Pistol shrimp

Eradliff

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Ive made the mistake of putting a pistol shrimp in my tank and hes completely destroying my sand bed, I knew he would move the sand around but hes moving it so much my rocks are leaning, any tips on getting him out?
if not im just going to rip the rocks out and get him that way. really gonna tick of the corals lol
 

aSaltyKlown

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What is the size of your tank?
Also, the rocks should not be moving. Did you place the rocks on top of the sand or on the glass and then put the sand down? You can try a trap, but I've always pulled rocks to get them out.
 

MabuyaQ

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Never place rocks on top of sand, this will always be unstable. Even flow can/will move the sand and undermine the stability further, to the point the rocks will collapse. So do it right, take the animals out, take the rock out, next the sand, put the rock back, put the sand back, put the animals back. Enjoy a stable structure and the pistol shrimp.
 

Cell

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Yep, rock first, then sand is the best practice. It's mandatory if you want to stock sand dwelling/digging creatures.
 

JayM

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I swear my pistol shrimp moved every grain of sand in my tank multiple times the first couple of weeks.

I don't know if they're typically considered CUC, but moving sand from the dead spots under your rocks can't be bad for detritus build-up.

It's going to be all but impossible to catch him with any sort of aquascape in the tank. I would suggest leaving him. Once he's got all the tunnels dug, he'll mostly just do maintenance and it won't be so bad. You'll then be able to stabilize your rocks better as there won't be much sand underneath them anymore.
 

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