with their .02 worth on which goby would be best, or with more choices, but that's a quick list you can look at. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitchell Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 There is no guarantee that a goby you buy and the shrimp you have will pair up. Just like a clownfish isn't guaranteed to go into an anemone. It's really a crapshoot. I have never been able to get a pistol shrimp and a goby pair up. And if you don't like getting your sand messed up you aren't going to like the behavior of gobies. Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 I've had my pistol shrimp quite a while now, been through 3 gobies. He came with the first one, it got killed by my powerhead, second got killed by my GSM's, third is still alive and going strong. He's paired up with all 3 of them. It's all about making sure the goby you buy is compatible with pistol shrimp, not all gobies will bond with pistols, but the ones that will, well, they will find each other in the tank, took the hi-fin about a week to find the candy stripe pistol we have, and they've been inseparable ever since. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cellowithgills Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 I've read over and over that "they might not pair." But if you release the goby in a way so that it will only be able to hide in the burrow of the shrimp, I would bet that they'll pair 99.9% of the time. That all means nothing though if you don't have the right type of pistol shrimp. As far as I've been able to tell, if it's a Randall's (candy cane) or a Tiger, they'll pair, basically, 100% of the time, but Bull's eye shrimp sometimes will not. I thought that they never did, then Garrett proved me wrong last time I'm was up there(laugh). Which type do you have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwheeler Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 I have had my sand sifting starfish in my 46 gallon then in my 24 gallon when I downsized now its in my 50 gallon even though it had new sand in it when I set it up. I think they are more hardy then people think. He has been healthy every since I got him. And he does his job well I only see him about once a week. The other one is my horse shoe crab who does a good job as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fast5oranger Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 I have a pink spotted shrimp goby. I had the goby for about 6 months when i put a target pistol in my tank. I saw the shrimp off and on for about a week then it disappeared. After switching everything in my tank to a new tank a couple more months passed by and I couldn't believe my eyes... My shrimp was still there! I've had it for about 5-6 months now and it did pair with the goby! I (like jgf) absolutely love watching the pair hang out. I only actually see the shrimp about once a week. I would never get rid of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitchell Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 I've had my pistol shrimp quite a while now' date=' been through 3 gobies. He came with the first one, it got killed by my powerhead, second got killed by my GSM's, third is still alive and going strong. He's paired up with all 3 of them. It's all about making sure the goby you buy is compatible with pistol shrimp, not all gobies will bond with pistols, but the ones that will, well, they will find each other in the tank, took the hi-fin about a week to find the candy stripe pistol we have, and they've been inseparable ever since.[/quote'] I made sure to have the right kind of goby and to have the right kind of shrimp, I just never had any luck. It sounds like I'm the exception though. Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C0lin Posted April 26, 2011 Author Share Posted April 26, 2011 I don't know which species of pistol shrimp it is. He's definitely not a Tiger or Candy cane. It's a brownish grey color. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonas Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 I have a bulls eye pistol shrimp and pink spotted goby and they are paired.It is awesome to watch them with each other.The shrimp is a great sand mover.I read that bulls eye shrimp will not pair up but that is false.Anyway it is cool to watch them together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandinga Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 If you want to make a trap, you can use a two liter bottle, cut the top off, turn the top upside down and then glue the two pieces together. Here is a video I agree that having something sift your sand is a good thing, but pistols are a PITA. They will drag frags under rocks, bury chalices/zoos, throw sand all over the place, they somewhat limit your abiity to keep other shrimp and on and on....Not worth the trouble IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitchell Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 If you want to make a trap, you can use a two liter bottle, cut the top off, turn the top upside down and then glue the two pieces together. Here is a video I agree that having something sift your sand is a good thing, but pistols are a PITA. They will drag frags under rocks, bury chalices/zoos, throw sand all over the place, they limit your abiity to keep other shrimp and on and on....Not worth the trouble IMO. Or you can get a hawkfish. My new flame hawkfish took care off my Satan shrimp in about two days. Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 Mandinga, I've got a peppermint in with mine, and never have anyproblems. The shrimp/goby cave is on the front side of the right hand pile of rocks, and the peppermint lives in the cave in the backside of it LOL It's really funny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwheeler Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 Yea I have a pistol shrimp two cleaner shrimp and a peppermint shrimp in my 50g and they all get along fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C0lin Posted April 26, 2011 Author Share Posted April 26, 2011 Is there something I could do to help them with their future abode? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandinga Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 There are many many different types of pistols commonly available in the aquariium trade...each one having unique characteristics. It's impossible to generalize them all...keeping in mind that what works for one person doesnt work for the next person...see discussion on tangs/dwarf angels/eels/carbon/vodka, etc etc etc. Here is a very popular video about pistols... Keeping in mind that not all pistols are the same... One thing I know for sure is that they have an Incredible digging ability, which in many heavily stocked reef tanks can be detrimental to corals. BUT, THEY ARE SUPER COOL...so............... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandinga Posted April 26, 2011 Share Posted April 26, 2011 Is there something I could do to help them with their future abode? Colin, they NEED a sand bed. If your sump doesnt have one, take him back to a LFS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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