YWG with 2 shrimp friends

[Jamie9]

So, I’d never heard of a goby bonding with two shrimps before. I noticed today that mine has, so just thought I’d post this in case anybody else is wondering sometime.

I’ve got a yellow watchman goby. A few days ago I got an order in from Dr. Reef, including a candy stripe pistol shrimp. He was kind enough to include two shrimp, as I assume they often don’t do well in shipping. Happily both survived, so I put one in the tank next to my YWG, and the other in the far corner of the tank, assuming they might each need their own territory.

Fast forward a few days, and now both shrimp are happily living in a single burrow with the YWG watching over them. Quite fun to watch them at work!

 

[dedragon]

very cool. sound like you have a mated pair of shrimp. Given how territorial they are it usually doesnt happen in aquariums. i dont know if they have ever been bred successfully in tanks

 

[Jamie9]

Had to zoom a bit, so the video is not amazing, but at about the 33 second mark you can see them both...fun stuff! @Dr. Reef would those shrimp have been bonded before shipping somehow, or just two random shrimp that happened to be ok with each other? (They came in two separate bags).

 

[higher99]

So, I’d never heard of a goby bonding with two shrimps before. I noticed today that mine has, so just thought I’d post this in case anybody else is wondering sometime.

I’ve got a yellow watchman goby. A few days ago I got an order in from Dr. Reef, including a candy stripe pistol shrimp. He was kind enough to include two shrimp, as I assume they often don’t do well in shipping. Happily both survived, so I put one in the tank next to my YWG, and the other in the far corner of the tank, assuming they might each need their own territory.

Fast forward a few days, and now both shrimp are happily living in a single burrow with the YWG watching over them. Quite fun to watch them at work!

Wow that’s great of him. I have a pistol shrimp coming from Liveaquaria but it’s been days since my order was schedule to arrive. I have little hope so I’ll just contact my paypal and open a dispute. In the meantime I’ll inquire on @Dr. Reef pistol shrimps and look for a replacement. My YWG is lonely since his old mate died a month ago (my tank was not established enough and the shrimp was large and did poorly due to acclimation)

 

[higher99]

Had to zoom a bit, so the video is not amazing, but at about the 33 second mark you can see them both...fun stuff! @Dr. Reef would those shrimp have been bonded before shipping somehow, or just two random shrimp that happened to be ok with each other? (They came in two separate bags).

So cool man! I think if they’re sharing the same burrow, they’re somewhat mated and getting along. Any status updates on them?

I also wonder how did your goby pair up with them that quick!

 

[Jamie9]

So cool man! I think if they’re sharing the same burrow, they’re somewhat mated and getting along. Any status updates on them?

I also wonder how did your goby pair up with them that quick!

As far as I can tell, both shrimps are still down there in the burrow together. They look so alike that I don't know for sure unless they both come out at the same time, which is somewhat rare...but pretty sure I saw them both yesterday for a brief moment.

In terms of the instant pair up, that was pretty surprising to me. I did intentionally drop the shrimp in as close to the goby as possible...which wasn't that easy to do really. But yeah, I was amazed how fast they paired up. What I missed in the video was the instant they met, the shrimp snapped at the goby...but then I put the video on and you could see they almost immediately became buddies after.

 

[JdubC]

I got a wheeler’s shrimp goby and pistol pair. I didn’t see the pistol for quite some time, even though the goby was parading around the tank.

I assumed the pistol died, so got a tiger pistol a few months later.

The tiger pistol set up shop, but didn’t seem to bind with the goby.

About two weeks ago, I saw the goby at the entrance to a new dug out cave. It was paired with the original pistol!!!

Then I saw the tiger pistol digging another cave. I was going to get a YWM to pair with the tiger. But, a few days later the wheeler’s goby was hanging with the tiger.

Now it seems the wheeler’s goby goes back and forth between the two.

So fun to see.

Not sure if the caves are connected under the sand, but I don’t think so.

 

[higher99]

I got a wheeler’s shrimp goby and pistol pair. I didn’t see the pistol for quite some time, even though the goby was parading around the tank.

I assumed the pistol died, so got a tiger pistol a few months later.

The tiger pistol set up shop, but didn’t seem to bind with the goby.

About two weeks ago, I saw the goby at the entrance to a new dug out cave. It was paired with the original pistol!!!

Then I saw the tiger pistol digging another cave. I was going to get a YWM to pair with the tiger. But, a few days later the wheeler’s goby was hanging with the tiger.

Now it seems the wheeler’s goby goes back and forth between the two.

So fun to see.

Not sure if the caves are connected under the sand, but I don’t think so.

That's so cool! I heard if you get two goby pairs they'll fight it out but I think it's worth a try. How about something smaller like a yasha goby>?

 

[higher99]

As far as I can tell, both shrimps are still down there in the burrow together. They look so alike that I don't know for sure unless they both come out at the same time, which is somewhat rare...but pretty sure I saw them both yesterday for a brief moment.

In terms of the instant pair up, that was pretty surprising to me. I did intentionally drop the shrimp in as close to the goby as possible...which wasn't that easy to do really. But yeah, I was amazed how fast they paired up. What I missed in the video was the instant they met, the shrimp snapped at the goby...but then I put the video on and you could see they almost immediately became buddies after.

Yeah that's definitely meant to be. I wanted to get a tiger shrimp just because of the sized maturity. I always feel like the candy cane shrimp is too small and too skiddish to even see half of the time. Plus my YWG is a baby so I think a bigger shrimp will hopefully boost his confidence and make him appear more frequent instead of darting into the cave as soon as he sees a motion.

 

[JdubC]

I got a wheeler’s shrimp goby and pistol pair. I didn’t see the pistol for quite some time, even though the goby was parading around the tank.

I assumed the pistol died, so got a tiger pistol a few months later.

The tiger pistol set up shop, but didn’t seem to bind with the goby.

About two weeks ago, I saw the goby at the entrance to a new dug out cave. It was paired with the original pistol!!!

Then I saw the tiger pistol digging another cave. I was going to get a YWM to pair with the tiger. But, a few days later the wheeler’s goby was hanging with the tiger.

Now it seems the wheeler’s goby goes back and forth between the two.

So fun to see.

Not sure if the caves are connected under the sand, but I don’t think so.

That's so cool! I heard if you get two goby pairs they'll fight it out but I think it's worth a try. How about something smaller like a yasha goby>?

I think I’m going to stick with just the wheelers for now…see how it plays out.

It’s like she has a side piece. Hahaha