Goby/pistol shrimp pair in 4" sand bed

[Mike Arnold]

Is it possible to home goby/pistol shrimp pair in a 4" sandbed? will they affect the balance of micro/macrofauna. I know there is a lot of info on DSB's, but I'm struggling to understand if the goby would decimate the beneficial fauna; I've had them before in a 25 gallon Nuvo and they seem to stay in one little area.

 

[Humble_Reefer]

Is it possible to home goby/pistol shrimp pair in a 4" sandbed? will they affect the balance of micro/macrofauna. I know there is a lot of info on DSB's, but I'm struggling to understand if the goby would decimate the beneficial fauna; I've had them before in a 25 gallon Nuvo and they seem to stay in one little area.

Depending on the goby, that should be absolutely fine, even in a nano tank. Most gobies that pair with pistol shrimp that I know of do not sift sand very much, if at all. My Randall's gobies will occasionally take a bite of sand and to catch a copepod, but I do not believe they are sifting the microfauna. The shrimp will catch copepods and amphipods in it's immediate vicinity but even in a 10 gallon, there should be lots of room for a pod population. Depth of sanded shouldn't matter, but make sure your rock is contacting the glass. Those shrimps are little miners, and will move entire rocks if they are resting on top of the sand.

I recommend a pistol goby with some nice display behaviours, like a Randalls, Yellow Watchman, or Yasha. Randalls and YWG will puff themselves up and flash iridescent dots on their flanks as a display.

 

[Sierra_Bravo]

I have a yellow watchman with a Randall's pistol and have rarely seen him sift sand; maybe a dozen times in two years. He prefers to stay within 2-3" of his burrow and snag food as it passes by at feeding time. No need to worry about your sand bed with a YWG.