sexy shrimp or pistol shrimp?

beeguiles

they call me fish geek ;p
I want to either add a pistol shrimp to pair up with my red banded goby. Or I want to get a group of 6-8 sexy shrimp. Which would you pick? Or can they coexist together?
 
Pistol shrimp eat other shrimp so no they can't coexist. As for your pistol and your red banded goby pairing up, I'm not sure it will happen. I am fairly certain it is only the watchman goby that will pair up with the pistol shrimp. But I could be totally wrong.
 
Neither. Instead, get a pair of Hawaiian Harlequin shrimp.

Don't they have a special diet? I was looking at them and they are awesome but I was told they have to eat starfish.

I'm leaning towards sexy shrimp. Only bc I don't want to hear the popping sounds and in such a small tank with a lot of open space I should be able to see them, esp if I get six.
 
Yes, they eat Starfish. Just buy a Chocolate Chip star, and clip a leg off every week. I keep mine in the sump, pull him out, cut a leg, and put him back in the sump.
 
It's really not that bad. You could also ask local people to pull their Asternia Stars out of their tanks and give them to you.
 
Alot depends on the type of pistol you plan on adding to your system. Some are more aggressive then others and in the wild they do hunt and kill other other shrimp as a primary food source. The randalls pistol is usually the more timid of the bunch and is smaller. If you have other shrimp in the tank though Its doubtful that you will see him much especially when he becomes aware of the others. He will recognize them as competitors and will stick close to the goby which may also become very reclusive. I see my yellow watchman probably once to twice a month and my pistol less. The watchman brings the shrimp his share of the food. I actually purchased the watchman by himself knowing he was already paired with a pistol in the LFS. When I got home I noticed something in the watchmans mouth and it was the pistol. He didn't want to leave him so he brought him along. He crawled out and I've had him ever since. I actually had to go back to the LFS and explain what happened and pay them for the pistol. Guess he didn't want to leave his buddy behind. As for sexy shrimp they are better kept in odd groups over 5. They are reclusive as well though, but in a 10 gallon with around 7 you should be able to keep track of them unless you have alot of holes and crevices.
 
The only thing I'd be concerened about if you got both would be fighting, both shrimps inhabit different areas of the tank but in a 10g there is no doubt they will be near aware of the other. And the pistol might kill the cleaner. I think 7 sexys would be really cool.

About the harlequins: if you bought 3 choc chip stars and clipped 1 leg off every week alternating between the 3 stars would that give the "first" one you cut time to regenerate? And so on and so forth...
 
I've been thinking a lot about it and I've decided on the sexy shrimp. They overall look cooler and are more likely to be seen. Thanks for all the input guys! I will do an odd group of seven I'm thinking. Should I add them all at once or can I do a few at a time?
 
i've been thinking a lot about it and i've decided on the sexy shrimp. They overall look cooler and are more likely to be seen. Thanks for all the input guys! I will do an odd group of seven i'm thinking. Should i add them all at once or can i do a few at a time?


pictures
 
Hmm. I'll have to call up my lfs and have them order them all for me then. They usually only have a couple at a time.
 
Back
Top