Yellow Watchman Goby & Pistol Shrimp

[Abarnswell]

I just bought a Yellow Watchman Goby and a very young pistol shrimp. My LFS has a pair of them cohabitating (like Felix and Oscar) in one of the big display tanks. They are very entertaining to watch.

I had wanted a Watchman, so I bought one, along with a very small red and white pistol shrimp. (Boy, he can make noise even at that small size.)

My tank has a lot of nooks and crannies and caves, so it's great for a burrowing pair. However, the pistol shrimp doesn't seem to want anything to do with the Goby. Whenever the Goby approaches the pistol shrimp, the shrimp runs off.

My question: Is the pistol shrimp going to bother anything in my tank -- namely my cleaner shrimp, the Goby, or my pair of young Clowns? The LFS said no, it won't. And from what I've read, they are considered generally harmless, although they can get territorial. Right now, he's about 3/4 inch long, but he will get a lot bigger (up to 2 or 3 inches, I think). I have a few Nassarius snails, tiny blue leg hermits, 3 Scarlet hermits, one cleaner shrimp, and a pair of young clowns. I guess I'm a little worried about him being in there and if I should take him out, I want to do it now, rather than later.

 

[sadielynn]

Doubtful that he would bother anything , Mike has a post where he had several "brands" of shrimp in the tank will no ill effects
http://nanotank.com/forum/viewtopic.php ... ght=shrimp

 

[Abarnswell]

From what I understand, the Pistol will occupy the sand bed, in his burrow, basically. My cleaner occupies the middle to upper tank regions (he never comes down to the substrate). Hopefully, the two would never meet?

 

[skipm]

The pistol should be fine. Give them time and they will probably end up pairing up. Pistol shrimp are blind so it could be that the goby is scaring him when he approaches, after the pistol gets settled in the tank he shouldn't be so easy to scare off.

 

[incysor]

They should be fine. I'd just give them some time to get adjusted.

I'd also hold off on stocking anything else, since you're already having algae issues. The tank simply hasn't bee up long enough to handle a heavy bioload. You're skirting the edges of a full bioload on a tank that hasn't really finished it's cyle, and stabilized yet.

Patience grasshopper. :bouncing:

B

 

[drty811]

it took my pistol shrimp awhile before he found a suitable home. im sure everything will work out in time, they just need to get settled.