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Pistol shrimp WMG

Mark_C

Staff member
Officer Emeritus
NJRC Member
Moderator
So I dropped a pair into my 40g main and within a couple of weeks I remembered how I had one 10 years back.
Seems I have glossed over the experience and got suckered into it again.
I've spent 2 weeks trying to catch the &^&%$$%^ shrimp and its obviously much smarter than I am.

Pros:
They look cool

Cons:
You wont be able to keep anything on the sand, it will bury or collect everything.
Zoas, nope. Brains, nope. Anything at all on the sand, nope.
You will have a tunnel system under your rocks, which involves dumping all that underrock sand into the main display area.
They will migrate, so they'll be able to get to ^&%^*&*&* up your entire sand bed, and anything on it, over a couple weeks, then start again.
They can not be caught by mere mortals without ripping apart your tank.

Offer:
Give me a guaranteed way to catch 'em and you can have em.
 

Hallowhead

NJRC Member
So I dropped a pair into my 40g main and within a couple of weeks I remembered how I had one 10 years back.
Seems I have glossed over the experience and got suckered into it again.
I've spent 2 weeks trying to catch the &^&%$$%^ shrimp and its obviously much smarter than I am.

Pros:
They look cool

Cons:
You wont be able to keep anything on the sand, it will bury or collect everything.
Zoas, nope. Brains, nope. Anything at all on the sand, nope.
You will have a tunnel system under your rocks, which involves dumping all that underrock sand into the main display area.
They will migrate, so they'll be able to get to ^&%^*&*&* up your entire sand bed, and anything on it, over a couple weeks, then start again.
They can not be caught by mere mortals without ripping apart your tank.

Offer:
Give me a guaranteed way to catch 'em and you can have em.
tell me how you really feel Mark!

I've heard similar stories but also stories of being really docile. The combo seems really fun and interesting to watch. I do not however, want my tank uprooted. I don't currently have anything on the sand bed - so that is a plus lol
 

Salted

NJRC Member
Mine was very well behaved. Never went beyond several inches of its burrow. It set up home in the front of the tank so I was able to see it regularly. If it picks a spot in the back you may never see it and that’s that.

@Mark_C . If it’s burrow is somewhere you can access try this if it’s active when you’re around. Get a small basic net. At the net end bend the net 90*. Just barely bury it in the sand at the shrimps entrance and wait. When it walks across pull the net up and done.
 
My experience is that they are the coolest to watch. Had a target paired with a watchman, and a candy cane with a yasha in another tank.
For a while it was cool. The target killed the goby. Bought another, killed it right away. It’s been a short term thing for me - can last a year or more, but eventually the shrimps kill the gobies in my experience
 

Hallowhead

NJRC Member
My experience is that they are the coolest to watch. Had a target paired with a watchman, and a candy cane with a yasha in another tank.
For a while it was cool. The target killed the goby. Bought another, killed it right away. It’s been a short term thing for me - can last a year or more, but eventually the shrimps kill the gobies in my experience
Did they destroy your tank
 
No, but I didn’t have anything on the sand. The stuff mounted to rocks they won’t disturb, unless they are really low down and will get sprayed by sand. But if you have things on the sand bed the shrimp will collect them
 

Adam L

NJRC Member
I have a pair. The watchman and the pistol stay under one rock which is covered in zoas. No ill effects whatsoever as far as I can tell. My royal gramma took up residence right next to them in a cave and I never see him/her anymore; must only come out at night. I have a negative space rock scape which sits on flat base rocks on the glass bottom of my tank so I didn’t worry about the substrate movement.
 

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I just added the pair to a 120. It is then and a single chromis. So far the pair have tunnel and moved all kinds of sand around. But I think they will show down as more fish are added. I had a pair in my 315 years ago and they were not as active, but there was a lot more fish and a lot bigger fish in there lol.
 
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