Pistol shrimp killing everything?!

[Jjd531]

Hello I need to know if pistol shrimp are known to be aggressive towards fish and other inverts? I have reason to believe my pistol shrimp has been on a killing spree, killing; his yellow watchman goby buddy which doesnt make much sense but I saw its tailfin was hurt and it disappeared I think they had a domestic disturbance.. but I also have reason to believe it killed a striped hifin goby, and a pajama cardinal. Right now he's left with a giant white spotted hermit crab, ome smaller hermits, a sexy shrimp, a cleaner shrimp, a camel shrimp, and a chromy. I know this sounds a little out there but I'm dont know I hear him snapping his claws, day and night and fish dissapeared or are injured then disappear and I start to wonder.. I highly doubt it was the hermit because number 1 everything is too fast for him to catch although I see him try which is always an epic fail, and when I saw the watchman goby's tailfin kind of messed up the shrimp seemed the most likely culprit. also assuming the shrimp drags prey under the rocks I wouldn't see the dead fish vs the hermit crab eating it on the sand bed he cant get to the back of the tank so fish are safe to sleep in/behind rockwork. Does any of this sound reasonable or likely or am I just shrimp-hating, although I love the shrimp hes orange bodied with blue legs and antennae, very interesting color. Now also note all of these deaths occurred in a month to 1 1/2 months. It's a 10 gallon system, the fish could be dying too but unlikely the cardinal was new and the gobys I'd had for a while with the chromy. does it make a difference in your parameters if a fish is eaten vs just sitting there dead? I dont test the parameters in this tank but I water change 50% weekly and overfilter so it doesnt really matter anyhow, I just don't want to waste money, time, (my heart lol) if the pistol shrimp is aggressive.

 

[minus9]

Your description sounds like Alpheus soror, bullseye pistol shrimp. I don’t think the pistol is killing your fish, but there could be other things going on? Also, 50% water changes in such a small tank can create instability, but that depends on what salt you’re using? 10 to 20% would be better and not create any drastic changes. Also, if you had the watchman and hifin together, the watchman could’ve defended his territory and stressed the hifin?

 

[Jjd531]

Okay update on this thread I'm 99% sure that pistol killed everything, my cleaner shrimp was in pieces one morning and and my poor chromy the last fish in the tank is all banged up with nicks all on how body and his tailfin is like almost gone, he seems really strong and I put him in the sump of another reef tank I have. I'm going to let him chill out and swap the shrimp into the sump when I have time. Nothing in my mind could have reasonably done that damage besides the shrimp, pistol shrimp can 100% attack and kill fish if you've ever seen videos in the wild of them stunning fish its definitely doable and highly probable. The only thing I still cant figure out is why he killed his goby friend cause nothing else damaged it like that and lett it get away definitely not the hermit.

 

[Angel_Anthias lover]

If it is the bulls eye pistol shrimp like @minus9 said , they dont pair with gobies, like alpheus randalli etc would. So therefore his goby friend isnt really his friend and is up for killing sadly. Sorry for your losses. Though i have heard of partner pistol shrimp going crazy too, like the tiger one.

 

[flabryth]

Okay update on this thread I'm 99% sure that pistol killed everything, my cleaner shrimp was in pieces one morning and and my poor chromy the last fish in the tank is all banged up with nicks all on how body and his tailfin is like almost gone, he seems really strong and I put him in the sump of another reef tank I have. I'm going to let him chill out and swap the shrimp into the sump when I have time. Nothing in my mind could have reasonably done that damage besides the shrimp, pistol shrimp can 100% attack and kill fish if you've ever seen videos in the wild of them stunning fish its definitely doable and highly probable. The only thing I still cant figure out is why he killed his goby friend cause nothing else damaged it like that and lett it get away definitely not the hermit.

You got a real gangsta on your hands...lol There is always that on animal in the tank that seems to go buck wild.

 

[jelazar]

With the high prevalence of velvet these days, I would suspect that first unless you did a medicated quarantine for all your fish and 30 days fish-free quarantine for everything wet in your tank. Velvet sits in your tank at low levels until something stresses your fish, then it flares up and you start losing fish, one after another. Check the fish disease forum. Velvet is rampant, regardless of where you source your fish.

Even though bullseye pistol shrimp (alpheus soror) don't pair with gobies, that doesn't mean they're slaying all your fish. IMO it's unlikely an alpheus would attack fish that stay in the middle water column like chromis and cardinals. My last alpheus safely spent ~7 years with a variety of benthic fish like yellow watchman gobies, neon gobies, and tailspot blennies.

