Will two Pistol Shrimp added at the same time fight?

[Zionas]

If I get a pair of Yellow Watchman Gobies and a pair of Pistol Shrimp, will the Pistol Shrimp fight with each other or will they pair up easily? Assuming everything goes well will both shrimp and gobies all share the same burrow? If not I’ll just pair the gobies and get one shrimp for both of them.


Thanks.

 

[ichthyogeek]

It depends. Are you buying a pair of each? Or are you buying 2 fish and 2 shrimp? If they're pre-paired, then there shouldn't be any problem. If not, there may be infighting as the YWGs figure out which one is dominant and which one is submissive. I can't remember if Alpheus shrimp are hermaphroditic or gonochoristic, but if they're the former there shouldn't be any fighting.

If everything goes well and you wind up with paired shrimp and paired gobies, they'll all share the same burrow.

 

[Zionas]

The Gobies will be in the tank before the shrimp as my LFS doesn’t like importing Pistol Shrimp so I’ll have to order the shrimp online unfortunately. How bad does the infighting between gobies usually get? Is it a duel to the death or just some aggressive posing at the start? Are they hermaphrodites like Clowns?

As for the shrimp I’m really not sure whether they’re hermaphrodites or not.

BTW unrelated but you suggested I swap out my pair of Yellowtail Damsels for C. Cyanea in my final stocking list thread. The Blue Devils are very pretty indeed but aren’t they a lot more aggressive to other fish than the Yellowtails? I do know they can be sexed as males have a blue tail and females have a transparent tail.

 

[jphilip813]

If I get a pair of Yellow Watchman Gobies and a pair of Pistol Shrimp, will the Pistol Shrimp fight with each other or will they pair up easily? Assuming everything goes well will both shrimp and gobies all share the same burrow? If not I’ll just pair the gobies and get one shrimp for both of them.


Thanks.

I actually have two of them (two shrimp and two goby's) in my refugium...and I have live sand at the bottom of the tank. THe shimp are fine, the two that fight are the Goby's...even though they are on different parts of the refugium. But each of them are paired thought

 

[ichthyogeek]

The Gobies will be in the tank before the shrimp as my LFS doesn’t like importing Pistol Shrimp so I’ll have to order the shrimp online unfortunately. How bad does the infighting between gobies usually get? Is it a duel to the death or just some aggressive posing at the start? Are they hermaphrodites like Clowns?

As for the shrimp I’m really not sure whether they’re hermaphrodites or not.

BTW unrelated but you suggested I swap out my pair of Yellowtail Damsels for C. Cyanea in my final stocking list thread. The Blue Devils are very pretty indeed but aren’t they a lot more aggressive to other fish than the Yellowtails? I do know they can be sexed as males have a blue tail and females have a transparent tail.

Not a duel to the death, but aggression will be limited if you can get a very large individual and a very small individual. They are hermaphrodites!

Best to ask your question in that previous thread ;). I can’t recall all the details off the top of my head.

 

[rkpetersen]

I've tried things like this many times, mostly with candy cane pistol shrimp.
Sometimes you'll get lucky and two shrimp will share a burrow. Best result, definitely happens even if not paired before.
If you have more than one burrow available, unpaired shrimp are likely to each occupy their own.
If you add more shrimp than there are burrows available, there may be conflict with the weaker shrimp dying.

 

[Zionas]

I see. Are they Yellow Watchman Gobies? :) Even when paired they still fight, wow. Any signs of physical damage?