Failed YWG/Pistol Shrimp Bonding

[ecas12]

A couple days ago I found a tiger pistol that was a perfect size for my smaller YWG (both ~1"). Brought the shrimp home, managed to easily catch the goby, and put them in an acclimation box together. Everything looked great, shrimp was next to goby, touching him with antennae. Gave them a night in the acclimation box just to get them used to each other, and then morning after (yesterday morning), tried to drop them right next to each other. The shrimp scurried into a hole of one of my rocks and the goby lost the shrimp, but did try looking for him. Came back a few hours later and the goby had decided to take refuge in a cave far from where the shrimp had ended up. As of this morning, the goby is still in the same cave, and I have found where the shrimp decided to make its burrow, not close to each other. Goby eats but refuses to come out of the cave to look for the shrimp, and the shrimp is barely visible as it is barricading the only entrance to his burrow with sand. Do I just have to give it more time, or should I try to direct the goby toward where the shrimp is? Only thing concerning me from a pairing perspective is that the goby hasn't made an effort to look around and is just sitting in the same cave I found him in last night.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Took my aurora over a year to find my shrimp. I had to pull the goby for a qt and fallow, upon reintroduction they finally paired. I’d say give it some time.

 

[Jason Scalise]

give it some time. they have a habit of finding each other, for sure.
may take a few days or more, perhaps.
but I suspect they can 'smell' each other's presence.

 

[merkmerk73]

I'd just give it time

I watched my YWG just wallhack over to a hidden candy cane just a few nights ago.

They were otherwise ignoring eachother, and for whatever reason the YWG just left his normal cave and went swimming over to where the candy cane was.

So I put a net in there to spook him into the nearest hole which is where the candy cane was.

Heard 3 snaps over the course of 5 minutes and I guess they sorted it out and now the YWG lives in the hole and doesn't come out as much.

 

[Jason Scalise]

Sorry about the blue lights on this one....
but here is the pair I just put in my tank over the weekend.
instant pals.
I am sure yours will link up soon.
besides...what else do they have to do all day?....

 

[ecas12]

Alright sounds like I need to give it a little longer. Being patient in this hobby is so hard! I just want to see them happy together.

 

[ecas12]

Still no luck on the pairing but now I have a different question. I know where the shrimp is but I rarely see him. I have tried shoving some food into where I believe it is hiding during the day, but is there a better way of feeding them? Or does it just take them some time to set up a burrow before I see it scooping out sand during the day?

 

[Jason Scalise]

They come out at night and meander around looking for food. If you put some food in the hole, I am sure they found it.
I would not worry about it however.
They are fastidious so I am confident they will figure it out.
If you feed other inhabitants there should be plenty of left overs.
Pellets that sink can be an option if you are particularly concerned however.

 

[Cthulukelele]

You will rarely see the pistol shrimp if it doesn't pair with a goby. Even then once they do it takes quite awhile to get comfy. Mine will venture up to maybe a foot from its hole now if given the go ahead by its watchman friend, but they were paired for almost 6 months before it'd leave the hole more than a half inch.

 

[killer2001]

My pistol shrimp does not show its face if the goby is not with it. They will eventually find each other. The goby will venture out at night at some point in time and stumble upon the shrimp, next time you wake up they will magically be working together lol.

 

[Crofty]

My small pistol shrimp and YWG took long weeks to pair up. I tried luring them together with food and even proding the goby over to where I knew the shrimp was lurking. Didnt work at all.
The YWG wasn't doing well adjusting to the tank and would spend alot of time swimming at the top. Thought I was going to lose him. I had given up and was considering rehoming the goby when one random night they decided to be best buds. No idea how/why. Both doing great now.

Give it time and when you have given up, then they will pair, hopefully

 

[Sharkbait19]

Still no luck on the pairing but now I have a different question. I know where the shrimp is but I rarely see him. I have tried shoving some food into where I believe it is hiding during the day, but is there a better way of feeding them? Or does it just take them some time to set up a burrow before I see it scooping out sand during the day?

I rarely direct feed mine, he always just finds food around the tank.

 

[ecas12]

Update on all this. Goby found the cave and has been unseen for around two weeks. Pretty sure pistol shrimp is still alive as I see sand moving around near where the burrow is. Is there any way to confirm that the goby is alive? Or will they sometimes just never reappear from the burrow.

 

[OSUTeege]

I went months with the two never pairing, then for about a 2 week time I never saw the goby or the shrimp. Then all the sudden I see them both outside of a cave with the shrimp digging and the ymg guarding.

let them work out their new relationship.

 

[Jason Scalise]

Agreed. They need “Alone time”.