pistol shrimp making tank sandy and cloudy!

[mooputingtong]

My pistol shrimp never wont stop stiring sand. Eversince it got paird with yasha goby its constantly digging entrance all over the tank. Its doing that all day and now my tank is so sandy and cloudy. its also knocking all the corals near him and im afraid all that little particles will go passs through my wavepump and eventually break. Is there any way to stop this? i might put it in a acclimation box so he cant do that anymore.

 

[HuduVudu]

Ummmm ... this is what the creature is designed to do. If it is a real problem then catch him out and re-home him. He is never going to stop and to try and make him stop would border on cruelty.

Just make sure when you get a creature that you are willing to deal with the normal behaviours that it might have.

 

[mooputingtong]

Ummmm ... this is what the creature is designed to do. If it is a real problem then catch him out and re-home him. He is never going to stop and to try and make him stop would border on cruelty.

Just make sure when you get a creature that you are willing to deal with the normal behaviours that it might have.

It wasnt doing that before but ever since it got paired its constantly digging and my tank is sandy all the time!
I should rehome it in my 15 gallon tank but its currently on copper treatment so i will have to get rid of copper first.

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

A few options which I will list from most extreme to least extreme
Put a puffer in the tank, problem solved
Rehome it, it’s bound to keep digging
Replace substrate with something heavier

I also suggest doing some WC. After I added my pistol shrimp my nitrates sky rocked because the sand bed was getting stirred. Vacuum the sand more

 

[jphilip813]

I actually have mine along with the goby in my refugium...that way he can kick-up all the sand that he wants...and they are WELL fed down there...

 

[CavalierReef]

It's unfortunate that you are having that problem. I have a tiger shrimp paired with a Wheeler's goby and I'm amazed at how much sand he can move and they are so interesting to watch. My sand is heavy enough that none is suspended in the water column though. He also builds tunnels at all four corners of the tank and keeps my sand stirred better than my snails. I only have one coral on the sand bed so that isn't an issue (yet). Hopefully, you can resolve the issue without separating or rehoming them.

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

Anyone else have a goby and pistol shrimp that refuse to pair? I swear I have tried everything suggested to me and they sit on opposite sides of the tank. Every few weeks the pistol shrimp will move and the goby will take his old home.

 

[brandon429]

This is reason #2 we pre rinse all sand before using it, so that they do snow globe effect, grains fall down.


that unrinsed silt from non rinsing has lasting effects. Most people have sandbeds that go undisturbed, so recommending non rinsing is easy. It doesn’t help that the sand bags say doesn’t need rinsing, they do to a massive degree. Pure slush without pre rinsing.


if you’ve selected too fine a grain sand for sifters, that w become evident in the pre rinse habit

it does not make live sand from a bag unlive to rinse in tap water. if tap water was a sterilizer, you couldn’t drink it. Your tap water outputs millions of live bacteria into a glass of lemonade because tap is a poor sterilizer. It is a reasonable suppressant, ran constantly. A rinse takes an hour, not constant, therefore it’s not sterilizing sand to pre rinse, what an insult to bacteria to assume they’re that weak.

The only type of sand we dont pre rinse is tbs live sand, real live sand with wiggling creatures. Sifters can work that without a cloud. I’ve never seen anyone use it in fifty thousand reefs but I read about it for sale online

 

[saltcats]

It's unfortunate that you are having that problem. I have a tiger shrimp paired with a Wheeler's goby and I'm amazed at how much sand he can move and they are so interesting to watch. My sand is heavy enough that none is suspended in the water column though. He also builds tunnels at all four corners of the tank and keeps my sand stirred better than my snails. I only have one coral on the sand bed so that isn't an issue (yet). Hopefully, you can resolve the issue without separating or rehoming them.

They look great together! What sand are you using for them?

 

[Jib]

i might put it in a acclimation box so he cant do that anymore.

If your going to do this you might as well take him back to your LFS. You got a shrimp thats role in nature is to dig holes. If you dont want holes being dug and your sand being stirred up, dont get the animal. Not good for a sand dwelling creature to be kept in a plastic box.

