Pistol Shrimp Building material?

I have a frag slabs with zoas on them. its just a little square slab maybe half inch square. My Tiger Pistol keeps stealing them, flipping them over and using them as the roof to the entrance of him and his little partner in crimes caves. I feel bad because I collapse his cave everytime I remove them only to see him have to rebuild all over again. Is there any things that I can buy for him to build his cave with?

 

Buy an empty frag plug...

 

I just went to my LFS the other day and bought a ton of small pieces of live rock that were at the bottom of the bin that had broken off of the bigger pieces. They only charged me a few bucks and the pieces i got were about a half inch and a few were a little bigger. my pistol shrimps been building all day with them. some places even have a little bucket with just live rubble in it for like 2 bucks a pound

 

Did he make a mess of your tank?


Mine keeps digging a tunnel under my open brain and uses it as a short get to my frags on the other side. its quite amuzing really.

 

ya hes been in there for about 5 months and he still diggs new burrows everywhere. ill wake up and some of my corals sitting on the sand will be covered in sand. Im hoping that now that I gave him some small rubble to play around with, he might make a burrow he likes and stay in it.

 

Hah, I love the little guy though I never see him...

I've watched mine, as he fills in area w/good sized pebbles/stones and then bury's them with sand... And then he will go under and slowly remove the stones to build himself a tunnel to connect his multiple caves...

Him and his Goby Compadre in Crime come out at night to see what they can scavenge...

But pickin's have been low after he ate $50 in Peppermint Shrimp... the little bastard...

There's a lot less 'shots fired' in the tank at night now without other shrimp...

Crabs he seems to ignore/and/or/ can't 'stun' them with his shots...

Anyway fun to watch, and amazing to talk about at a party...

Vis-a-vis...

YouTube - Pistol Shrimp

 

He killed peppermint shrimp? this is not good news because I have peppermint as well as cleaner shrimp. Although there has been no homicides yet. well....my Emerald Crab is MIA...hmm

 

in time the pistol will kill them both

 

feisty bastard... I was thinking about doing a refugium and throwing the goby/pistol in there... because I do really like multiple shrimp in my tanks... but now the Pistol is in there, even though I never see him, I like watching his charades in building.

Everyday, a new front door to his house... he never stops going...

the littlest bulldozer