Back in July 2024, when I was still in the planning stages of my first reef tank, I knew I wanted this symbiotic pair. I wanted to watch this fascinating natural display of teamwork in my own tank. Plus, my 7 year old granddaughter would love it! As it worked out, I wound up getting the yellow rose goby (aka Candy) alone, as they didn't have any pistol shrimp. Since then she's (I refer to it as a "she") spent more time hiding than visible, to the point of me worrying that she was dead, because I hadn't seen her for so long.
On the way home from my last visit to the cancer center, we stopped by Off the Hook Marine in Peachtree City. I went in for a tail spot blenny (which I got), and also came out with a little Valentini puffer and a candy cane pistol shrimp. Something to note (relevant to this story) is that other than feeding as instructed by me, my husband knows almost nothing about this hobby. At least in regards to care, adding new livestock, etc. But like the soft-hearted dummy I am, I gave in to his insisting to be the one to release the shrimp in the tank. To make this already too long story short, it went predictably sideways. The shrimp escaped the net before it was supposed to (right next to the goby's burrow) and darted off to hide elsewhere. I've read that pistol shrimp are nearly blind, and given Candy's tendency to hide, I thought it was a failed experiment. But lo and behold, a week later I noticed that Candy was not in her burrow. She appeared a couple hours later, hovering over a new hole, and then the shrimp (Kane) appeared, pushing sand out of the hole. It worked! They found each other, and are happily sharing their little burrow in my tank. With all the setbacks I've had so far, it's really nice to have something going right.
On the way home from my last visit to the cancer center, we stopped by Off the Hook Marine in Peachtree City. I went in for a tail spot blenny (which I got), and also came out with a little Valentini puffer and a candy cane pistol shrimp. Something to note (relevant to this story) is that other than feeding as instructed by me, my husband knows almost nothing about this hobby. At least in regards to care, adding new livestock, etc. But like the soft-hearted dummy I am, I gave in to his insisting to be the one to release the shrimp in the tank. To make this already too long story short, it went predictably sideways. The shrimp escaped the net before it was supposed to (right next to the goby's burrow) and darted off to hide elsewhere. I've read that pistol shrimp are nearly blind, and given Candy's tendency to hide, I thought it was a failed experiment. But lo and behold, a week later I noticed that Candy was not in her burrow. She appeared a couple hours later, hovering over a new hole, and then the shrimp (Kane) appeared, pushing sand out of the hole. It worked! They found each other, and are happily sharing their little burrow in my tank. With all the setbacks I've had so far, it's really nice to have something going right.
