Pistol Shrimp and Goby partnership

[sammydee]

Do all gobies make a partnership with the pistol shrimp, or just some of them?

It sound sreally fascinating, I'd love to get a pair for my 20 gallon when it's finished.

 

[Great Lakes]

Sammy, IT is the Yellow watchman goby and the pistol shrimp you are referring to.

They are fascinating, but while no hard and fast rules apply for a tank size, I feel the 20 may be on the small side. The do guard their burrow and a 20 may not allow enough room for any other fish you wish to keep.

GL

 

[chkltcow]

I had a pair of yellow watchman gobies and a pistol shrimp in a 20g and they did just fine. I'm gonna go the opposite extreme from GL and say that 20g may be too much to see the symbiotic relationship.

The tank that the fish store had them in was a mini-bow 5 on the front counter to show them off. Two gobies and the pistol shrimp living together in their little burrow.... beautiful. Once I got them home, they lived together for about a week until they all discovered that they had room to spread out. The pistol shrimp moved out first, then the gobies moved out, and they went to their own side.

Now they've been moved to the 55g and it was the same thing. When I first introduced them, it was the same deal as the 20g. All three went under the same rock and the pistol shrimp dug a burrow for them while the watchman stood guard. One rested there watching while the other went over open mouth and fins flared to scare off a hermit crab that had walked too close. After about 30 minutes, the gobies wandered off to another rock and made it their home, and the pistol shrimp has now dug out a burrow under every single rock in the tank. It's a little nomad of sorts, and is FAR more active in a tank where it has room. It's nice to see it out, but they don't live with the symbiosis. They can tolerate each other, and sometimes the pistol shrimp wanders into the gobies den, and sometimes the gobies wander into the pistol shrimp's den... but they don't reside together full time

And beyond that, there's no hard rule about it being a yellow watchman goby. That's just what I have, and what's easiest to find in fish stores usually. There are pink spotted watchman gobies and orange spotted watchman gobies, pink bar, orange bar, etc.... and I think they can all form a pair with a pistol. BUT... be warned beforehand that just because you have the shrimp and the goby, there's no guarantee that they'll pair up. Regardless of that, each is an fascinating individual in its own right.

 

[Opcn]

Yellow watchmen isn't the only one, there are half a dozen, Liveaquaria has gobies split into three group, one of them is shrimp gobies.

 

[sammydee]

Well I did some research and the one site I found which said about tank size stated 30 gallons as the minimum .

I'll keep looking and find out a bit more fully. I wouldn't mind a whole twenty gallon devoted to just a goby and shrimp pair, I think that would be awesome. The only deal is with my parents, who said I could only have a salt water tank if I got a "nemo fish" for it.

 

[chkltcow]

Well I did some research and the one site I found which said about tank size stated 30 gallons as the minimum .

I'll keep looking and find out a bit more fully. I wouldn't mind a whole twenty gallon devoted to just a goby and shrimp pair, I think that would be awesome. The only deal is with my parents, who said I could only have a salt water tank if I got a "nemo fish" for it.

Some sites are still stuck on "30 gallon" because until the current trend of nano reefs came around, that was the smallest size that most people would ever recommend for saltwater. LiveAquaria.com lists each species now as "10g minimum". http/www.liveaquaria.com/product/scateg.cfm?pCatId=2124

Look at it this way....

The pistol shrimp/goby pair are both burrow animals. They establish their home and that's where they stay. Mine wandered from one end of the tank to the other to establish their home, but once it was done, they never venture more than about a foot from it. They stick their heads out, then come out and rest on the bottom while waiting for food.... then back in they go. As long as they have a place they can feel safe, they're fine.

Likewise, clown fish are almost ready for captivity as their basic way of life. In the wild they have a host anemone and never venture far from that. In an aquarium, they will find something to "host" on, be it a cup, a rock, a coral, an anemone, etc. A 30" x 12" x 12" aquarium won't stress them.

So your volume problem is about bio-load. Gobies are tiny and barely produce any waste. Clownfish are bigger, but given sufficient filtration can easily be kept in a pair in a 20g. If you want to go with 1 clown and 1 goby in your 20g long, you should be just fine. Just take it slow and make sure your have plenty of live rock for your biological filtration. Territory shouldn't become a problem between those two, and neither should cramped conditions.

 

[leon]

There are a few that you CAN keep in a 20 gallon, some do need 30. Of the "cans" these include, orangespotted, randall's, diagonally banded, broadbanded, wheelers watchman, yellow watchman, highfin, and the whiteray. For looks wise, i'd go for either the orangespot, the wheelers or the highfin. Ive had both the wheelers, - which was fantastic, loads of character, and a true pair of highfins, but both types were basically drived to their demise by my domino. And i have to say i agree with chkltcow, my tank is 112gal, and as soon as they were in the tank, they never ventured near each other!. I still have the 2 pistol shrimps though. Oh and be carefull, the like to burrow, ALOT!!!, so they might topple any L.R!, best using reef feet, and cover up with sustrate so the can syill dig, but the feet hold the rock up still. Thankfully i did this originally, otherwise id be in a big mess!!
HTH,
Leon

 

[sammydee]

Thanks for the advice. What are reef feet though?

I would go with the yellow watchman goby because I love the expression on their faces all the time. Apparently you can get different kinds of pisto shrimp like purple and tiger ones - is this an issue at all?

 

[chkltcow]

Thanks for the advice. What are reef feet though?

I would go with the yellow watchman goby because I love the expression on their faces all the time. Apparently you can get different kinds of pisto shrimp like purple and tiger ones - is this an issue at all?

Can't help you too much on the pistol shrimp variety, but I will warn that everyone says a "Bullseye Pistol Shrimp" will NOT pair with a goby. The various other species seem to do okay with it, assuming you find a goby to their liking.

 

[leon]

What are reef feet though?

Theyre just little plastic tubes that are usually siliconed onto the bottom of the tank to support the rock, just help keep water all around and circulated, avoiding any dead spots. Some peeps also use reef racks, but personally i dont like them.
leon