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'Best' way to get rid of Pistol Shrimp?


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  1. #1
    CR Member
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    Jan 2013
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    Default 'Best' way to get rid of Pistol Shrimp?

    I just probably lost my gorgeous Flordia Ricodera Mushroom to my Pistol Shrimp. And, that's the last straw. The other two coral he almost killed were in the sand; this one was on the rockwork. I hadn't glued it down yet because I plan on getting another 2-3 pieces of LR and not exactly sure how I want to finish off my aquascaping.

    He pulled it off, and used it as a doorstop, and now my mushroom that had about been to split has barley any tissue left at all. It had two mouths, now only has one.

    As much as that shrimp entertains me, he's going.

    Does anyone have any ideas on how to catch him, without removing all the rock out of the sand?

    My initial idea would be to 'section off' the tank with some eggcrate, and pin him so I could catch him.But that would require me pulling the rock out of the sand, to do so.

    I know these buggers are fast. I'm sure the watchman goby will be fine, without him. But that dude is going, one way or another, before he wrecks more of my tank or my coral. He'd previously used my scoly as a doorstop, too. And tried to steal my plate coral (caught him in the act of doing that), and tried to steal my acro as well (caught him doing that, too).

    I put plenty of empty snail shells around his little cave, but ... apparently that only worked for so long.

  2. #2
    jasper - Reefkeeper CR Member
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    Default Re: 'Best' way to get rid of Pistol Shrimp?

    Before you go through the nightmare process of removing him try putting some smaller pieces of rubble near his entrance(s)....I'm assuming this is in a smaller system since you need the space around his lair for corals?

    Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

  3. #3
    dputt88 - Reefkeeper CR Member
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    Doug
    Awards Tank of the Month - January 2013 Tank of the Month Post and Reply Award - Finding Nemo PAR contest Fishbowl Drawing Winner - Summer Swap Fishbowl Winner (Red Dragon)

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    PBITAWA

    JK i really have no idea, but i would assume youre best bet is a trap of some sort.

  4. #4
    CR Member
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    Default

    It's a 125. He has about 8 entrances on the right side, another 3-4 on the left side of the tank. I've put rubble, and empty snail shells there; some astrea and turbo snail shells, and he's used those for awhile at this particular entrance, he left my scoly & my plate alone and I figured all was good. Last night everything was fine. I got up this morning to dose, and apparently he decided to rework it. And like I said, the mushroom wasn't in the sand, it was actually on the rockwork. So he climbed up onto the rock vertically, and took it.

    The guy really does entertain me, and he's cool, but I'm not going to keep on worrying about what coral he's going to snatch next and stress/kill. I know he's just doing his thing, and I've tried working around that as I did want to keep him.

  5. #5
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    Default

    have you tried pairing him up with a Goby?
    he has quite the undergravel network going on!!!
    [imglink]http://www.rowelab.com/AquaController/sig.php?n=flynnstone[/imglink]

  6. #6
    jasper - Reefkeeper CR Member
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    Default Re: 'Best' way to get rid of Pistol Shrimp?

    Quote Originally Posted by Flynnstone View Post
    have you tried pairing him up with a Goby?
    he has quite the undergravel network going on!!!
    It is paired with a watchman

    Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

  7. #7
    thepanfish - Reefkeeper CR Member
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    Default

    Try a bottle trap with a piece of whatever you feed inside.


    Since you're looking to catch a shrimp I'd use a Dasani type water bottle instead. Also, attach some monofilament fishing line so you can pull it out without spooking stuff.

  8. #8
    CR Member
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    Default

    Should I forgo feeding the tank a day or two, before I try this, so he's a bit hungrier? I tried it and gave it about two hours, and he kept on going towards it, then backing up and retreating. Or would it be better to try it at night? Of course, I caught the attention of a bunch of hermits, and some snails, but those aren't the jerks I want.

    I think my mushroom is going to make it (thank god) but, it'll be a long, long while before it looks as pretty as it did before.

  9. #9
    thepanfish - Reefkeeper CR Member
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    Quote Originally Posted by Danroth View Post
    Should I forgo feeding the tank a day or two, before I try this, so he's a bit hungrier? I tried it and gave it about two hours, and he kept on going towards it, then backing up and retreating. Or would it be better to try it at night? Of course, I caught the attention of a bunch of hermits, and some snails, but those aren't the jerks I want.

    I think my mushroom is going to make it (thank god) but, it'll be a long, long while before it looks as pretty as it did before.
    That would be a good idea. I would also try to bury it partway near the sand and not directly in front of its burrow.

  10. #10
    CR Member
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    Default

    Well I got him. Didn't manage to catch him with the bottle trap, did try several times. I ended up waiting until he was out, and pulled out a few of the rocks in his cave network; the "middle" rocks as it were as he was on one of the far ends. I then removed the far-end rock, goby split. And, the pistol was far, far easier to catch than I'd seen or estimated. He just kind of strolled, looking around as if he were both dumbfouned & lost -- maybe he had no idea what was going on without his goby pal.

    Either way, he's going back to the fish store tomorrow, trading him for some coral.

    Thanks everyone for the tips/suggestions.

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