From my understanding a pistol shrimp is a natural pairing. I'm positive I have seen some posts on here where people tried other shrimp and it didn't go so well. I'm quite sure there are some gobies that also aren't meant to pair with a shrimp. I am not an expert in all gobies and all shrimp so if you have a particular pair in mind it might be best to ask here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/n...for-your-tank-post-here-and-well-help.200605/
Always pistol shrimp, but not all pistol shrimp. Also not all gobies.
I think algae eaters hang out to see if the other one finds something. My foxface and Tomini swim together. My dwarf angel used to swim with them too before I removed him.
My YWG killed a Candy Cane pistol shrimp but has taken well with our tiger. I agree with most of the thread that they are my favorite part of my tank. So interesting. I go to the beach and bring back shells just for the pistol shrimp to see what it does with them. As of now it has a pretty epic arrangement of them to keep the burrow open on both sides.
Mine uses shells and large crushed coral chunks to reinforce the burrow. Who taught them that?
Diamond watchman? Is that sand sifter? If yes, I don't think it forms a pair, I believe only the yellow watchman does as well as typical prawn gobies (Pink Bar, Yasha, a few other small species)
No. Look for the genus Cryptocentrus Those are the shrimp gobies.
On top of the gobies that @DoomervilleG and @jasonrusso mentioned I have a Hi Fin Red Banded goby that is one of the types that pairs. Some other names for this type are Striped goby, or the Blackray Shrimp goby but most people and LFS's refer to them as Hi Fins. They're a bit smaller than the YWG.
That is such a fascinating and bizarre relationship. I understand what the crab gets out of the relationship (arming yourself with a portable stinging machine is quite handy) but what does the anemone get out of it? Does the crab give it food? The pics are priceless of this dynamic duo! Haha.
This is another awesome one! My LFS has an awesome display tank that has some giant extreme rainbow BTA’s, and they have 2 anemone crabs that host in the nems. It’s super cool to see them chilling in those long tentacles. :cool:
