New pistol shrimp not accepting goby.....yet??

[jasonrusso]

I had purchased a mated goby/ pistol shrimp some time ago. My shrimp died recently and not only did I miss watching him dig, but my goby was all depressed and had no purpose anymore. My LFS had a "green Caribbean pistol" which is of the Alpheus species so it should be compatible. I got the shrimp on Thursday afternoon and he is doing well. There are tunnels under everything which I had before.

Now the goby sits outside the burrow all day. Every once in a while I hear a loud click, so I know that he is still in there. Tonight at lights out, I saw the goby trying to needle into the burrow, then I heard the click and the goby was at his post outside the burrow.

The goby is determined, but will the shrimp eventually let him in? It has only been 2 days, but I feel bad for the little guy.

It looks kind of like this, its kind of white, but this is called "green." I've also seen actual green ones. I've also seen videos of green shrimp and gobies together so they do form a bond (I know that not all do, but I have researched this).

 

[KJ]

Some species of pistol shrimp won`t pair up with watchman gobies and can`t be predatory on other animals.

 

[lion king]

This pair are known to bond but they are individuals. While I've mostly seen them bond rather quickly, many times immediately. I have heard some may take some time, and a few others may never bond at all. Hope it works out, maybe the shrimp is just a hard a.. and wants his goby to stand guard at the door. I called my watchman "chicken little", he would ditch his shrimp and be in the hole lickity split if something startled him.

 

[jasonrusso]

This pair are known to bond but they are individuals. While I've mostly seen them bond rather quickly, many times immediately. I have heard some may take some time, and a few others may never bond at all. Hope it works out, maybe the shrimp is just a hard a.. and wants his goby to stand guard at the door. I called my watchman "chicken little", he would ditch his shrimp and be in the hole lickity split if something startled him.

I hope they do, he was bonded with the last one and I thought it was so cool.

It's definitely not the goby, he wants to make friends really bad, lol. He still sits by the burrow all day but gets snapped at if he tries to go in. I really don't want to try to catch a shrimp that has made a tunnel network.

 

[OriginalUserName]

This pair are known to bond but they are individuals. While I've mostly seen them bond rather quickly, many times immediately. I have heard some may take some time, and a few others may never bond at all. Hope it works out, maybe the shrimp is just a hard a.. and wants his goby to stand guard at the door. I called my watchman "chicken little", he would ditch his shrimp and be in the hole lickity split if something startled him.

My yellow watchman and tiger are keeping things somewhat casual. They definitely get along but rarely exhibit the real "dog walking" behavior. I hope they sort themselves out. Mine totally bails on the shrimp if it's feeding time too.

 

[jasonrusso]

My yellow watchman and tiger are keeping things somewhat casual. They definitely get along but rarely exhibit the real "dog walking" behavior. I hope they sort themselves out. Mine totally bails on the shrimp if it's feeding time too.

Mine has always bailed when it's feeding time, even with the last one. This one is still desperately waiting by the burrow but doesn't go in yet.

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

Not all in the genus Alpheus automatically bond with gobies, especially true of some Caribbean species. The Blue Legged Caribbean snapping shrimp, Alpheus formosa, will not and will act aggressively to a goby. I've read that the species has very good eyesight and is not symbiotically dependent for protection. Another, the Red Caribbean Shrimp, forms relationships with anemones, not gobies.

Not saying they won't pair up; just saying it's possible that a Caribbean snapping shrimp species may not.

 

[jasonrusso]

Not all in the genus Alpheus automatically bond with gobies, especially true of some Caribbean species. The Blue Legged Caribbean snapping shrimp, Alpheus formosa, will not and will act aggressively to a goby. I've read that the species has very good eyesight and is not symbiotically dependent for protection. Another, the Red Caribbean Shrimp, forms relationships with anemones, not gobies.

Not saying they won't pair up; just saying it's possible that a Caribbean snapping shrimp species may not.

I definitely don't have a blue Legged shrimp. Mine is not too good looking, lol.

I just read your thread. How big is your tank? You say you have non goby shrimp in there with the Randall and they keep to themselves?

How did you trap the blue legged one if I need to remove it?

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

I definitely don't have a blue Legged shrimp. Mine is not too good looking, lol.

I just read your thread. How big is your tank? You say you have non goby shrimp in there with the Randall and they keep to themselves?

How did you trap the blue legged one if I need to remove it?

My tank is a 120. The one I trapped was pretty smart - curious but cautious. It took a few tries but I managed to get him out with a plastic bottle trap. I gave him to the wife of my LFS owner who loves him and gave him a tank of his own. I still see him every time I go in there and he's about 3" now.

I later found (or rather, heard) two more of what I think are the same species in my tank that I spotted as tiny juveniles and just decided they weren't much of a threat. I see them on occasion at night. One has started to burrow in the sand; the other stays in the rocks. If you're leaning towards getting another pistol and leaving your green Caribbean in there as well I think you'd be ok as long as the new pistol does pair up and you have a tank 40 gal or bigger. I'd try a Tiger pistol. They get a little larger and pair up with many different gobies.

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

This was mine and the trap I caught him with:

 

[jasonrusso]

My tank is a 120. The one I trapped was pretty smart - curious but cautious. It took a few tries but I managed to get him out with a plastic bottle trap. I gave him to the wife of my LFS owner who loves him and gave him a tank of his own. I still see him every time I go in there and he's about 3" now.

I later found (or rather, heard) two more of what I think are the same species in my tank that I spotted as tiny juveniles and just decided they weren't much of a threat. I see them on occasion at night. One has started to burrow in the sand; the other stays in the rocks. If you're leaning towards getting another pistol and leaving your green Caribbean in there as well I think you'd be ok as long as the new pistol does pair up and you have a tank 40 gal or bigger. I'd try a Tiger pistol. They get a little larger and pair up with many different gobies.

