Pistol shrimp moving sand (looking for solution)

[Karen00]

Hello fellow saltines,

I'm looking for some suggestions regarding my pistol shrimp moving sand around. Firstly, I knew these little guys were busy beavers when I got him so that's not my query. My pistol and I do this daily dance where he moves most of the sand from one side of the tank to the other side where he has made his burrow under a rock with his buddy my Hi Fin goby. I then move it back to the side of the tank he got it from and round and round we go. He has almost buried the rock they are under. I have no corals yet thank goodness.

I was wondering if I simply add more sand to the other side whether he will leave it alone? Do these guys stop after they feel secure or will my guy continue to move sand from the other side of the tank regardless of how much I add? Also, are there any corals that are OK with sand being on them? My pistol throws sand over one of the prime areas I planned to add coral. LOL

 

[Little c big D]

I don't think they stop. He may not touch the new sand. Wouldn't count on it though. They never stop working

 

[Karen00]

I don't think they stop. He may not touch the new sand. Wouldn't count on it though. They never stop working

That's what I thought. I don't want to curb his enthusiasm but come on... How much sand does one shrimp need to feel safe?! LOL

 

[Little c big D]

That's what I thought. I don't want to curb his enthusiasm but come on... How much sand does one shrimp need to feel safe?! LOL

I agree lol. Mine is not quite so ambitious but I did use large base rocks and a thick bed of sand. I've always been afraid they will collapse the structure on themselves

 

[Sharkbait19]

It’s amazing how much sand my shrimp finds…sometimes I think he fills his hole back up just to empty it again…
I had to rescape partially because he was gonna topple the rockwork…

 

[Reef.]

Hello fellow saltines,

I'm looking for some suggestions regarding my pistol shrimp moving sand around. Firstly, I knew these little guys were busy beavers when I got him so that's not my query. My pistol and I do this daily dance where he moves most of the sand from one side of the tank to the other side where he has made his burrow under a rock with his buddy my Hi Fin goby. I then move it back to the side of the tank he got it from and round and round we go. He has almost buried the rock they are under. I have no corals yet thank goodness.

I was wondering if I simply add more sand to the other side whether he will leave it alone? Do these guys stop after they feel secure or will my guy continue to move sand from the other side of the tank regardless of how much I add? Also, are there any corals that are OK with sand being on them? My pistol throws sand over one of the prime areas I planned to add coral. LOL

Lol you say you understand they move sand around but then go on to ask how to stop it!

You could try burying a small pvp tube see if he prefers that as his permanent home, the roof won’t fall in so he might move in permanently.

 

[Karen00]

I agree lol. Mine is not quite so ambitious but I did use large base rocks and a thick bed of sand. I've always been afraid they will collapse the structure on themselves

That is exactly what's happening to me. Thankfully I just have two rocks (it's only a 5g) but the rock on the side of the tank he's pulling the sand from is now leaning because he's moved enough sand it's almost bare bottom now. Haha. Actually he and my Hi Fin used to inhabit the rock that's now leaning but they abandoned it and moved over to the new rock I recently added. I can't figure out why. They are almost identical rocks. Haha.

 

[New&no clue]

They never stop. I have had mine for several years and he moved sand all day every day. You can try the PVC trick. I have heard of others who have had success with that.

 

[Karen00]

It’s amazing how much sand my shrimp finds…sometimes I think he fills his hole back up just to empty it again…
I had to rescape partially because he was gonna topple the rockwork…

OMG we're all experiencing the same thing. Massive amounts of sand being moved and toppling rocks. Haha. I love watching him work. I'm constantly amazed to see how much sand he can move in such a short period of time! Having said that I would like him to take a break for awhile. Haha. When I see him work I keep wondering how it's possible the reefs out in the ocean haven't collapsed. Between the sand movers and sand sifters those reefs should've imploded eons ago!! LOL

 

[Karen00]

They never stop. I have had mine for several years and he moved sand all day every day. You can try the PVC trick. I have heard of others who have had success with that.

Thanks for this suggestion! I think I'm going to have to try that because my one rather large rock is about to teeter into the side of my tank. So do I simply put the rocks on the PVC?

 

[Karen00]

Lol you say you understand they move sand around but then go on to ask how to stop it!

You could try burying a small pvp tube see if he prefers that as his permanent home, the roof won’t fall in so he might move in permanently.

It's not so much I want to stop him it's more like will he ever stop? LOL I keep moving the sand back to where he pulls it from but he keeps moving it back to his rock. I got to thinking if I just added more sand instead of stealing his that maybe my woes would be resolved. What I don't want is the scenario where the more sand I add the more he will move. If that happens I will have a sand dune reaching the surface of my tank. Haha. I think I will try the PVC trick. Maybe I will put them under my rocks and secure them to the bottom. That way my rocks can't collapse and hopefully he and my Hi Fin move in. LOL

 

[New&no clue]

there are two way to do it. The first is to cut PVC into legs to support your rocks while he digs under them.

The second is to add a PVC tunnel under the rocks that he can live in. Similar to setting up a mantis tank.....

 

[TheDragonsReef]

Once you add one its their sand bed not yours anymore lol they will rearrange as they see fit.

 

[Reef.]

It's not so much I want to stop him it's more like will he ever stop? LOL I keep moving the sand back to where he pulls it from but he keeps moving it back to his rock. I got to thinking if I just added more sand instead of stealing his that maybe my woes would be resolved. What I don't want is the scenario where the more sand I add the more he will move. If that happens I will have a sand dune reaching the surface of my tank. Haha. I think I will try the PVC trick. Maybe I will put them under my rocks and secure them to the bottom. That way my rocks can't collapse and hopefully he and my Hi Fin move in. LOL

worth a try, as you say a couple will be better than just one as they do like to move around, you could also add some small stones etc as they like to use those for tunnel making, might slow the moving around down a little if they have bricks to work with, all that effort moving stones, they won’t want to move again…hopefully.

 

[MabuyaQ]

Rocks should never be placed on the sandbed but directly on the bottom of the tank. A stable rock structure build that way can't be undermined by anything burrowing in the sand. If needed use any woodsaw to create a straight/flat area on a piece of rock to maximize stability. So instead of those pvc feet you could also create stone feet.

 

[DaneGer21]

My pistol only moved sand on day one. Now he just hangs out at his hole. Maybe I got lucky.

 

[GHOSTLY]

Yeah... They do that.

 

[Karen00]

there are two way to do it. The first is to cut PVC into legs to support your rocks while he digs under them.

The second is to add a PVC tunnel under the rocks that he can live in. Similar to setting up a mantis tank.....

Very nice!! Thanks so much for posting these pics. It looks like PVC pipe gets moved to the top of the "buy" list! Haha.

 

[Karen00]

My pistol only moved sand on day one. Now he just hangs out at his hole. Maybe I got lucky.

I'll trade you shrimps!! Haha. You did get lucky!

 

[Karen00]

Rocks should never be placed on the sandbed but directly on the bottom of the tank. A stable rock structure build that way can't be undermined by anything burrowing in the sand. If needed use any woodsaw to create a straight/flat area on a piece of rock to maximize stability. So instead of those pvc feet you could also create stone feet.

Thanks for this! Ya, I realized after I set up my tank that I did it wrong. Thankfully I just have two pieces of rock and not a structure that would be destroyed if it started shifting. At the rate my little guy is moving the sand my bigger rock is going to be resting on the bottom fairly soon.