2 shrimp no goby

[Funtrader]

So to make this quick. I had bought a Randall's goby and a candy cane shrimp a few month back, One day they both disappear. So i decided to by a tiger shrimp and a wheeler. A few weeks back the wheller goby past away so inwas ledt qith just the tiger shrimp. Now I am remodeling the aquascape and come and long an behold the candy cane shrimp comes out!!! It had to ve maybe 4 month or so that I have not seen it. But now the question is I have a tiger pistol shrimp and a candy cane shrimp should I get 2 goby or just one and hope it pairs with one of the shrimp and the other shrimp stays alone? I notice that the two shrimp did a borrow on the same side of the tank and almost next to each other..

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

But now the question is I have a tiger pistol shrimp and a candy cane shrimp should I get 2 goby or just one and hope it pairs with one of the shrimp and the other shrimp stays alone? I notice that the two shrimp did a borrow on the same side of the tank and almost next to each other..

For the shrimp, I'd say get 2, but you'd need to make sure the gobies get along well enough, which may require a mated pair. I'm not sure how that would work with the 2 shrimp being of different species, but I'd be interested to find out.

Some info on pairing these guys that may help:

It's absolutely worth a shot.

They are monogamous and will share a burrow - and not just for the mating season, but permanently (and most Alpheus spp. are this way - see the links at the bottom). I would assume they have two separate sexes (i.e. that they aren't hermaphroditic), but I don't know for sure. Additionally, I'm not sure how to sex the shrimp, but I've heard it's quite difficult to do without taking the shrimp out of the water.

If you're careful with the pairings, you can get two gobies and two shrimp living and breeding in the same burrow:

"When the sexual maturity is reached, normally a pair male-female of gobies shares the same burrow together with a pair of shrimps."
(Quote from the reefs.com article linked below.)

A quick note here on pistol shrimp diet - pistol shrimp do not seem to be predatory, rather they seem to be more opportunistic, omnivorous scavengers (the only "hunting" that seems to take place outside of the burrow is done by the gobies, not the shrimp, and - to my knowledge - no one has ever confirmed if the shrimp actually eat the "prey" brought to them by the gobies; it might be that the goby eats them rather than the shrimp, or the shrimp might eat them as people generally assume):

Goby and shrimp associations: more than meets the eye - Coral Reefs

link.springer.com

For examples of the shrimp and goby pairings (both in and out of aquariums), see these links:

https://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/nftt/index.php

Aquarium Fish: Sharing a small house without conflicts: the pistol shrimp and the shrimpgoby’s life

Coral Reefs, thousand of species, thousand of associations: but the relationship between little gobies and their shrimp partners is one of the most famous and better balanced, where everybody wins and nobody loses. A wonderful example of mutualistic symbiosis.

reefs.com

UWL Website

Breeding and Heterosexual Pairing in the Snapping Shrimp Alpheus estuariensis (Caridea: Alpheidae) in a Tropical Bay in Northeastern Brazil

Abstract. We investigated aspects of the breeding biology, including the reproductive period, egg production, and heterosexual pairing of the snapping shri

academic.oup.com

I can't find the paper where it was discussed, but I remember reading through where someone tested four different methods for introducing/pairing broodstock. 3 of the 4 were pretty effective for getting them to pair while the fourth had frequent aggression.

I only remember two methods off-hand: one method was just dropping them into the same tank; the other was putting them in breeder boxes (or breeder box like setups) where they could see each other and sense the chemicals in the water from each other but not actually interact with each other physically. Dropping them in is the one that often resulted in aggression, so I wouldn't recommend that. I'd introduce them through the breeder box method. In theory, you should be able to tell if they're aggressive/calm and if they're bonded or not within a few days/weeks. (That said, these methods may be more effective on fish that do more swimming and less sitting in a burrow; I'm not sure, but I'd be curious to find out.)

With the shrimp, you can theoretically sex them (though you may need some magnification help - see the quote below) and introduce them to hopefully pair the same way as the fish; but if you're unable to sex them, then you'd basically just get two and skip to the introductions.

How to sex the shrimp according to Bob Fenner (I know this method holds true for Synalpheus spp., but I can't find any verification that it works for Alpheus spp. as well):

"Very hard to distinguish sexes externally... Females are characterized by gonopores with U-shaped slits on the coxae of the third pereopods (first walking legs) while males have oval gonopore openings on the coxae of the fifth pereopods (third or last walking legs"*

*Source:

FAQs about Pistol (including Goby) Shrimps, Reproduction/Culture

Some more info on pistol shrimp and their diets/behavior:

Pistol shrimp killing everything?!

I don't like these old threads bad information. Yes japanese red pistols are a threat, but even big tiger pistol shrimp are nearly blind scavengers who are barely able to collect floating meat from the water column much less kill a healthy free swimming fish. They will scavenge a fish corpse in...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Fritz05]

I had a watchman goby / tiger pistol shrimp pair and a separate candy cane (alone) in my 65g for two years no problem. I just never saw the candy cane. I recently added a Yasha goby and it paired with the candy cane. Now the candy cane is more out and about and still no problems with the two shrimp/goby pairs, even though the watchman goby does wander close to thee burrow of the yasha/candy cane pair. Their burrows however are at opposite ends of the aquarium