Pistol Shrimp Vs. Cleaner Shrimp

[adonis311]

So I had this great idea for adding some shrimp to my reef tank. I have an aurora goby...(I think..he's about as obvious in the tank as bigfoot) and I know they tend to like to team up with pistol shrimp. I also wanted to keep some cleaner shrimp around just in case, those guys can be pretty stalwart to a tank. However, doing my pre-purchase research I came across a deep sea vid of a submersable exploring a ship wreck. Here they find a cleaner shrimp by itself, minding it's own business...doing whatever they do in ship wrecks, and then a pistol shrimp comes out from under an old pot, stuns and drags the cleaner shrimp off. Pretty sure what happened next was a shrimp hannibal lecter episode. Is this a valid threat? Should I have to choose between one or the other or is this not common enough to cost serious money in attempting?

 

[1guydude]

It was prob a mantis shrimp that did that in the video u saw.
I have a pistol (randals) and its about 3/4" now and my fire shrimp is over an 1" and they do fine....besides the pistol just burrows and isnt seen all that much anywho ?!?!

 

[btldreef]

I've seen that video, it's so staged.
There are certain pistol shrimps that are definitely more aggressive than others, but IME, they're FINE with cleaner shrimp. I've kept my pistol/goby pair with a skunk cleaner shrimp, a fire shrimp, peppermint shrimps, and even harlequin shrimps and never lost one. I have a Randalli (the red and white striped one) pistol and have had him since he was really tiny. He's never harmed a thing. He's paired with a little Yasha Goby. Right now I have the pair in my refugium where I have mysid shrimp breeding, and the pistol doesn't even go after them.
I honestly believe that in a reef tank, where there's a constant food supply, they really tend to stop hunting. The only time I really see mine is when he knows food was just put in the tank.
So the aurora is still hiding, huh? Mine has recently made a burrow close to the front of the tank, so I'm able to see it, but they're still not very social fish. Maybe giving yours a buddy might help it a little.

 

[adonis311]

Yeah I haven't seen "Sneaky" the aurora goby in a few days. About to turn some rocks over just to be sure the crabs havent eaten him, but that's the idea. Maybe giving him a pal will boost his confidence a little. Especially one that can flash boil water with the snap of his claws. Just wanted to be sure that they wouldn't beat up anything else in my tank, because I know of their damage potential.

 

[adonis311]

Yeah I haven't seen "Sneaks" the aurora goby in a few days. About to turn some rocks over just to be sure the crabs havent eaten him, but that's the idea. Maybe giving him a pal will boost his confidence a little. Especially one that can flash boil water with the snap of his claws. Just wanted to be sure that they wouldn't beat up anything else in my tank, because I know of their damage potential.

 

[adonis311]

Yeah I haven't seen "Sneaks" the aurora goby in a few days. About to turn some rocks over just to be sure the crabs havent eaten him, but that's the idea. Maybe giving him a pal will boost his confidence a little. Especially one that can flash boil water with the snap of his claws. Just wanted to be sure that they wouldn't beat up anything else in my tank, because I know of their damage potential.

 

[adonis311]

Yeah I haven't seen "Sneaks" the aurora goby in a few days. About to turn some rocks over just to be sure the crabs havent eaten him, but that's the idea. Maybe giving him a pal will boost his confidence a little. Especially one that can flash boil water with the snap of his claws. Just wanted to be sure that they wouldn't beat up anything else in my tank, because I know of their damage potential.

 

[btldreef]

Get a small one. The Randalli's are fairly peaceful. Just beware that some pistols kick up quite a bit of sand. I've owned three different Randalli's now, and they're the only ones that I've noticed usually don't make as much of a mess with the sand bed.
I would not move your rocks. Put in the pistol, they'll find each other. Moving around your rock work is just going to stress the fish out more.

 

[adonis311]

My lfs has a brownish red pistol shrimp with blue legs. What kind is that?

 

[btldreef]

Honestly, I'm not sure. There are so many species. The only one that I trust is the Alpheus randalli.

 

[adonis311]

Can u link a pic to that one?

 

[btldreef]

https://www.saltwaterfish.com/Pistol-Shrimp--Randalli_p_620.html

 

[adonis311]

You are teh awesome BT. I like this one better then what ever it was they had at the LFS. I am now considering ordering it from there. Any special considerations for care for one of these?