Pistol shrimp eaten by Goby?
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What kind of gobies?
I have heard it happening and not that I have seen it myself firsthand. I always wondered if size plays a role if that was the case. I recently got a candy cane pistol shrimp, the smaller variety to try to pair up with my yellow watchman which is very large in comparison. I heard him click and one day nothing. I haven’t seen any sand dunes or such to confirm if he is alive or something happened to him or being eaten or natural death. I don’t know if I accidentally killed him cleaning the sand bed either. You hear cases where carpet anemone will eat clownfishes, but in rare cases? You would think the symbiotic idea would eliminate this but Mother Nature can be cruel at times.
droidus
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I've provided pictures of them, as I'm not sure of their true names. The one is gold-spotted, and the other is white-spotted. The white-spotted one was the one that ate the shrimp.
Do the gobies share the same "hole" or do they have different holes?
I have 2 yasha gobies that I wanted to pair up (they never did) that would fight over the shrimp. As in one would try to move the shrimp via its mouth to it's "hole", and the other would look like it was trying to protect the shrimp. The shrimp was moved from hole to hole numerous times, and was never hurt or fought the moving. I finally put on goby in my 29 nano and the other stayed in my main tank. They now each have their own shrimp in separate tanks.
I am not a fish expert by any means, but I know from my experience that they will fight over the shrimp if they are not paired. Luckily in my case the shrimp lived and is still doing well.
If they are sharing the same hole, and the shrimp was still being attacked by one, I agree size could play a part. My wifes tank went through the same thing as above. The goby was much larger and didn't care for the shrimp. The shrimp went in the hole, came out in 2 bits to be discarded about 6" from the gobies hole. Wife found another shrimp quite a bit bigger and the goby and it were instant buddies.
As I say a lot about things in my tank, "Strange little critters we will never fully understand"
I have 2 yasha gobies that I wanted to pair up (they never did) that would fight over the shrimp. As in one would try to move the shrimp via its mouth to it's "hole", and the other would look like it was trying to protect the shrimp. The shrimp was moved from hole to hole numerous times, and was never hurt or fought the moving. I finally put on goby in my 29 nano and the other stayed in my main tank. They now each have their own shrimp in separate tanks.
I am not a fish expert by any means, but I know from my experience that they will fight over the shrimp if they are not paired. Luckily in my case the shrimp lived and is still doing well.
If they are sharing the same hole, and the shrimp was still being attacked by one, I agree size could play a part. My wifes tank went through the same thing as above. The goby was much larger and didn't care for the shrimp. The shrimp went in the hole, came out in 2 bits to be discarded about 6" from the gobies hole. Wife found another shrimp quite a bit bigger and the goby and it were instant buddies.
As I say a lot about things in my tank, "Strange little critters we will never fully understand"
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The orange spotted one looks like a diamond goby and is not a goby that pairs with a shrimp. They are good sand sifters. The other looks kind of like a jawfish in which case it will not tolerate the shrimp either.
droidus
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They do seem to share a hole, and have a tunnel system.
And that is fascinating! I didn't know that... hopefully this is the case.
I've thought about buying one of each of these guys: https://vividaquariums.com/products/tiger-pistol-shrimp https://vividaquariums.com/products/red-banded-pistol-shrimp to see if either of them works with my gobies.
Interestingly enough, the orange spotted one was the one that paired with it. And I have not heard of a jawfish goby.
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Jawfish are not gobies. 
Maybe I read the pics wrong. Fish are funny sometimes.
Maybe I read the pics wrong. Fish are funny sometimes. droidus
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Huh, ok. Is there any easy way to determine if he is a jawfish?Jawfish are not gobies.
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google jawfish and see if one looks like him. Could be a goby. I just was not sure from picture. Could be a watchman of some sort though. It is cool the diamond paired up. They do, but I do not hear of it much in aquariums.
I have had my shrimp kill a goby, but not other way around. Maybe they left the toilet seat up.
I have had my shrimp kill a goby, but not other way around. Maybe they left the toilet seat up.
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I just added a $33 pistol shrimp and found it in my YWG's mouth when I introduced it to its hole.
Frustrating
The candy cane pistols always come in so small.
Frustrating
The candy cane pistols always come in so small.
