Pistol shrimp missing????

JulianLares · Oct 30, 2019

Two days ago I had added a pistol shrimp and goby.... sadly the goby didn’t make it but I found the pistol shrimp in the back chamber of my Nuvo 10 I got him out safely and relocated him into the display section. So I haven’t seen him in days but I added a fish guard for the filter. There’s no way he’s back there. When I was near my tank today I heard popping and I knew it was him popping but I couldn’t locate where he was...... I moved every rock in my tank so a total of 3 and can’t find him anywhere. But I turned the lights off and I hear more popping. I searched every crevice today and couldn’t find him, any idea where he could be?

Crabby48 · Oct 30, 2019

I would leave him be. Digging around I would think may add stress.

sorry you lost your goby.

LadyMac · Oct 30, 2019

They stay under rocks, and build tunnels in the sand. Chances are he was on a rock you lifted or he moved to one you didn’t Lift yet and just scurried by unnoticed. If you hear popping he’s alive and well. I don’t have a goby either, and I’ll go to the grocery store and buy one raw shrimp (lol) and cut it into small pieces. Then stuff kne in one of the holes I know he’s in every couple weeks. Otherwise I know some of the pellets and frozen foods reaches him as I’ve seen him scavenging.

JulianLares · Oct 30, 2019

Crabby48 said:
I would leave him be. Digging around I would think may add stress.

sorry you lost your goby.

Ok I will probably just do that.. and thank you I should be getting another one soon

LadyMac · Oct 30, 2019

Mine has made a nice area under both my large rocks. It’s hard to catch him but when I do it’s quite a fun sight. This was him fixing things yesterday.

JulianLares · Oct 30, 2019

LadyMac said:
They stay under rocks, and build tunnels in the sand. Chances are he was on a rock you lifted or he moved to one you didn’t Lift yet and just scurried by unnoticed. If you hear popping he’s alive and well. I don’t have a goby either, and I’ll go to the grocery store and buy one raw shrimp (lol) and cut it into small pieces. Then stuff kne in one of the holes I know he’s in every couple weeks. Otherwise I know some of the pellets and frozen foods reaches him as I’ve seen him scavenging.

Ok I may have just missed him because I looked at all the holes but he does kinda blend into the rock because it was a live rock

LadyMac · Oct 30, 2019

JulianLares said:
Ok I may have just missed him because I looked at all the holes but he does kinda blend into the rock because it was a live rock

Yeah most likely. I’d also caution moving the rocks because I know someone who accidentally squished theirs by doing that. Best to leave him be and let him work the tank. I’ve gone months without seeing mine. As long as you hear the pop ever so often he’s alive and well.

Crabby48 · Oct 30, 2019

JulianLares said:
Ok I may have just missed him because I looked at all the holes but he does kinda blend into the rock because it was a live rock

What kind of goby will you get? I love my goby pistol pair.

JulianLares · Oct 30, 2019

LadyMac said:
Yeah most likely. I’d also caution moving the rocks because I know someone who accidentally squished theirs by doing that. Best to leave him be and let him work the tank. I’ve gone months without seeing mine. As long as you hear the pop ever so often he’s alive and well.

Ok I really hope I didnt crush him or hurt him. I did hear popping maybe 30 minutes ago so let’s hope he’s fine

JulianLares · Oct 30, 2019

Crabby48 said:
What kind of goby will you get? I love my goby pistol pair.

I’m thinking of getting another watchman

TheShrimpNibbler · Oct 30, 2019

It’s also possible that it dug into the sand and was hiding under it while you lifted rocks.

Crabby48 · Oct 30, 2019

JulianLares said:
Ok I really hope I didnt crush him or hurt him. I did hear popping maybe 30 minutes ago so let’s hope he’s fine

If you herd popping he is fine. Try not to let it bother you even though it’s hard. I know it’s hard for me

JulianLares · Oct 30, 2019

TheShrimpNibbler said:
It’s also possible that it dug into the sand and was hiding under it while you lifted rocks.

Can it get out if it gets buried?? The sand is very fine and not very deep

JulianLares · Oct 30, 2019

Crabby48 said:
If you herd popping he is fine. Try not to let it bother you even though it’s hard. I know it’s hard for me

Ok. I just try looking for him to make sure he doesn’t end up in the chamber again

TheShrimpNibbler · Oct 30, 2019

JulianLares said:
Can it get out if it gets buried?? The sand is very fine and not very deep

Yeah, they can get back out. I’m not sure if all pistols do this, but I’ve seen mine burry himself when I approached the tank.

Crabby48 · Oct 30, 2019

JulianLares said:
Can it get out if it gets buried?? The sand is very fine and not very deep

They can burrow so yes he can get out.

JulianLares · Oct 30, 2019

TheShrimpNibbler said:
Yeah, they can get back out. I’m not sure if all pistols do this, but I’ve seen mine burry himself when I approached the tank.

Ok I think I’m feeling better about him not being dead because all the forums I read say they never see there pistol shrimp for months but the shrimp ends up being fine

jordan10 · Oct 30, 2019

If you can see the bottom of you tank you look under it and there probably see a spot with sand missing and he's in that. If that makes sense

Crabby48 · Oct 30, 2019

JulianLares said:
Ok I think I’m feeling better about him not being dead because all the forums I read say they never see there pistol shrimp for months but the shrimp ends up being fine

Not always seeing them makes it way more special when you do. When you add a goby the pistol may move more sand to build a bigger home and you may see him more.

TheShrimpNibbler · Oct 30, 2019

Crabby48 said:
Not always seeing them makes it way more special when you do. When you add a goby the pistol may move more sand to build a bigger home and you may see him more.

That was my experience. I didn’t see the shrimp for an entire month until I added a goby. Now I see it almost daily.