Pistol Shrimp took a beating

[weez1959]

My daughter put a pistol shrimp in her tank this morning and he took quite a beating. I watched the whole thing happen.
He looked very skittish, he was snooping around the tank and almost made contact with a pink bar goby but was startled by one of the other fish and flew across the tank and ended up in Moe's (banded coral shrimp) corner. Anyways Moe didn't like the invasion and grabbed the shrimp and either the pistol shrimp let go of his large claw or it was ripped off!. So now the poor pistol is hiding under a coral,,,, is he going to be ok? Will this appendage grow back?
Moe was sucking the yummy meat out of the claw after that. He was holding on with both claws like it was a baby bottle!

[Poseidon]

A CBS and a pistol in the same tank? YIKES!

Louise, I would not be surprised if Moe hunts down the pistol shrimp to finish him off. Especially since he has lost his main defensive weapon.

[weez1959]

I checked this morning and the rest of the pistol shrimp is still fine Poor little guy, he was attacked within a minute of entering his new home. He and the goby still haven't made contact but I'm hoping in the next few days...

[LCP136]

Thats good news. If moe isn't a very large shrimp then I think the tiger pistil will be okay

[Ninong]

Louise,

How large is your daughter's tank?

You can't put other shrimp in a smallish tank with a coral banded shrimp. All shrimp are territorial but thankfully their territories are rather small. A mature shrimp usually defends an area no more than 12-16" across.

Coral banded shrimp are known to hunt down other shrimp to attack them when they are molting. They will literally tear them limb from limb. And they will especially do this to other coral banded shrimp unless you have a mated pair.

P.S. -- The appendage will grow back but it will be much smaller at first and get larger with each successive molt.

[weez1959]

Her tank is a 50g, 39" long. She has a lot of mixed inverts in there but I never though about thier compatability

My tank only has 2 cleaner shrimp and they get along very well together.

In that tank there are 2 sally lightfoots crabs, one coral banded shrimp, one cleaner shrimp. three emerald crabs, one urchin, a bunch of hermits and one sand star. And now the pistol which has now made his nest about 6" from Moe!

Is htere anywhere on the net that has an invert compatability? Sort of like the fish compatability chart?

[Ninong]

Is there anywhere on the net that has an invert compatability? Sort of like the fish compatability chart?

Not that I know of.

For a 50-gal tank, assuming a pistol shrimp-goby combo was on to-get list, I would have limited my other shrimp purchases to a pair of cleaner shrimp. I would NOT have gone with a banded coral shrimp in that size tank with those other shrimp. The banded coral shrimp (Stenopus hispidus) is a colorful, attractive shrimp but it is also very aggressive.

If a banded coral shrimp was at the top of the to-get list, then I would have tried to acquire a mated pair. You can't just get any two of these because they are not hermaphrodites like the cleaner shrimp. The females are larger than the males but this is no help if you're looking at juvenile shrimp of similar size.

Behavior

Stenopus hispidus juveniles often pair and grow together (Limbaugh et al., 1961). Adults are usually found in pairs and remain in the same area for days, months or even years (Colin, 1978). More specifically, S. hispidus has never been observed to move a distance greater than half a meter unless disturbed, and even then, the paired individuals attempt to stay together (Limbaugh et al., 1961). Depending on diet and temperature, the banded coral shrimp molt every 3 to 8 weeks (Debelius and Baensch, 1997). (Colin, 1978; Debelius and Baensch, 1997; Limbaugh, Pederson, and Chace Jr., 1961)

Note that their natural territory is approximate half a meter (20"). From that you can conclude that one (or a pair) would require half of your daughter's tank and it might be in the middle. It's up to the banded coral shrimp to choose the best territory. Once it reaches full adult size, it will choose whatever territory it pleases.

Here.

Louise, I suggest you bookmark that website. That's about the best thing you're going to get as far as invert compatibility is concerned. Look up each animal on there first and then, after you have been fully informed about each potential purchase, you can decide for yourself. And then, AFTER you have read up on what you're interested in, you can always post on the board to see what others think.

P.S. -- I hate to keep repeating myself but, for the benefit of newbies who may read this thread, ALWAYS research what you're thinking of buying BEFORE you buy it. Sometimes you can do your research right there in the LFS if they happen to have a good inventory of hobby books for sale. Just browse through the appropriate book pretending that you're interested in buying it (the book). You have to be careful that the LFS person doesn't catch on to what you're up to because this can upset them, especially if the book contradicts what they just told you.

[weez1959]

Unfortunately my daughter is an impulse buyer and the goby shrimp pair is her latest addition (she fell in love with them when she saw them in my tank and had to have a pair of her own)

But I also told her that she has to stop now since she's at her limit for that size tank. (2 ocelaris clowns, 1 scarlet wrasse, 1 flameback pygmy angel and a pink bar goby)

Hopefully there won't be anymore scuffles between the shrimp

Thanks for the link by the way, looks very good!

[Terri Crow]

Watch this 1 minute 37 second YouTube clip on Pistol Shrimp.
YouTube - Pistol Shrimp sonic weapon - Weird Nature - BBC wildlife
I have a 205 gallon salt tank and have a mating pair of Coral Bandits. Over the past 5 years I have had at least 20 cleaner shrimp, 10 Emeralds, 6 Sally's, 100 Mexican and various snails, and hundreds of hermit crabs. I never could figure out why I could not keep these. They would just magically disappear.
Then one day I heard a popping sound coming from the tank at night; just to find out that my Live Rock blessed me with a Pistol shrimp. He has to have been in there for years and I did not know it. He really hides. The more I read the more I find out that it is he that has been killing all my crabs and shrimp. THEY FEED ON CLEANER SHRIMP AT $20 A POP!! I can’t get him out either; I have tried. I took all the rock out and left it out for hours and still did not find him. He survived!!