Pistol shrimp question

[Amicus]

Hi, my friend knew I was looking at pistol shrimp and bought me one. Really nice but there may be a problem. The shrimp is pretty large, maybe an inch to an inch and a half. Do pistol shrimp kill hermit crabs? I have three zebra hermits but can only find one.

 

[Beengirl]

Hi, my friend knew I was looking at pistol shrimp and bought me one. Really nice but there may be a problem. The shrimp is pretty large, maybe an inch to an inch and a half. Do pistol shrimp kill hermit crabs? I have three zebra hermits but can only find one.

They can, if they're hungry enough. Is yours a tiger pistol? That's what I have and they can get a decent size. When I first got mine, I saw him pull a couple of snails that were walking (?) by into his burrow. And I would see cerith snail shells that he had used to shore up his burrow walls. Now that he gets fed every day, he has kinda chilled out in that respect. Guess it just took him a while I realize he'll get food every day and doesn't need to kill anything to eat.
And you're gonna have hermit and snails die periodically too, it happens.
To help prevent this stuff, when you feed the tank, use a turkey Baster and put some food into one of the burrow openings. And the pistol will need shell frags to shore up his walls. So place a bunch near a opening of the burrow. He'll drag them in and use them. If you don't give him any, he'll probably kill hermits and snails to get his building materials. It's in his nature to build. I had some shell frags from the beach, boiled them, let em cool and put them right by the main opening. Usually LFS will sell snail shells and frags for cheap if you don't have any. I have to ask at my LFS cuz they keep the box of shells behind the counter. I've put at least 30 shell frags in The tank over the last 5 months or so, and he's used them all.
Enjoy your new addition. He's super cool to watch!!

 

[Amicus]

They can, if they're hungry enough. Is yours a tiger pistol? That's what I have and they can get a decent size. When I first got mine, I saw him pull a couple of snails that were walking (?) by into his burrow. And I would see cerith snail shells that he had used to shore up his burrow walls. Now that he gets fed every day, he has kinda chilled out in that respect. Guess it just took him a while I realize he'll get food every day and doesn't need to kill anything to eat.
And you're gonna have hermit and snails die periodically too, it happens.
To help prevent this stuff, when you feed the tank, use a turkey Baster and put some food into one of the burrow openings. And the pistol will need shell frags to shore up his walls. So place a bunch near a opening of the burrow. He'll drag them in and use them. If you don't give him any, he'll probably kill hermits and snails to get his building materials. It's in his nature to build. I had some shell frags from the beach, boiled them, let em cool and put them right by the main opening. Usually LFS will sell snail shells and frags for cheap if you don't have any. I have to ask at my LFS cuz they keep the box of shells behind the counter. I've put at least 30 shell frags in The tank over the last 5 months or so, and he's used them all.
Enjoy your new addition. He's super cool to watch!!

Yep, he is a Tiger Pistol, a little bigger than I would have bought for a 29g but he is really cool. I feed Rod's food and leave the pumps on when I feed so food gets dispursed. The first day I had him he moved so much sand that the tank looked completely different. I could not believe how much he had moved. I had created horizontal shelves with the rock, since the shrimp moved so much sand they have all toppeld over. There is sand all over the rock and everything else in the tank. I do not know where his burrow is. I think, unfortunately, its somewhere in the middle of the rock and I never see him. My friend also bought a small blue spotted watchman goby and I only see him very infrequently too. If the shrimp continues to kill my clenup crew I'm going to have to find him a new home, not something I'm happy about.

 

[danbstrong]

Hi, my friend knew I was looking at pistol shrimp and bought me one. Really nice but there may be a problem. The shrimp is pretty large, maybe an inch to an inch and a half. Do pistol shrimp kill hermit crabs? I have three zebra hermits but can only find one.

Ive never seen my pistol shrimp eat and snails or crabs i have seen him grab a snail and try and use it for his burrow but the snail just crawled away pistols are constantly burrowing and will grab anything within reach to build with ive never even once spotfed mine and have had him for about 3 years now its maybe 2" long

 

[incloud]

I just got a tiger watchman goby and am trying to find out how people have made out with them and maybe get some tips. Also, is it possible the tiger goby would pair up with a tiger pistol shrimp? Thanks in advance!

 

[incloud]

Forget it, he's dead already!

 

[Amicus]

I just got a tiger watchman goby and am trying to find out how people have made out with them and maybe get some tips. Also, is it possible the tiger goby would pair up with a tiger pistol shrimp? Thanks in advance!

I'm sorry to hear that he died already, I've had that happen with fish too. As far as pairing a watchman goby and pistol shrimp, there is no gaurantee that they will pair. There are a number of types of gobies that are likely to pair with a pistol shrimp. I have a Blue Spotted Goby and a Tiger Pistol Shrimp that were purchased from separate tanks. I was lucky and they paired up right away. I think LiveAquari has a list of Gobies likely to create the symbiotic relationship with a pistol shrimp. Good Luck and don't give up!

 

[Amicus]

I'm sorry to hear that he died already, I've had that happen with fish too. As far as pairing a watchman goby and pistol shrimp, there is no gaurantee that they will pair. There are a number of types of gobies that are likely to pair with a pistol shrimp. I have a Blue Spotted Goby and a Tiger Pistol Shrimp that were purchased from separate tanks. I was lucky and they paired up right away. I think LiveAquari has a list of Gobies likely to create the symbiotic relationship with a pistol shrimp. Good Luck and don't give up!

That's LiveAquaria.com, or you could google it.

 

[incloud]

Thanks for your reply! My LFS is pretty good and take care of their customers well. They offer a 2 week guarantee on their marine fish so I was able to take the little tiger back to the store and I replaced him with a Yellow watchman goby and a firefish. My worry now is to get my tank covered securely. I went and looked at plexiglas today and they only had 1/8" at my local hardware store. Tomorrow I will hit HD and get a 1/4" piece of acrylic. My tank came with a lid but it won't work with all my custom setup (overflows and such). I've got a tiny yellow clown goby, firefish and the yellow watchman in a 10 Gallon QT covered real well for the next couple weeks. Didn't plan on having three fish in there and will certainly need to watch my levels daily. But for the price of one fish (tiger), I got two and a ten dollar store credit. Ordered a tiger pistol shrimp and should have it by next week. This will be it for a while giving me a total of five fish in my 46 Bow w/ 20 Gallon Sump. I appreciate your help and have no intention on giving this up, I've had some struggles in the past six months but things are going great in all. Just fired up my new sump system a few days ago. Thanks again!

Here's a couple pics of my setup:

Need a couple sock holders.

Couple sponge filters in the overflow for now to keep the splashing down. The cover will fix that!

Any tips or ideas are quite welcome and Thanks again, Great hobby, Love it!