Help with Pistol Shrimps

Zakary2003

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I have a waterbox 20 cube AIO mixed reef. Back in December, I bought a candy pistol shrimp and yasha goby, and they lived in a large shell for a few weeks. Eventually the shrimp left the shell and the goby didn't, probably because it was a really crappy burrow. I spotted him a few times at night underground against the glass, but never found the burrow entrance. It disappeared around March and I haven't heard it clicking. I moved the tank from Tampa, Fl to Jacksonville, Fl earlier this month and removed all sand and liverock, and it was not there. I'm almost certain it is dead.

I think it might have starved to death. There is nothing big enough to eat it in my tank, and I couldn't give him any frozen or pellet food once he left the seashell. I really want to get another pair (goby manged to jump out of my tank despite having a tight fitting Kraken Reef lid), but I don't want the pistol shrimp to starve again. How am I supposed to keep track of the shrimp to make sure he's getting fed if it disapears?

I've considered trying a prebuilt burrow, something like this: https://a.co/d/0eF8onzk
But I'm not sure if it would use that or how well something like this would hold up in a reef tank. That would allow me to know where it is and feed it. I would cover the exposed side with paper to make sure the burrow stays nice and dark. Has anyone tried that?

I'm open to other suggestions. That symbiotic relationships is one of the things that drove me to get my own tank, and I really want to make it work.

I attached a picture of my previous pair in the seashell for anyone who wanted to see it.

20231206_180518.jpg
 

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I saw that on Amazon and thought it was a clever idea; no guarantees in this hobby it seems however. Sorry for the loss. Nice looking pair. Not sure what mine gets in it's burrow to eat but I'm thinking worms is part of it's diet
 

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When I introduced mine I used an acrylic tube (from tank vac), positioned it where I hoped it would live and slid it down the tube. Worked. Started burrowing immediately in that spot
 
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Zakary2003

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When I introduced mine I used an acrylic tube (from tank vac), positioned it where I hoped it would live and slid it down the tube. Worked. Started burrowing immediately in that spot
I tried that with mine. The goby darted off and hid in that seashell before the shrimp had a hole built. The shrimp was in the shell with the goby the next morning, so I guess it abandoned the spot I chose for them.
 

eliaslikesfish

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i catch my randall’s goby occasionally bring a small piece of food to one of the burrow entrances and the pistol comes out and takes it. not sure if they all do that but I assume that’s how mine stays alive. Although I have a tiger pistol as well in there that doesn’t have a goby pair and he’s still alive.
 
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Zakary2003

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i catch my randall’s goby occasionally bring a small piece of food to one of the burrow entrances and the pistol comes out and takes it. not sure if they all do that but I assume that’s how mine stays alive. Although I have a tiger pistol as well in there that doesn’t have a goby pair and he’s still alive.
The goby didn't go with the shrimp when the shrimp disappeared unfortunately. Maybe that's why the shrimp starved.
 

eliaslikesfish

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The goby didn't go with the shrimp when the shrimp disappeared unfortunately. Maybe that's why the shrimp starved.
a thing you could do to guarantee he eats is take a turkey baster and blow a small amount of food into one of the burrow openings, he’ll find it and will appreciate it haha
 

eliaslikesfish

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That's assuming I can find an entrance. I couldn't find his.
as others have said you can’t guarantee where it will burrow but something that I did and actually worked for me was I took a torch coral that was connected to a rock and placed it a little away from the front of the tank so it would be dark and at first i didn’t see him but one day this happened… I have heard success stories of placing a rock somewhere you’d like them to be and it working, worked for me…
IMG_3852.jpeg
IMG_3853.jpeg
 
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Zakary2003

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as others have said you can’t guarantee where it will burrow but something that I did and actually worked for me was I took a torch coral that was connected to a rock and placed it a little away from the front of the tank so it would be dark and at first i didn’t see him but one day this happened… I have heard success stories of placing a rock somewhere you’d like them to be and it working, worked for me…
IMG_3852.jpeg
IMG_3853.jpeg
Huh. Not a bad idea. I don't have a loose torch coral lying around but I think I could make something work haha.
 
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