Kapachuka3
Valuable Member
So I was looking at gettting a pistol shrimp for my watchman goby named Donald. I have two nassarius snails would they mess up the pistol shrimps and gobies cave possibly?
Pistol shrimp?
- Thread starter Kapachuka3
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William Mumford
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No you will be just fine.
As mentioned above, it shouldn't be a problem.
I've got a bunch of snails, hermits, 3-4 emerald crabs, etc. None of them bother the goby or the tiger pistol.
In fact, I've seen the goby push a couple snails away from the burrow when they get too close. He's pretty protective of their home.
terraincognita
Valuable Member
Even if they do run into it, it won’t be any problem.
neither will sand sifting stars or sand sleeping wrasse.
pistol shrimp are great additions! They’re more or less truly harmless. They’re 99% blind and if they ever “attack” anything it’s mostly out of defense.
the only thing I’ve ever seen is a nosy hermit crab or other CUC get a loud smack. I’ve never seen him kill anything though despite the occasional very noticeable clicks he makes throughout the day.
I have had 2 smallish fish go “missing” and always wonder. But no concrete evidence, and a few other more likely possibilities.
neither will sand sifting stars or sand sleeping wrasse.
pistol shrimp are great additions! They’re more or less truly harmless. They’re 99% blind and if they ever “attack” anything it’s mostly out of defense.
the only thing I’ve ever seen is a nosy hermit crab or other CUC get a loud smack. I’ve never seen him kill anything though despite the occasional very noticeable clicks he makes throughout the day.
I have had 2 smallish fish go “missing” and always wonder. But no concrete evidence, and a few other more likely possibilities.
vetteguy53081
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Nasssrius not the snail to go into a cave structure
They generally hang at edges of tank in the sandbed
They generally hang at edges of tank in the sandbed
OP
OP
Kapachuka3
Valuable Member
Ok thank you, can u confirm what the heck CUC means I’ve seen it a couple times.
Rednamalas
Community Member
CUC means clean up crew, which are the invertebrates that help clean algae and detritus from the tank.
OP
OP
Kapachuka3
Valuable Member
gotcha, thanks I'm not very good with abbreviations.
NeonRabbit221B
2500 Club Member
Me neither! here ya go buddy https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/acron...-the-reef-aquarist-revised-december-2018.550/
I haven't see that yet, but mine keeps stealing a small ricordia frag (it's just on the disc, no plug part) and using that at its entrance. I keep moving it further away and it keeps finding it.
StlSalt
Active Member
Yeah I had to stop putting frags on the sand, mine would steal everything I didn't glue down.
terraincognita
Valuable Member
A really cool tip.
Grab a rock, and break it into as many dime size pieces as you want.
pour all of them in front of his burrow entrance and he will use ALL of them to make a better burrow.
I supply mine with every week. I’ve probably given him 200+ pieces now..
they make some insane tunnels....
they're constantly working on their burrows.
also helps them from stealing other things you don’t want lol
Grab a rock, and break it into as many dime size pieces as you want.
pour all of them in front of his burrow entrance and he will use ALL of them to make a better burrow.
I supply mine with every week. I’ve probably given him 200+ pieces now..
they make some insane tunnels....
they're constantly working on their burrows.
also helps them from stealing other things you don’t want lol
A really cool tip.
Grab a rock, and break it into as many dime size pieces as you want.
pour all of them in front of his burrow entrance and he will use ALL of them to make a better burrow.
I supply mine with every week. I’ve probably given him 200+ pieces now..
they make some insane tunnels....
they're constantly working on their burrows.
also helps them from stealing other things you don’t want lol
@terraincognita This was an awesome suggestion!!! Surprised I've never seen anyone else say it, or honestly that I didn't think of it before. Makes perfect sense that the Pistol Shrimp would love having additional building materials handy.
I added 8 small pieces of rubble out in front of their lair and within a couple hours 3 of them had been incorporated into the lair's entrance. I think it's used 5 pieces total so far.
In the first picture you can see the rubble rocks to the right of the goby. The entrance hole was bigger, but the Pistol shrimp built this supporting wall and buttressed it with sand.
In the second picture you can see the other pieces of rubble. I don't think the shrimp has ventured far enough to find them yet.
terraincognita
Valuable Member
Yep! They love it, they can make their burrows way more structurally sound. I'm wondering if he'll ever stop taking them.... I think I'll stop giving them at some point lol. apparently they work on them until they die.@terraincognita This was an awesome suggestion!!! Surprised I've never seen anyone else say it, or honestly that I didn't think of it before. Makes perfect sense that the Pistol Shrimp would love having additional building materials handy.
I added 8 small pieces of rubble out in front of their lair and within a couple hours 3 of them had been incorporated into the lair's entrance. I think it's used 5 pieces total so far.
In the first picture you can see the rubble rocks to the right of the goby. The entrance hole was bigger, but the Pistol shrimp built this supporting wall and buttressed it with sand.
In the second picture you can see the other pieces of rubble. I don't think the shrimp has ventured far enough to find them yet.
Eric aaa
Community Member
No not likely have been reefing for nearly 17 years and have had always had a pair of pistol shrimp and gobies and never had a problem. Other than than that they may bury corals placed at the gravel level