 

[Jjd531]

If it is the bulls eye pistol shrimp like @minus9 said , they dont pair with gobies, like alpheus randalli etc would. So therefore his goby friend isnt really his friend and is up for killing sadly. Sorry for your losses. Though i have heard of partner pistol shrimp going crazy too, like the tiger one.

Ah very interesting wish I didnt lose 5 fish to figure that out, live and learn, the only thing he hasn't been able to kill is my white spotted hermit. Id feel bad giving it away and will eventually rehome him in his own setup because hes a cool critter. But do you think he would be okay living in a sump with sand and a little rock to burrow and stuff? I'd like to start adding fish back to my 10 gal now that im sure hes my killer.

 

[Viking_Reefing]

Personally I would see the hermit crab as the most likely suspect. It may not be fast enough to catch stuff during the day but when the fish are sleeping it’s definitely doable for it.

 

[Jjd531]

Personally I would see the hermit crab as the most likely suspect. It may not be fast enough to catch stuff during the day but when the fish are sleeping it’s definitely doable for it.

Yeah I see what you mean but hes not able to get behind the live rock wall along the back, which is where the fish slept during the night which would kind of be primetime for the shrimp to get them. The gobies lived in the rocks. Theres is pretty good amount of live rock. Also I could just be making this up but I feel like I haven't heard the shrimp snapping as much..

 

[Angel_Anthias lover]

Ah very interesting wish I didnt lose 5 fish to figure that out, live and learn, the only thing he hasn't been able to kill is my white spotted hermit. Id feel bad giving it away and will eventually rehome him in his own setup because hes a cool critter. But do you think he would be okay living in a sump with sand and a little rock to burrow and stuff? I'd like to start adding fish back to my 10 gal now that im sure hes my killer.

Yea that would be fine for him to live in

 

[ErikG327]

i had a big red Japanese snapping shrimp and had to get rid of it. I lost a yellow tang, maroon clown, royal gramma and about 6 green chromis because of him. The only fish left was my yellow watchman goby. I didn’t notice the pistol shrimp was the culprit until the maroon clown went missing and I saw the carcass in his cave. I got rid of him, didn’t change anything else in the tank, got new fish and now everyone is happy and healthy.

 

[Rodz Exotic]

Hello I need to know if pistol shrimp are known to be aggressive towards fish and other inverts? I have reason to believe my pistol shrimp has been on a killing spree, killing; his yellow watchman goby buddy which doesnt make much sense but I saw its tailfin was hurt and it disappeared I think they had a domestic disturbance. Now also note all of these deaths occurred in a month to 1 1/2 months.

I had an issue with mine too and it was my huge tiger pistol shrimp that caused all this. He killed my yellow clown goby, green clown goby, and court jester goby.They all were found alive breathing hard and seemed paralyzed and somewhat crippled. Also, he lived with the yellow watchman goby and then he kept snapping at him and the yellow clown left. And then a flag tail pink bar goby paired with it and eventually kicked him out too he snaps at everything long distance but the bigger fish swim away. My red dragonet fights back at least. So basically lesson learned don’t put any bottom dwelling fish in with a big tiger pistol.

 

[wonroc]

grill his butt bra

 

[Sherriec]

Hello I need to know if pistol shrimp are known to be aggressive towards fish and other inverts? I have reason to believe my pistol shrimp has been on a killing spree, killing; his yellow watchman goby buddy which doesnt make much sense but I saw its tailfin was hurt and it disappeared I think they had a domestic disturbance.. but I also have reason to believe it killed a striped hifin goby, and a pajama cardinal. Right now he's left with a giant white spotted hermit crab, ome smaller hermits, a sexy shrimp, a cleaner shrimp, a camel shrimp, and a chromy. I know this sounds a little out there but I'm dont know I hear him snapping his claws, day and night and fish dissapeared or are injured then disappear and I start to wonder.. I highly doubt it was the hermit because number 1 everything is too fast for him to catch although I see him try which is always an epic fail, and when I saw the watchman goby's tailfin kind of messed up the shrimp seemed the most likely culprit. also assuming the shrimp drags prey under the rocks I wouldn't see the dead fish vs the hermit crab eating it on the sand bed he cant get to the back of the tank so fish are safe to sleep in/behind rockwork. Does any of this sound reasonable or likely or am I just shrimp-hating, although I love the shrimp hes orange bodied with blue legs and antennae, very interesting color. Now also note all of these deaths occurred in a month to 1 1/2 months. It's a 10 gallon system, the fish could be dying too but unlikely the cardinal was new and the gobys I'd had for a while with the chromy. does it make a difference in your parameters if a fish is eaten vs just sitting there dead? I dont test the parameters in this tank but I water change 50% weekly and overfilter so it doesnt really matter anyhow, I just don't want to waste money, time, (my heart lol) if the pistol shrimp is aggressive.