I have a 32, so a little too small for 2.

I had a tiger pistol that was bonded (they came together). I bought 2 more tigers but they didn't ship well and died shortly after. They never seemed right.

This one came from the LFS so I knew it had already been through shipping stress. It was an alpheus and whatever I read said alpheus usually bond. It's almost impossible to identify them exactly unless it's a Randall or tiger.

Great Trap, what do you put in for bait?

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

I have a 32, so a little too small for 2.

I had a tiger pistol that was bonded (they came together). I bought 2 more tigers but they didn't ship well and died shortly after. They never seemed right.

This one came from the LFS so I knew it had already been through shipping stress. It was an alpheus and whatever I read said alpheus usually bond. It's almost impossible to identify them exactly unless it's a Randall or tiger.

Great Trap, what do you put in for bait?

Cocktail sauce!

It was a chunk of clam, I think. Any hunk that's durable would probably do. I had a lead fishing weight in it as well and pushed it a little in the sand by where I thought he was. Waited for him to finally go in and snatched him up with the attached fishing line.

As for the 32 gallon, my 40 gallon size was just a reasonable guess. It may work fine in a 32. I think it would just be important for the new pistol's safety that it bonded with the goby as soon as possible before having a run in with the existing shrimp you have now.

 

[jasonrusso]

Cocktail sauce! [emoji14]

It was a chunk of clam, I think. Any hunk that's durable would probably do. I had a lead fishing weight in it as well and pushed it a little in the sand by where I thought he was. Waited for him to finally go in and snatched him up with the attached fishing line.

As for the 32 gallon, my 40 gallon size was just a reasonable guess. It may work fine in a 32. I think it would just be important for the new pistol's safety that it bonded with the goby as soon as possible before having a run in with the existing shrimp you have now.

I'm going to give it more time either way.

The current shrimp has the tank pretty tunneled out right now. I'm not sure if there would be any room left.

 

[Eric aaa]

I had purchased a mated goby/ pistol shrimp some time ago. My shrimp died recently and not only did I miss watching him dig, but my goby was all depressed and had no purpose anymore. My LFS had a "green Caribbean pistol" which is of the Alpheus species so it should be compatible. I got the shrimp on Thursday afternoon and he is doing well. There are tunnels under everything which I had before.

Now the goby sits outside the burrow all day. Every once in a while I hear a loud click, so I know that he is still in there. Tonight at lights out, I saw the goby trying to needle into the burrow, then I heard the click and the goby was at his post outside the burrow.

The goby is determined, but will the shrimp eventually let him in? It has only been 2 days, but I feel bad for the little guy.

It looks kind of like this, its kind of white, but this is called "green." I've also seen actual green ones. I've also seen videos of green shrimp and gobies together so they do form a bond (I know that not all do, but I have researched this).

I've just bought the same species f pistol shrimp and he's always hidden, but I've also had a small yellow watchman goby disappear since I've put them in there. So who knows?? Also have a Randall's goby whs always out. But doesn't seem interested with the shrimp. But i
From what I've heard they will symbiosis with some gobies. Here's to hoping we both have good success with the pair! Ps I can hear the shrimp snapping all the time so I know he's still there!

 

[Eric aaa]

This was mine and the trap I caught him with:

Wish I had that shrimp been trying to find one for months!

 

[jasonrusso]

I've just bought the same species f pistol shrimp and he's always hidden, but I've also had a small yellow watchman goby disappear since I've put them in there. So who knows?? Also have a Randall's goby whs always out. But doesn't seem interested with the shrimp. But i
From what I've heard they will symbiosis with some gobies. Here's to hoping we both have good success with the pair! Ps I can hear the shrimp snapping all the time so I know he's still there!

You realize that post was 2 1/2 years ago? That shrimp is long gone, never paired up. I've since bought another tiger pistol (about a year ago) and they are doing well together.

I think the Randall, candy cane and tiger are all definite goby shrimp

 

[Seamore2001]

I have had good luck with tiger pistol shrimp and various shrimp gobies. However, I currently have a green pistol shrimp which refuses to host gobies and, I believe, has actively killed two yellow shrimp gobies that I tried to get host with it. The green pistol shrimp is a big fellow, about the size of a medium sized crawdad. I'm not much of a fan of this pistol and will avoid green pistols in the future.

PS: Yes, I did notice the date on the original post. OTOH, these posts are useful for others that want to know about the animals. I would have liked to know about green pistol shrimp before I purchased mine, for instance.

 

[Eric aaa]

You realize that post was 2 1/2 years ago? That shrimp is long gone, never paired up. I've since bought another tiger pistol (about a year ago) and they are doing well together.

I think the Randall, candy cane and tiger are all definite goby shrimp

Sorry didn't pay attention to the post date. Thanks for being such a nice person when mentioning it thanks, dbe

 

[jasonrusso]

Sorry didn't pay attention to the post date. Thanks for being such a nice person when mentioning it thanks, dbe

Sorry, I wasn't being evil. Just didn't know how else to say it.

 

[jasonrusso]

I have had good luck with tiger pistol shrimp and various shrimp gobies. However, I currently have a green pistol shrimp which refuses to host gobies and, I believe, has actively killed two yellow shrimp gobies that I tried to get host with it. The green pistol shrimp is a big fellow, about the size of a medium sized crawdad. I'm not much of a fan of this pistol and will avoid green pistols in the future.

PS: Yes, I did notice the date on the original post. OTOH, these posts are useful for others that want to know about the animals. I would have liked to know about green pistol shrimp before I purchased mine, for instance.

Yes, that's what I bought. A Green Caribbean pistol. Never accepted the goby.