goby and pistol shrimp?

[jimsflies]

I've never kept a goby/pistol shrimp before. But I want to try it in the biocube I am setting up. What type of shrimp gobies have you kept?

I'm looking at the aurora goby...anyone have experience with one of those? I'll likely get it locally...Preuss has those, a randalls and a pink spot in stock. Any pluses/minuses to any of those...or another type I should consider?

For the shrimp, I'm probably going to go with a tiger pistol...I want something large enough to see and some of the "candy" ones seem too small.

[iyachtuxivm]

I hear the Auroras are rockets but man are they sweet especially if you get the brighter ones like Preuss has. I dont think its going to be an issue in the bio as long as it has the top still on it. I have a tiger pistol in my 75 now he makes a huge mess almost as bad as my jawfish was. But now instead of just burying everything with mouth fulls they get undermined and fall in. grrrrr

[jimsflies]

That's good to know on the pistol. I will try to build in rock supports.

Yeah the aurora does seem to be a rocket...Steve went to find it the other day and it had already jumped into the next compartment of the display. When he stuck his arm in, it tried to jump out of that one but hit the lid and bounced back in.

The auroras do have nice colors. They have a couple if anyone is looking for one.

[Argent]

I have an orange spotted goby - my pistol has since left the building

[Tom@HaslettMI]

No experience with Aurora gobies, so I can't help there. But I have the Shrimp Gobies issue of Coral magazine and according to it Cryptocentrus gobies should be paired with Alpheus shrimp... you your pairing should be good. They do warn that the goby should not have a concave midsection (aka be skinny) or you run the risk of the shrimp eating it!

My experience with a Yellow watchman/tiger pistol pair has been good and I think you'll enjoy the character they'll bring to your tank. As far as rock slides go... if you have a solid rock base that has good contact with the bottom glass you should have no troubles. However, my shrimp has occasionally buried corals placed on the sand bed or even moved them to incorporate into cave openings. I've never lost anything due to these activities.

Another consideration with adding a shrimp/goby pair is sand bed biodiversity. Very rarely do I see the shrimp capture any food during feedings. I do see it occasionally eating algae off of the LR but other than that I'm assuming its eating sand bed critters. May be related (or may be not) is the fact that my sand bed has no bristle worms or other macro sand bed hitchhikers often seen in established reef tanks. A lot of this may have to do with the area/volume of sand bed so large tanks may not experience this. Also, I don't think it has ever attacked or killed any snails, starfish, ect. I've purchased and added to the tank.

Oh, and as far as seeing the shrimp... mine spends 99.9% of the time in it's network of tunnels. I see it a couple times a month (at most) and that's often just an antennae poking out of an opening or a flash as it darts back into it's cave. If I don't see it for a few months then the snapping sound lets me know it's still alive and kicking.

HTH,
Tom

[iyachtuxivm]

Originally Posted by Tom@HaslettMI

No experience with Aurora gobies, so I can't help there. But I have the Shrimp Gobies issue of Coral magazine and according to it Cryptocentrus gobies should be paired with Alpheus shrimp... you your pairing should be good. They do warn that the goby should not have a concave midsection (aka be skinny) or you run the risk of the shrimp eating it!

My experience with a Yellow watchman/tiger pistol pair has been good and I think you'll enjoy the character they'll bring to your tank. As far as rock slides go... if you have a solid rock base that has good contact with the bottom glass you should have no troubles. However, my shrimp has occasionally buried corals placed on the sand bed or even moved them to incorporate into cave openings. I've never lost anything due to these activities.

Another consideration with adding a shrimp/goby pair is sand bed biodiversity. Very rarely do I see the shrimp capture any food during feedings. I do see it occasionally eating algae off of the LR but other than that I'm assuming its eating sand bed critters. May be related (or may be not) is the fact that my sand bed has no bristle worms or other macro sand bed hitchhikers often seen in established reef tanks. A lot of this may have to do with the area/volume of sand bed so large tanks may not experience this. Also, I don't think it has ever attacked or killed any snails, starfish, ect. I've purchased and added to the tank.

Oh, and as far as seeing the shrimp... mine spends 99.9% of the time in it's network of tunnels. I see it a couple times a month (at most) and that's often just an antennae poking out of an opening or a flash as it darts back into it's cave. If I don't see it for a few months then the snapping sound lets me know it's still alive and kicking.

HTH,
Tom

I have never had a rock slide either because all the main rock is on the glass as well. But corals placed on the sand bed get caught in cave ins or dragged to make part of a new cave. I have seen the shrimp about once a month at night with a red light thats it. I never hear it snap.I have noticed the same issue with sand bed critters or lack there of but that could be the leopard wrasse too.

[jimsflies]

Great info guys! Still interested in learning all I can about these guys.

[jimsflies]

Do you think it's possible to also have a jawfish in the biocube with a shrimp goby? Or is that asking for problems?

[MizTanks]

Awesome choice Jim! I have a Yellow Nose Prawn Goby/pistol shrimp and they are such a joy to watch~at dinner time the goby grabs the biggest pieces he can fit in his mouth and turns around and spits them into the opening of his home~where of course his little buddy awaits~it is so cool to watch these two~for me having a smaller tank this has added so much to it~very entertaining!

[joe ringbloom]

i have a randall and a tiger they are the coolest things to watch every now and then you will see them apart but not often i love coming home to see what the shrimp has done. my tank is different every day except when he is molting. and at night you can tell when he is in a bad mood because all you hear is clicking. the only bad thing is i wondering what to do if the goby or shrimp every dies because they are the best of friends. he does bury my favai every now and then but no big deal. Side not pepermint shrimp dont last long around the shrimp