Is my pistol shrimp alive? How can I tell?

[hds4216]

I bought an A. randalli (Candy Cane or Randall's Pistol Shrimp) from LiveAquaria about a month ago, alongside an aquacultured Yellow Watchman Goby from Biota. When the shrimp arrived, I was shocked by how small it was. It's so tiny, about the size of a small fingernail. If any of you have ever owned a Neocardinia shrimp, it was about that big. The goby was tiny too. I acclimated them and released them into the tank. I can tell the goby is alive because I see it every so often, but it mostly hides in its burrow. Its burrow is right by the rock where I released the shrimp. I have never seen the shrimp though and frankly it's so tiny I'm not hopeful I ever will. How do I know if its alive?

There's nothing that would eat it, I don't think (unless clownfish or hermit crabs are bloodthirsty?). I just can't tell if it's alive. Any ideas?

 

[((FORDTECH))]

I know my pistol shrimp is alive because I hear pop noise every few days from tank

 

[hds4216]

I know my pistol shrimp is alive because I hear pop noise every few days from tank

I do hear that every so often. I can't tell if it's my pistol shrimp though. He's so tiny it seems impossible that sound could come from him.

 

[Bepis]

I do hear that every so often. I can't tell if it's my pistol shrimp though. He's so tiny it seems impossible that sound could come from him.

Bro I just saw my pistol shrimp for the first time in 1.5 years. It survived a cupramine treatment.

 

[hds4216]

Bro I just saw my pistol shrimp for the first time in 1.5 years. It survived a cupramine treatment.

An absolute legend.

 

[Bars]

I have a Randalli pistol shrimp as well that I haven't seen since I released him into the tank (a month ago I think?). However, I hear his popping sounds a few times during the day and A LOT when the light turns off.

Mine is the size of a small amano shrimp, so it's tiny as well. The first time I heard him popping I thought my tank cracked. You can definitely hear such a tiny pistol shrimp

If you still hear pops I'd say he's still alive.

 

[Bepis]

An absolute legend.

The dude is an inch and a half. Me and my fam always heard pops but even when I removed 99% of the sand from the tank I never found him. Then after that I rescaped... still no sighting. Two weeks ago my dad was feeding the tank and said he saw two red pincers from under the rock. Next day I fed Coral food... guess who shows up.
Here’s a video

 

[Bepis]

Why doesn’t it work

 

[Bepis]

here is some pics instead

 

[hds4216]

here is some pics instead

Nice! Yours is a lot bigger than mine. Also, just FYI, your video worked for me. I had to download it and use VLC, but it did work.

 

[Bepis]

K cool

 

[hds4216]

I'll note that I don't see any reason why he should be dead. He survived shipping and when I got him the water he was shipped in was 56 F, so he seems pretty resilient.

 

[Swanny]

Yeah, if you hear those unknown pops, that's the shrimp. It took me a bit to realize what the noise was too. I do see my Randall's Pistol Shrimp every week or so clearing sand out of the burrow, and he's small like yours.

 

[PR_nano]

I see mine almost every day. Push some sand close to his borrow and he will come out to push the sand out.

 

[hds4216]

Update: I saw him today! He looks bigger too. I blasted some sand into (what I assumed) was his hole and watched like a hawk. Earlier this evening he came out and fixed it all up. He lives in the same hole as my goby so I'm assuming they're paired up. Yay!

 

[Cole.mormon]

Mine survived copper at theraputic levels

 

[Bepis]

Mine survived copper at theraputic levels

Ya mine too

 

[Mikelarsen2010]

I previously owned an aurora goby and a white and brown pistol shrimp about 7 years ago. Shortly after I got them someone donated a nice piece of live rock to my tank. That day I started hearing several smaller snaps and a few days later I saw a molt from a pinky nail sized shrimp. I have never seen that shrimp.... ever. I have transfered all my rock but the two pieces I suspected he was living in and sure enough.... he keeps snapping. Nope....still haven't seen him. My original pistol shrimp ended up passing away but I did transfer my goby to a new tank. The only other place this tiny guy might be hiding is in the sump of this biocube. If really love to see him because he must be really small to fit in any of the hundreds of crevices and tunnels of these rocks. I also have a terrific population of copepods I know he's using as food source.

 

[Jocey76]

What does the snap sound like? We have one, maybe about a half inch, and never see it. Today I hear a few faint popping sounds, almost like a watch tick. Could this be the shrimp?