Watchman goby and pistol shrimp

[helen ann]

I could literally have only a Goby and Pistol Shrimp in my tank and be content... nothing else. I have a pair in both of my tanks and they provide constant entertainment because of how close they are and how much they rely on each other. One thing I've found that works is providing a ton of small rock rubble for them. I took a piece of LR and smashed it into penny and nickel sized pieces and dropped them close to their main hang out. The Pistol Shrimp clearly was cursed with OCD and is always working to keep their home clear and safe. Both Shrimp in each tank took every bit of the rubble and started lining their tunnels with it. I've found that this keeps them more focused on maintaining the tunnels (and rubble) that they already have and less on digging new tunnels. I will upload a few clips of mine in action utilizing the rock rubble. Hope this helps.

Here's my guy in my Biocube doing his thing. Sorry but the Blues were on, hope you can see him grabbing the rubble.

WOW!!
Hmmmmm, wonder if I could keep a pair in same tank as my starry blenny.

 

[DLJTWO]

Has anyone had multiple pistol shrimp/goby combos in the same tank? I'm upgrading from my 25g to a 75g and have been considering it if they can coexist.

Honestly, I think you'd have to have at least a 180 to keep 2 pairs because even in a 120, those Pistols would bump into each other at some point. Pistols do an awful lot of moving around long after the lights have gone off. I've found mine in my filter sock twice which tells me he was scaling the overflow wall for food and ended up going over in spot that I once had a DIY return plumbed in. That's a long way to travel for an already half-blind creature. I'm not saying you couldn't do it but I'm predicting a "shootout" if they cross paths. Just my $.02