Pistol Shrimp and Gobie - Which Ones?

mokujin22 · #1 12/11/2007, 03:49 PM

So I'm starting up my desktop 8 gallon Biocube soon and am pretty much sold on the pistol shrimp/watchman gobie combo.

I have had a yellow watchman before.. love the little fellas. However, I also really like the little Yasha Hase gobie... I have heard that they will pair with some pistols. Is there certain pairs of gobies/shrimp that go together? Are some species incompatible?

As for the shrimp.. I really like the Candy Strip Pistol. As I've never had a pistol before, I like mostly his coloration. Others that I've seen include the Caribbean and the Tiger pistol.

Are any of these more/less aggressive toward other tankmates (are all unsafe to keep with hermits and snails?)

Do they ever kill their gobie friends?

Thanks a bunch in advance,
Tony

Lance M. · #2 12/12/2007, 12:10 AM

I'm not sure which pair with which but I have a yellow watchman with a fancy red pistol in one tank and they share the same burrows but don't stay together all the time and in my other tank I have a yellow watchman and a candy cane pistol. The candy cane pistol is insanely small and they are not paired but live in same area. The candy cane is ~.5-.75'' long. It hasn't grown since I got it abotu a year ago and I've seen it about 5 times in that time frame but I do hear it every night snapping. Now my red pistol I see every day because it's 3'' long and comes out when I feed.

HTH

mokujin22 · #3 12/12/2007, 08:41 AM

Thanks for the response, Lance. That definitely makes me lean towards the red pistol.. the tank will be in my office and will have people ogling over it pretty often. Seeing the shrimp with regularity is a good thing.

natan · #4 12/12/2007, 03:52 PM

To the best of my knowledge, they are all safe with both hermits and snails. Good luck!

taklein65 · #5 12/12/2007, 09:51 PM

I have a hi-fin red banded Goby and a tiger pistol shrimp in my 120 they have been in the same hole for over 2 weeks . You can see the tiger all the time moving the sand out and the Goby standing guard.

mokujin22 · #6 12/13/2007, 09:06 AM

Awesome.. getting a bit excited now. Thanks for the tips, everyone!

kcbonsai_matt · #7 12/19/2007, 11:12 AM

These guys are both out all the time except for first thing in the morning. They are fun to watch!

mokujin22 · #8 12/19/2007, 03:51 PM

Awesome pic. Love the way the shrimp rests his antenna on the goby... very cool.

delsol650 · #9 12/20/2007, 08:56 AM

Go with a Yasha pistol/goby combo

aastretch64 · #10 12/21/2007, 11:01 AM

I've got yellow watchman, what if any pitols would be safe with a 3 inch cleaner shrimp, and sps coral.

mokujin22 · #11 12/21/2007, 04:14 PM

I think all are safe with SPS, but have heard mixed things about keeping them with other shrimp. Most will say that they'll be fine, but I've seen video (don't have a thread, but check on Youtube) of pistols taking out skunk cleaners.