Goby & Shrimp Pairs

[SeanCallan]

I've always been fascinated by the relationship some Gobies share with shrimp and I'd like to see that in my new tank, but I'm no fan of a DSB.

 

What are the requirements to house these guys? I'm going to have pretty heavy flow (~58% turn over) so I'm not sure if they'll even be suitable or perhaps they'll seek out a dead zone and setup shop?

 

Is it possible to get away with 1-2'' of sand, more like towards 1''?

 

And lastly, which pairs do you recommend?

[L8 2 RISE]

I had mine in a 12 gallon tank with a 1-2 inch sand bed and they thrived, that is untill my shrimp sufferd from the effects of high nitrates.... I think they would be fine as long as you have a deeper sand bed in some areas. You could also probably have several pairs as long as they were added at different times so as to allow each to settle.

[Sugar Magnolia]

I had a pair in my 2.5g tank for a while. Yasha haze goby/Randall's pistol. The pistol died after a while and I transferred the yasha to my 30G tank. He went pistol-less for over a year. I added a tiger pistol a few months ago and finally today I noticed they have paired up. The tank has about a 2" sand bed and the pistol is constantly moving things around and excavates under my two large bottom rocks. There's some rubble for it to move around too...empty snail shells, small pieces of LR, etc. Some mornings I wake up to find 4" piles of sand in interesting places. Busy little bugger!

Edited November 5, 2008 by Sugar Magnolia