 

[terraincognita]

Anyone else have a goby and pistol shrimp that refuse to pair? I swear I have tried everything suggested to me and they sit on opposite sides of the tank. Every few weeks the pistol shrimp will move and the goby will take his old home.

Give them time, but certain species do tend to pair differently

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

Give them time, but certain species do tend to pair differently

They have been together for about a year. I have given up long ago haha

 

[mooputingtong]

A few options which I will list from most extreme to least extreme
Put a puffer in the tank, problem solved
Rehome it, it’s bound to keep digging
Replace substrate with something heavier

I also suggest doing some WC. After I added my pistol shrimp my nitrates sky rocked because the sand bed was getting stirred. Vacuum the sand more

i will either rehome or keep it! My tank is fairly new so so problems of high sudden nitrate!

 

[mooputingtong]

I actually have mine along with the goby in my refugium...that way he can kick-up all the sand that he wants...and they are WELL fed down there...

im trying to set up refugium in the future for chaetos and some inverts or small fish.

 

[mooputingtong]

It's unfortunate that you are having that problem. I have a tiger shrimp paired with a Wheeler's goby and I'm amazed at how much sand he can move and they are so interesting to watch. My sand is heavy enough that none is suspended in the water column though. He also builds tunnels at all four corners of the tank and keeps my sand stirred better than my snails. I only have one coral on the sand bed so that isn't an issue (yet). Hopefully, you can resolve the issue without separating or rehoming them.

i wouldnt really want them to be separated. they tend to be out more often when they are together but very hard to see them expect feeding while they go solo. i will see what i can do and hopefully i wont take them out to other tank.

 

[mooputingtong]

This is reason #2 we pre rinse all sand before using it, so that they do snow globe effect, grains fall down.


that unrinsed silt from non rinsing has lasting effects. Most people have sandbeds that go undisturbed, so recommending non rinsing is easy. It doesn’t help that the sand bags say doesn’t need rinsing, they do to a massive degree. Pure slush without pre rinsing.


if you’ve selected too fine a grain sand for sifters, that w become evident in the pre rinse habit

it does not make live sand from a bag unlive to rinse in tap water. if tap water was a sterilizer, you couldn’t drink it. Your tap water outputs millions of live bacteria into a glass of lemonade because tap is a poor sterilizer. It is a reasonable suppressant, ran constantly. A rinse takes an hour, not constant, therefore it’s not sterilizing sand to pre rinse, what an insult to bacteria to assume they’re that weak.

The only type of sand we dont pre rinse is tbs live sand, real live sand with wiggling creatures. Sifters can work that without a cloud. I’ve never seen anyone use it in fifty thousand reefs but I read about it for sale online

i didnt pre rinsed it because it was in the bag with sea water and live bacteria. My sand is pretty medium grade, i use fiji live sand from carribsea

 

[mooputingtong]

If your going to do this you might as well take him back to your LFS. You got a shrimp thats role in nature is to dig holes. If you dont want holes being dug and your sand being stirred up, dont get the animal. Not good for a sand dwelling creature to be kept in a plastic box.

Your right! pistol shrimp wouldnt be happy if it cant play with sand. Playing with sand is part of basic instinct and i guess it makes them happy!

 

[Reef.]

It wasnt doing that before but ever since it got paired its constantly digging and my tank is sandy all the time!
I should rehome it in my 15 gallon tank but its currently on copper treatment so i will have to get rid of copper first.

he started to dig as when they pair the goby looks out for danger whilst the shrimp digs.

if it’s a real issue still you could remove the sand slowly, maybe a little at a time and rinse it, and also vacuum it.

You could have rinsed at start as th ‘live’ sand is just sand with some bacteria added to the water, dry sand with a bottle of bacteria added.

 

[brandon429]

Can u please post a pic of the tank as it sits now we want to track in our sand rinse thread how different brands of sand settle out over time

it would be helpful to see the concern areas, considering tank flow etc

 

[CavalierReef]

They look great together! What sand are you using for them?

Nature's Ocean Bio-Active White #1