OP
OP
Ok. I'm probably way more excited about this than I should be, but... Those of you who have been following along know that one of the reasons I setup this tank was to have a specific pistol shrimp and goby pair. I planned for it from the beginning, and I made some specific accommodations for the duo.
Since I planned on having a Candy Stripe Pistol and a Hi-fin Banded Goby (both pretty tiny), and since shrimp/goby pairs tend to always tunnel in parts of the tank that you can't ever see, I built a tunnel into the base of my aquascape with exits in places that could easily be seen.
One right in front...
...and the other easily seen from one side.
Once I put the sand in, the holes were covered up, but I was pretty confident that an industrious little pistol shrimp would find them.
My original plan was to add the shrimp first and let it start on the tunnels, then add the goby. I waited forever for one of the LFS to get a Candy Stripe Pistol. Seems everyone was having a hard time getting them, but I did eventually find one. I spent a lot of time acclimating it and added it to the tank, only to find it dead two days later. I was bummed.
Then a few weeks later I happened to see the goby I wanted at another LFS. This particular LFS is kind of notorious for spotty luck with livestock (local people will know the exact place I'm talking about). But, against my better judgement, I went ahead and got the goby. I spent extra time acclimating the little guy to give him the best chance in the tank. I found it dead the next morning.
Since the availability of the shrimp and goby was really spotty, I kind of just forgot about it for a while and enjoyed the tank as-is for several months. Then, about 3 weeks ago, I saw that a semi-local LFS (notorious for GOOD livestock) had gotten a Candy Stripe in. I called and asked them to hold it for me, hopped in the car and made the 2 hour roundtrip and added it to my tank. I tried to get it close to where the tunnel in the aquascape is but, of course, it hit the sand and went the opposite way!
Now, almost 3 weeks later, and the point of this whole update, it found the tunnel! I haven't seen the shrimp since adding him to the tank, but I could see little piles of turned up sand every morning, so I knew he was alive and kicking in there. And, finally, yesterday morning the lights came on and I saw this:
Freshly turned sand and a hole, right at the front entrance of the tunnel! FINALLY!
I'll let the shrimp get the tunnel all excavated before trying another goby, but I am SUPER excited about this! The Hi-fin Banded Goby is one of my absolute favorite fish, and one of the main purposes of this whole tank build was specifically that fish and a shrimp pair.
When I do add the goby, my plan is to use a long clear tube to guide it right down to the tunnel entrance. That way I shouldn't have to wait long for it to find the shrimp and pair up. The tank is only 10g, so it probably wouldn't take TOO long anyway, but the gobies are very skittish, and pretty fragile, so if I can get it comfortable in the tank relatively quickly, it will have a much better chance.
Since I planned on having a Candy Stripe Pistol and a Hi-fin Banded Goby (both pretty tiny), and since shrimp/goby pairs tend to always tunnel in parts of the tank that you can't ever see, I built a tunnel into the base of my aquascape with exits in places that could easily be seen.
One right in front...
...and the other easily seen from one side.
Once I put the sand in, the holes were covered up, but I was pretty confident that an industrious little pistol shrimp would find them.
My original plan was to add the shrimp first and let it start on the tunnels, then add the goby. I waited forever for one of the LFS to get a Candy Stripe Pistol. Seems everyone was having a hard time getting them, but I did eventually find one. I spent a lot of time acclimating it and added it to the tank, only to find it dead two days later. I was bummed.
Then a few weeks later I happened to see the goby I wanted at another LFS. This particular LFS is kind of notorious for spotty luck with livestock (local people will know the exact place I'm talking about). But, against my better judgement, I went ahead and got the goby. I spent extra time acclimating the little guy to give him the best chance in the tank. I found it dead the next morning.
Since the availability of the shrimp and goby was really spotty, I kind of just forgot about it for a while and enjoyed the tank as-is for several months. Then, about 3 weeks ago, I saw that a semi-local LFS (notorious for GOOD livestock) had gotten a Candy Stripe in. I called and asked them to hold it for me, hopped in the car and made the 2 hour roundtrip and added it to my tank. I tried to get it close to where the tunnel in the aquascape is but, of course, it hit the sand and went the opposite way!
Now, almost 3 weeks later, and the point of this whole update, it found the tunnel! I haven't seen the shrimp since adding him to the tank, but I could see little piles of turned up sand every morning, so I knew he was alive and kicking in there. And, finally, yesterday morning the lights came on and I saw this:
Freshly turned sand and a hole, right at the front entrance of the tunnel! FINALLY!
I'll let the shrimp get the tunnel all excavated before trying another goby, but I am SUPER excited about this! The Hi-fin Banded Goby is one of my absolute favorite fish, and one of the main purposes of this whole tank build was specifically that fish and a shrimp pair.
When I do add the goby, my plan is to use a long clear tube to guide it right down to the tunnel entrance. That way I shouldn't have to wait long for it to find the shrimp and pair up. The tank is only 10g, so it probably wouldn't take TOO long anyway, but the gobies are very skittish, and pretty fragile, so if I can get it comfortable in the tank relatively quickly, it will have a much better chance.
