Quirindongo;175765 said:
So today I get the news that my flame Hawkfish has disappeared. When I came home in disbelieve I started looking for him with no luck and to realized that my diamond goby has vanished. Also about a month ago I brought home a twin spotted goby one day he was around and the next morning gone.
I would like to add my water quality is doing good and all fishes were looking very good. Color looked great and they were swimming around and doing their thing.
In my tank I also have a coral banded shrimp and looking around I keep finding that they tend to get aggressive toward other bottom dwellers. I've had the coral banded for about 2 years now.
Any comments...
The twin spot likely just died. They never survive long term and most don't survive short term even though you see them shoveling sand through their gills. It is said they have a higher survival rate if kept in pairs. The diamond goby
could have been killed by your shrimp. As for the flame hawk, I would be really impressed if the shrimp won that battle. Typically, a flame hawk would tear a shrimp's limbs right off and eat the rest of him at leisure. So, while it's possible I wouldn't chalk that loss up to the shrimp just yet.
Banded shrimp do get aggressive, and especially if they are established for some time. However, shrimp are messy eaters and even though they eat fast a fish is a big meal for a shrimp. I'd think you would be able to see remnants of the hawk and the diamond goby for roughly a day had the shrimp killed them.
Something I have seen practiced with banded shrimp to ensure that they are not killing or maiming your tank's other inhabitants is clipping their large claws off.
It's really simple and doesn't have much ill effect on the shrimp. The two large, defense/offense claws can just be cut right off the shrimp's arms, at the joint. The claw grows right back in full working order when the shrimp molts. The shrimp will still have its mandibles and can eat food that floats by just fine. Typically only one claw is removed at a time to allow the shrimp some defensive abilities. But doing this will drastically cut down on the shrimp's offensive capture and kill behavior. A lot of people say it's cruel and unusual but I don't really see it that way.
Hope this helps!
