Last week I discussed common forms of symbiotic relationships in the home marine aquarium. The relationship I will be discussing this week is slightly more complex, but this is the relationship that I am currently enjoying in my aquarium. I don’t go into the science as much as I go into the hands on aspect of the keeping of the pair.
This relationship is that of the infamous pistol shrimp and shrimp goby. I personally have a yellow spotted goby, and a tiger pistol shrimp. I recently received this already formed pair from a local reef hobbyist in my area. Because they were already ‘’formed", I was able to skip the long, and potentially ineffective step of getting them to "pair" (or form their symbiotic relationship), so to speak. I was lucky enough to be able to bring them home, and have them instantly pair up. If you are ever interested in buying a pistol shrimp and a shrimp goby for the purpose of them pairing, see if you can find a pair that has already been together!
Watching them is more exciting that watching a clownfish and an anemone could ever be - Sorry Nemo! The Pistol shrimp has very little visibility, so the goby acts as its eyes. The goby will sit outside of the burrow watching for predators. On the other hand, the Pistol Shrimp will constantly take sand and move it around. In less than 4 hours, my entire sand scape was completely rearranged leaving me with the unsightly view of the bottom of rocks. I have learned to live with this one small downfall, as the pair easily makes up for it.
Feeding the pair could not be easier. While it depends on the actual fish/shrimp, my pair accepted flake food from the beginning. I have been told that it is not hard to get them to accept live food even if they are only accepting live/frozen food. I usually feed my pair once a day, or 5-6 times per week based on my schedule. They are very hardy, and fare well in my ten gallon nano tank.
To wrap it up, I included a picture of the two. Unfortunately this is the best picture that I can get, because they're shy! If you have any questions about anything I mentioned above, please comment and I will get back to you asap!
Watching them is more exciting that watching a clownfish and an anemone could ever be - Sorry Nemo! The Pistol shrimp has very little visibility, so the goby acts as its eyes. The goby will sit outside of the burrow watching for predators. On the other hand, the Pistol Shrimp will constantly take sand and move it around. In less than 4 hours, my entire sand scape was completely rearranged leaving me with the unsightly view of the bottom of rocks. I have learned to live with this one small downfall, as the pair easily makes up for it.
Feeding the pair could not be easier. While it depends on the actual fish/shrimp, my pair accepted flake food from the beginning. I have been told that it is not hard to get them to accept live food even if they are only accepting live/frozen food. I usually feed my pair once a day, or 5-6 times per week based on my schedule. They are very hardy, and fare well in my ten gallon nano tank.
To wrap it up, I included a picture of the two. Unfortunately this is the best picture that I can get, because they're shy! If you have any questions about anything I mentioned above, please comment and I will get back to you asap!
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