Aggressive Pistol Shrimp

[JGon]

Is it possible for a pistol shrimp to get a hold of a fish and kill it???

I had a firefish that died after I saw him real beat up from the rear. Had no idea how or why. Now I can't find my royal gramma. Didn't see him at all yesterday or the day before and didn't see him at all today either. I saw my tiger pistol shrimp lunge a couple times at my greenbanded goby as it swam past one of its burrows. So now I'm starting to think the shrimp is the culprit for the death of my firefish and the disappearance of my gramma. Of course he doesn't do anything to my yellow watchman goby because they're paired up and they're like butt buddies. Haha. What do you guys think???

 

[KJ]

Hi only protect his burrows.

I saw my tiger pistol shrimp lunge a couple times at my greenbanded goby as it swam past one of its burrows

 

[JGon]

It looked pretty bad though. He lunged at it and it looked like he was trying to grab him and pull him in. I saw it happen a couple times.

 

[KJ]

Post on General Invert Forum this help

 

[JGon]

Ok. Thanks! [emoji4]

 

[KJ]

YW

 

[Tahoe61]

I have had Fire Fish and Pistols together and it was never an issue. A Pistol will raise it's claws as a show of defense, they do not even see well hence the reason they stay within touching distance with their goby. However anything in the sand bed is fair game for Pistol, not as a food source but as something to enforce their borrow with. I imagine they might make a meal of a dead or dying fish but not a healthy one, I would be very surprised.

 

[JGon]

I think I posted under the wrong forum, but here we go. Sorry for double posting.
Is it possible for a pistol shrimp to get a hold of a fish and kill it???

I had a firefish that died after I saw him real beat up from the rear. Had no idea how or why. Now I can't find my royal gramma. Didn't see him at all yesterday or the day before and didn't see him at all today either. I saw my tiger pistol shrimp lunge a couple times at my greenbanded goby as it swam past one of its burrows. So now I'm starting to think the shrimp is the culprit for the death of my firefish and the disappearance of my gramma. Of course he doesn't do anything to my yellow watchman goby because they're paired up and they're like butt buddies. Haha. What do you guys think???

 

[JGon]

I have had Fire Fish and Pistols together and it was never an issue. A Pistol will raise it's claws as a show of defense, they do not even see well hence the reason they stay within touching distance with their goby. However anything in the sand bed is fair game for Pistol, not as a food source but as something to enforce their borrow with. I imagine they might make a meal of a dead or dying fish but not a healthy one, I would be very surprised.

I would notice my firefish hang out in the same area as the shrimp would make his burrows. Then one day he came out looking beat up from that same area. My gramma started hanging out in the same area as well. And now he's no where to be seen. [emoji53]

 

[Tahoe61]

Does your Pistol have a goby?

Do you have a Green Serpent Star?

 

[JGon]

Yeah. He's paired up with my yellow watchman goby.

No stars in my tank.

 

[JGon]

They were paired up at the lfs. And I got them together.

 

[Virtualbasil]

Yes, pistol shrimp are kind of aggressive. More territorial than anything. My pistol shrimp doesn't actively seek fish to kill but he will fire a warning shot if they come to close.

 

[JGon]

It looked like he was trting to grab the goby and drag him in.

 

[Virtualbasil]

Well they are ambush predators. How big is the shrimp and how big is the goby?

 

[Tahoe61]

Hmmm well, the one thing I have learned in this hobby is that crabs and shrimp are unpredictable.

If you want to keep the Pistol I would avoid fish like Gramma and Dart Fish that use bolt holes to live and sleep in. You could have a predator in the tank that is hunting fish that use bolt holes.

You're right usually they will snap when disturbed or frustrated. Mine use to snap at my clams because it could not move them.

 

[JGon]

I don't really have anything in the tank. It's mainly just corals. I have the watchman/pistol pair, the greenbanded goby and some hermits and a snail. That's it. If I get rid of the pistol will it affect the watchman in any way???

 

[Tahoe61]

No my Watchman was fine for years after my Pistol died. While I did enjoy the Pistol I did not enjoy sand storms everyday, nor did I enjoy scaping my tank to meet the needs of one small inverts. It's hard to watch your shrimp drag your $50.00 sps frag down the hole.

If you used LR in the tank there is always the chance of a Mantis or predatory worm.

 

[JGon]

It is pretty cool seeing him work. Haha. But yeah you're right on the whole moving things around. He tends to knock over some frags I have on the bottom or cover them with substrate.

 

[JGon]

Well they are ambush predators. How big is the shrimp and how big is the goby?

My greenbanded goby is an inch, maybe a bit more. The shrimp is a bit bigger. And the watchman is around two inches.