Pistol shrimp kills everything!?

[ReeferHolland]

My pistol shrimp killed my blood shrimp 2 days ago and now he killed my cleaner shrimp and eats it together with my blue hermit. LFS told me it nothing like that could probably happen...
So now I don't want him anymore because I really liked my cleaner shrimp.
He is also constantly snapping at my clowns. They are the only 2 fish in the tank and I'm affraid he will kill one of them very soon, is this possible?
I somehow managed to see him snapping at my clowns at night. When they sleep they are just wobbling around the tank very slowly and when they swim by and accidently touch one of his feelers he instantly snaps at the fish.
What is the probability that he kills one or both of my clowns? Seems very high to me
And how can I catch my pistol shrimp if I want to?

Is there any way to introduce new cleaner shrimp without getting killed by the pistol shrimp?

My tank is a redsea 200L

 

[ReeferHolland]

Can we get a pic of the shrimp?

Not all of them pair with fish and not all are safe.

 

[ReeferHolland]

I hope you can see it. This is yesterday where his is eating the cleaner shrimp together with the hermit crab. Maybe he thinks the hermit is a goby?

He just left the hole and can't find him anywhere now

 

[Cthulukelele]

Is that a bullseye pistol shrimp? If so, feeding won't stop the murdering. They're aggressive

 

[ReeferHolland]

Is that a bullseye pistol shrimp? If so, feeding won't stop the murdering. They're aggressive

It doesn't look like one to me.

 

[Cthulukelele]

It doesn't look like one to me.

Can you tell what it does look like of the hobby pistols? Tiger and randals are the only really "safe" ones

 

[CoralB]

I want to feed more but I keep having bacterial blooms/outbreaks after doing that. Also because he killed both my shrimps the waste is now causing another bacterial bloom. My water parameters are good though. 0 ammonia or nitrite, 5 nitrate, 0 phosphate.

I would seriously consider getting your phosphates up from zero or it will be a lot more then a bacterial bloom that you’ll be dealing with .

 

[OrchidMiss]

I hope you can see it. This is yesterday where his is eating the cleaner shrimp together with the hermit crab. Maybe he thinks the hermit is a goby?

He just left the hole and can't find him anywhere now

Looks similar to my curly que snapping shrimp.

 

[ReeferHolland]

I would seriously consider getting your phosphates up from zero or it will be a lot more then a bacterial bloom that you’ll be dealing with .

And how can I do this??

 

[ReeferHolland]

Looks similar to my curly que snapping shrimp.

Yes thats defenitely him, I googled it

 

[ReeferHolland]

Can you tell what it does look like of the hobby pistols? Tiger and randals are the only really "safe" ones

It's a curly que snapping shrimp.
I just found out

 

[OrchidMiss]

It's a curly que snapping shrimp.
I just found out

Still needs a goby.
I'd get him a buddy!

 

[ReeferHolland]

Still needs a goby.
I'd get him a buddy!

But then he still needs to wait 3-4 weeks or more because of QT

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

It's a curly que snapping shrimp.
I just found out

Still needs a goby.
I'd get him a buddy!

Actually, the Curly Que Pistol Shrimp, Alpheus armatus, doesn’t pair with gobies - it pairs with the Corkscrew Anemone, Bartholomea annulata, which tends to live in small cave/burrow-like structures (and A. armatus can find these nems even when they’re completely buried in sand).

A. armatus is considered an obligate symbiont with this anemone, so keeping it without one is likely incredibly stressful to the shrimp. Additionally, at least some of these Alpheid species (many of whose diets are inferred rather than properly studied) have been demonstrated to feed on the excrement of their goby partners, so it’s possible that this shrimp would feed on its host anemone’s waste in nature as well. If so, between lacking the safe shelter of its host nem and the (possible) lack of a major/primary food source, the extreme aggression would be much less surprising.

Edit: perhaps better terms than caves/burrows would be crevices, nooks, or ledges (more like mini caves than actual caves).

 

[CoralB]

And how can I do this??

You can either keep phosphates up by over feeding your fish and coral . reef roids is good for coral and raising phosphates but since your tank is not mature enough not having enough good bacteria to consume the extra food , I would dose with a product like Neophos from brightwell aquatics .

 

[ReeferHolland]

You can either keep phosphates up by over feeding your fish and coral . reef roids is good for coral and raising phosphates but since your tank is not mature enough not having enough good bacteria to consume the extra food , I would dose with a product like Neophos from brightwell aquatics .

Thanks for the tip! But I think my tank is very good at processing food. My nitrates always stay at a constant 2-5 no matter what. It just the phosphates that remain at zero. There never was any algae or ugly phase in the 3 months that I have this tank. I did a very good cycle before adding anything.

Does a bacterial bloom consume phosphates? Why is my phosphates at 0 with good water parameters and a clean tank?

 

[CoralB]

What test kit are you using to test for phosphates ?

 

[ReeferHolland]

What test kit are you using to test for phosphates ?

I use salifert

 

[CoralB]

I use salifert

What type of filtration are you using ? Any macroalgae ?

 

[ReeferHolland]

What type of filtration are you using ? Any macroalgae ?

Here a quick summup of my setup:

Redsea reefer 200 G2
RSK 300 protein skimmer
Filter sock with fine mesh
Jebao 3500 pump on 60%
Caribsea ocean direct sand
20kg caribsea live rock
200ML active carbon
1kg ceramic bio balls
25 degrees celcius
Salinity: 1.024 1.025
Low flow
2 clowns
8 snails
1 pistol shrimp
4 small hermits
3 very tiny ricordea florida
1 very tiny discosoma ultra red

Used microbe lift nite out 2 and special blend during the first month. Together with AF life source. I added a total of 10 bags of copepods during 3 months. Never had any ugly stage besides the bacterial blooms.

Phosphate has always been 0 since the day I started testing for it

 

[CoralB]

Unless your adding something

Here a quick summup of my setup:

Redsea reefer 200 G2
RSK 300 protein skimmer
Filter sock with fine mesh
Jebao 3500 pump on 60%
Caribsea ocean direct sand
20kg caribsea live rock
200ML active carbon
1kg ceramic bio balls
25 degrees celcius
Salinity: 1.024 1.025
Low flow
2 clowns
8 snails
1 pistol shrimp
4 small hermits
3 very tiny ricordea florida
1 very tiny discosoma ultra red

Used microbe lift nite out 2 and special blend during the first month. Together with AF life source. I added a total of 10 bags of copepods during 3 months. Never had any ugly stage besides the bacterial blooms.

Phosphate has always been 0 since the day I started testing for it
View attachment 2936503

ok im not seeing anything that would take up phosphates to the point of zeroing out . I would suspect that maybe your testing kit is not showing accurate results . I would get a test don’t with a different testing kit either from your lfs or maybe a friend that’s also in the hobby . For phosphates I prefer the Hanna ultra phosphate checker . See if your results are in fact zero and if so start dosing to keep from zeroing out and leading to Dino’s . Looking at you photo I’m not seeing any algae which would lead me to believe that your pho’s are not that high . Get them checked out ASAP . As far as the bacterial bloom I would get a product like brightwell’s microbactor 7 to help increase your good bacteria to combat the bloom . Do you have a powerhead ( not sure if that’s what is on the front of the glass) in the tank ?? It’s hard to tell . If not I would encourage that you get one tonot only agitate the surface for proper gas exchange but to also help establish bacteria on your rocks properly . Your coral will also need current for nutrient intake .