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Pistol Shrimp?

So I was wondering what do tiger pistol shrimp eat I was under the unsumption they eat wast or like food. But today when I fed my tank today I see the yellow watchmen let the shrimp out of the hole. Well he skirted about the sand picked up a small nassarius snail that had emerged from the sand. Well he picked up like 3 of them tried taking a video but watchmen was watching me and warned the pistol. So what do they eat? Thanks
 
That's fairly common behavior for pistol shrimp. I lost quite a few nassarius before I realized what was happening. Between that and the OCD digging, both the shrimp and goby had to go.
 
In the wild pistol shrimp will partner with symbiotic gobies. The pistol shrimp dig for them and also kill anything that gets to close to there den. You know when something has been killed because you will hear a loud sound coming out of your tank.
 
nudibranch said:
In the wild pistol shrimp will partner with symbiotic gobies. The pistol shrimp dig for them and also kill anything that gets to close to there den. You know when something has been killed because you will hear a loud sound coming out of your tank.


Thanks I read this about them before I bought it and I also saw the awsome video on YouTube with the pistol killing a skunk shrimp
 
a pistol killing a skunk? really? Are you sure it wasn't a mantis?

FWIW I still have most of my nass. snails. My pistol ends up eating a lot of pellets that fall to the sand.
 
Yeah i just saw today that he doesnt eat the nass, he just takes them back to his lair and i see them snail away later on. and heres the youtube link to the video i was talking about. and its about 50 secs into it where it gets good. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKPrGxB1Kzc
 
There are a bunch of different kinds of pistol shrimps, some live in the sand with gobies, some live on their own and don't mind climbing rocks and killing fish, etc.

Tiger pistols are my fav's, they'll pair up with nearly any shrimpgoby, they're large enough that they move a bunch of sand as they dig and they very rarely bother any fish, even when a braindead wrasse or firefish panics and bolts into the pistol's hole instead of their own.

They WILL happily "take care of" any hermits or snails that wander too close, and if you're a fan of leaving corals all over your sand bed, they'll play legos with them - reason #1 that most aquarists hate em. They're interesting creatures, and fun to watch as they dig and rearrange their homes. It's worth the trouble to buy a frag rack or remember to epoxy new frags to the rockwork straight away in order to be able enjoy them.
 
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