Tired
2500 Club Member
Ah, yep, that might happen. Pistols are really loud, but their claws are mostly to scare predators away, not to kill things. Hopefully the pom will have learned not to go over there.
Pom Pom Crab in 5g with goby/pistol pair
- Thread starter Karen00
- Start date
- Tagged users None
OP
OP
Karen00
2500 Club Member
I think the pom has learned his lesson. Haha. I wish I had my phone with me to get some video. It was quite amusing to watch although there was a brief moment when shrimpy reached out snapping and he almost cut off crabby's pom. That made my heart skip a beat and I thought I was going to have to separate them until they backed away from each other on their own.
This is my second Pom, and the first was in a 40 Cube, assumed he was gone several times over a year, but would show up now and then. the tank was relocated to my son and either went deep in the rocks or didn't make the tripI thought I would provide an update. It has only been a day but thankfully my pom is still alive. I figured if there was going to be bloodshed between my pistol and my pom it would most likely happen within the first 24 hrs.
There was a dramatic moment earlier when my pistol and pom came face to face with each other. Shrimpy's claws started waving with a click, click, click (boy that was loud) and crabby's poms started waving with a swish, swish, swish and all of this posturing lasting a few minutes. I thought I was going to have to intervene before someone got hurt but finally they backed away from each other and thankfully they seem to be ignoring each other now.
the 2nd is in a 15g WB is still hard to find, but had a sighting a day or two back. This is a heavy crustacean tank, with pistol, fire, peppermint, skunk cleaner shrimps, 2 emerald, halloween and porcelain crabs - all seem to get along
kittenbritches
The Cat's Pajamas
@bnord I was going to ask the same thing!
I have a pom coming this weekend! Loved seeing your little guy!! They are so freaking cute!Pom has been added. Gee he is super tiny (about 1/2") and one of the cutest creatures I have seen! Now I'm more concerned my pistol might get him! I dropped him high up on a rock. He found a fake silicone coral I have in there that I was using to adjust the flow from my new powerhead. Fingers crossed my pistol leaves him alone!
OP
OP
Karen00
2500 Club Member
That is amazing! I love my little guy and he's hilarious to feed. He waves his poms around to catch the food I squirt in his direction. I bought him to be my cleanup crew but he seems more content to sit on his rock and wait for me to feed him. Haha. He loves it when I add pods to the tank but seems to be fine with the frozen mysis and blood worms I feed.I have a pom coming this weekend! Loved seeing your little guy!! They are so freaking cute!
The one thing that's annoying me is that he's taken to hanging out over one of the entrances where my pistol shrimp emerges and he punches my shrimp when he comes out. It's hilarious to watch but at the same time when I don't see crabby for a few hours I keep thinking he must've swung one punch too many at shrimpy. There's a whole tank for him to hang out but he chooses the one spot I would prefer he wouldn't. Haha.
OP
OP
Karen00
2500 Club Member
Thanks for this! I honestly wouldn't think it possible for him to disappear in a 5g but he manages to do it. Sometimes I find him frozen on a rock and he's blended right into it. I swear he can change colors! Haha. I mentioned to another commenter that he's taken to hanging out over the entrance to where my pistol shrimp emerges. The next thing I see is my pom punching my pistol. There's an entire tank to hang out but he chooses that spot. I swear he hangs out there on purpose. Haha. One of these days he will throw one punch too many and that will be the last I see him. Ugh!
You are right, I think despite the boxing gloves and the fancy robe it cannot take much of a punch
mine came with a visible egg clutch by the way, so i can call her her
OP
OP
Karen00
2500 Club Member
Wow, an egg clutch?! Did they hatch? Wouldn't that be something although I guess most of them would be pomless unless your tank happens to be growing them. Haha. BTW: You mentioned a floating back that your pom hangs out on. Do you have a pic you can share? That sounds cool!
Tired
2500 Club Member
Unfortunately, crab larvae are planktonic, go through multiple stages before landing, and generally require a great deal of care to have any chance of surviving to adulthood. There's a reason you don't really see captive-bred crabs for sale much. It's certainly possible, but it's not something that just happens of its own accord in the average reef tank. Or any reef tank.
As for the poms, the crabs are known to "share" with each other, though most likely this is just one of them stealing an anemone from another if the first finds itself with no anemones. Since they can split one anemone into two, all they need is to have one anemone, and they're set.
As for the poms, the crabs are known to "share" with each other, though most likely this is just one of them stealing an anemone from another if the first finds itself with no anemones. Since they can split one anemone into two, all they need is to have one anemone, and they're set.
assume the hatched eggs became coral or goby food in the circle (or cube in this case) of life. Tired is right on. Will see if I can get a picture of the reclusive one - but can show the floating scape at any rate.
Did
working on an algae out break, but otherwise it runs itself
Could not see her in the rocks, was there 2 days ago, but here the floating scape, you can see the GSP has done its thing up the back to help take the weight off the magnets currently hold the rock
working on an algae out break, but otherwise it runs itself
And the master landscaper… AND THE FOREMANDid
Could not see her in the rocks, was there 2 days ago, but here the floating scape, you can see the GSP has done its thing up the back to help take the weight off the magnets currently hold the rock
working on an algae out break, but otherwise it runs itself
Attachments
Wyvern
Active Member
He's a monster goby, but a baby, no more than 2", worried he would be shrimp food.
Tired
2500 Club Member
A candycane or tiger pistol shrimp shouldn't kill its goby unless something goes very wrong. Those are two known safe species, that have nothing to gain from killing a goby. Green pistol shrimp should also be fine (had one in my first tank, he was chill), but aren't as commonly seen for sale.
I had a candycane shrimp kill a goby. I think I introduced it too soon to its lost mate and it was not happy. The goby was a baby too. Poor thing. After that, I was careful who I introduced to the shrimp. Picky guy.
OP
OP
Karen00
2500 Club Member
Wow, thanks for this great bit of info! Disappointing about the baby crabs but totally understandable how difficult it would be to raise them. I'm sure most of them get eaten in the tank shortly after they hatch. I had to setup a completely separate system to raise my freshwater goby fry after the first clutch was decimated in my tank after they hatched.
OP
OP
Karen00
2500 Club Member
Amazing and you're spot on about master landscaper and the foreman. Haha. My pistol has almost completely buried a rock I recently put in. I didn't realize I had that much sand in the tank!! Haha.
Thanks for posting the pics of your floating scape! That is awesome looking! I've been wanting to do something exactly like this so I can get more real estate in my tank. So is that a real rock or a faux rock? If it's real I'm surprised the magnets were able to hold it up!
OP
OP
Karen00
2500 Club Member
Thanks for posting this! You make a great point about compatibility. I wonder if it's safer to match a new pair by size. So if your shrimp is bigger and more mature then a new goby mate should be the same (and vice versa). I'm kind of shocked at how much bigger my candy cane pistol has grown in the three months I've had him and would be concerned about introducing a baby goby if I had to.
Similar threads