Having the exact same problem, mine has eaten everything except the watchman goby, ate another watchman, pajama, all cleaner shrimp,crabs!!! I have a six line wrasse and 2 clowns left! Several hundred dollars down the shrimp throat! Grrrr

 

[minus9]

Having the exact same problem, mine has eaten everything except the watchman goby, ate another watchman, pajama, all cleaner shrimp,crabs!!! I have a six line wrasse and 2 clowns left! Several hundred dollars down the shrimp throat! Grrrr

Relocate to sump or a new home if you think it's the pistol?

 

[Hayes_henry7]

Okay update on this thread I'm 99% sure that pistol killed everything, my cleaner shrimp was in pieces one morning and and my poor chromy the last fish in the tank is all banged up with nicks all on how body and his tailfin is like almost gone, he seems really strong and I put him in the sump of another reef tank I have. I'm going to let him chill out and swap the shrimp into the sump when I have time. Nothing in my mind could have reasonably done that damage besides the shrimp, pistol shrimp can 100% attack and kill fish if you've ever seen videos in the wild of them stunning fish its definitely doable and highly probable. The only thing I still cant figure out is why he killed his goby friend cause nothing else damaged it like that and lett it get away definitely not the hermit.

Its definitely the pistol shrimp, I know I am a couple of years late, but the exact same thing happened to my tank, had a pretty big red pistol shrimp with blue legs. I would hear it snapping all night long, sounded like a cap gun. First occurrence I noticed was that my yellow watchman goby had turned ghost white. And I noticed that whenever my watchman goby (Which was a lot smaller then the shrimp) would try to get close, the pistol shrimp would just snap at it. I later found my Mandarin Goby ripped to shreds under his burrow. Also killed a navy with yellow stripe pipe fish, and I kept putting off getting rid of it, until a day after I brought home a pearly jawfish, I found him under the shrimps burrow. Had to get rid of him right after that, and have had any problems with the tank since, so I know it wasn't a water quality issue. Very cool to watch move around the tank, but wouldn't recommend.

 

[Hayes_henry7]

 

[SirenBethany]

Okay update on this thread I'm 99% sure that pistol killed everything, my cleaner shrimp was in pieces one morning and and my poor chromy the last fish in the tank is all banged up with nicks all on how body and his tailfin is like almost gone, he seems really strong and I put him in the sump of another reef tank I have. I'm going to let him chill out and swap the shrimp into the sump when I have time. Nothing in my mind could have reasonably done that damage besides the shrimp, pistol shrimp can 100% attack and kill fish if you've ever seen videos in the wild of them stunning fish its definitely doable and highly probable. The only thing I still cant figure out is why he killed his goby friend cause nothing else damaged it like that and lett it get away definitely not the hermit.

Are you sure it's not the sexy shrimp?... I've heard others have the same issue, and have heard sexy shrimp are very aggressive.

 

[NanoMixer]

Just wanted to chime in here for others who might be in this situation. I have a Japanese Pistol Shrimp. He was paired with a YWG for several months, and we had a few thin striped hermits that our kids snagged on vacation with grandparents. Anyway the YWG had several mystery injuries, and I found him getting snacked on by the hermits. I assumed the pistol shrimp had injured him inadvertently, and the hermits were being opportunistic. We decided to get a couple clownfish and anemone after that (nano tank), and overnight, they were gone. Found some bits and pieces of them in the sand. I read that once hermit crabs get big enough, they can absolutely start killing fish, as they can see well and be very active at night when many reef fish are sleeping. I donated the hermits to our LRS, got a couple more clowns and a Hector’s goby, and everything is surviving and thriving. I do understand for some people their pistol shrimp becomes aggressive, but never underestimate a large hermit crab with a voracious appetite.

 

[Cthulukelele]

 I don't like these old threads bad information. Yes japanese red pistols are a threat, but even big tiger pistol shrimp are nearly blind scavengers who are barely able to collect floating meat from the water column much less kill a healthy free swimming fish. They will scavenge a fish corpse in a second though, and I'd suspect 99 times out of 100 when you hear someone describing a tiger pistol that killed their fish they're describing a tiger that ate a dead or dying fish as that's one of their staple diets in the wild.