I apparently have two pistol shrimp

telathas · 03/31/2018, 04:55 PM

I recently added a high fin goby to my tank to replace a randall goby that I had previously that had jumped out. It paired up almost immediately with a candy cane pistol that I had known about. They paired up within the day and I saw them burrowing. Now this is where it gets weird. I was looking at their burrow today and noticed that the pistol shrimp was digging like normal but looked smaller. Like way smaller. Then while feeding my corals I noticed a larger pistol shrimp come out of a burrow on the other side of the tank. This was the one that I had originally seen paired with the goby like a week ago.

Both of these pistol shrimps were purchased months ago and I had originally thought that the first one perished, so I bought another one. Turns out they both survived and have been living together in my 30g for the past few months. Like I said, one is significantly bigger than the other and I'm a little worried that they might have issues with each other. Is it normal for pistols of the same species to get along? Also is it normal for the goby to pair with both of them? Like I said, the goby originally paired with the bigger pistol, but now the bigger pistol is on the opposite end of the tank in another burrow while the smaller pistol is with the goby now.

j.falk · 04/01/2018, 05:44 AM

If they've been living together all this time without you knowing it...why worry about it now? Sounds like they are doing fine.

03/31/2018, 04:55 PM	#1
telathas Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2016 Posts: 57	I apparently have two pistol shrimp I recently added a high fin goby to my tank to replace a randall goby that I had previously that had jumped out. It paired up almost immediately with a candy cane pistol that I had known about. They paired up within the day and I saw them burrowing. Now this is where it gets weird. I was looking at their burrow today and noticed that the pistol shrimp was digging like normal but looked smaller. Like way smaller. Then while feeding my corals I noticed a larger pistol shrimp come out of a burrow on the other side of the tank. This was the one that I had originally seen paired with the goby like a week ago. Both of these pistol shrimps were purchased months ago and I had originally thought that the first one perished, so I bought another one. Turns out they both survived and have been living together in my 30g for the past few months. Like I said, one is significantly bigger than the other and I'm a little worried that they might have issues with each other. Is it normal for pistols of the same species to get along? Also is it normal for the goby to pair with both of them? Like I said, the goby originally paired with the bigger pistol, but now the bigger pistol is on the opposite end of the tank in another burrow while the smaller pistol is with the goby now.

04/01/2018, 05:44 AM	#2
j.falk Registered Member Join Date: May 2017 Posts: 632	If they've been living together all this time without you knowing it...why worry about it now? Sounds like they are doing fine.