Target Feeding/Shrimp Compatibility
Thanks, you guys are awesome.... have been a tremendous help.
<really glad to hear that! That's why we're all here!>
So how do you directly feed a fish in your tank...  for example, I am afraid of overfeeding my tank but some days- not enough food falls to my shrimp goby...  Should I just trust that he gets his food over time? How do I directly feed my mandarin goby this Mysis shrimp without it being stolen from other critters???
<A great method to "target feed" these animals is to utilize a turkey baster to shoot a little food down there where he is. Also, you can "skewer" larger items, like krill, crab meat, or squid on a wooden kebob skewer, then carefully put the food in front of the fish's "nose". Do this at the same time that you are giving the other fishes in your tank food, to help eliminate some of the "competition" Even shy fishes will eventually learn to accept food this way..
Oh, you will be happy to hear that my Coral Banded Shrimp and Cleaner Shrimp are best buddies... ok, well not exactly.  I have seen the CBS take a swing at him once...  The Cleaner Shrimp seems to walk on water... he bounces off of everything and floats...  He was walking upside down underneath the top of the water level - if that makes sense.
<Yep- a bizarre, entertaining behaviour! Glad to hear that they are getting along with a minimum of squabbling>
It seems as though as long as the Cleaner stays outta the CBS's face, he is left alone.
<Like with any animals, these guys have their own territories, and tend to display their bravado, so just keep an eye peeled to make sure that everyone stays intact! Take care! Regards, Scott F>

-Pistol shrimp hunger strike-
Hello, I was reading your articles on Pistol Shrimps, and I wanted to ask what to do with my pistol shrimp.  As the story goes, I had just bought a Pistol Shrimp recently (about two days to be exact).
Once the pistol shrimp was settled in I waited probably till the latter part of the day to feed it, I tried feeding it blood worms, brine shrimp & formula two but it just kept using it's claw to push it away. <As a rule, if a critter feeds on same day that they were introduced into your aquarium, that's just Jim dandy, but if they don't, that is also to be expected. These guys go through some serious stress just from being captured, bagged, and transported from your LFS, let alone their original collection. Give it time, heck, I wouldn't eat either.>
(it was kinda cute to see its humanlike behavior of selectivity of pushing anything away from itself that it doesn't want) but I'm worried that it will get hungry & die...any suggestions on what to try feeding it? I NEED HELP  <Give it a few days, and in the mean time, kick back and enjoy his digging! -Kevin>
=(