Harlequin shrimp questions

[spkdtch]

1. How often do they need to eat?
2. How much of a star fish will one eat during a feeding?
3. Do they attack or harm anything else?
4. How active are they?
5. Will they only eat the star fish if it is alive?
6. Any type of star fish they wont eat?
I was thinking about getting one, possibly two but i want to make sure i have star fish on hand and enough. Also make sure i can afford to keep feeding it in the long run. Thanks!

 

[anthropo]

you feed them one starfish a month. the most popular type to feed them are the chocolate starfish. they eat it over a period of a month. they pretty much leave everything else and have a strick diet of starfish. you have to feed them live starfish. not sure if they are certain species of starfish they won't eat but i assume most would be fine

 

[ophiura]

The best bet, IMO, is to feed Asterina stars, which are easy to propagate and cost you nothing. It is also perhaps the most "ecologically sound" way to go, IMO.
The second best, IMO, is to take several chocolate chip stars and keep them in a system, cutting the arms off, and allowing them to regenerate (as they can be spot fed, this is not hard to do).
Many will take to eating a frozen arm, such as using a linckia, freezing it, and feeding an arm at a time.
They won't generally eat brittlestars - the diet is seastars. I would strongly discouraging buying and feeding Linckia and or Fromia stars as it simply proves there is a market for them at your LFS. Most will die in the process. They are also relatively more expensive than others.

 

[spkdtch]

alright, ill give one a shot, i was planning on cutting an arm/leg off and letting it regenerate before you mentioned it, but you just gave me proof that its possible
how would i go about getting/propagating Asterina stars? id be willing to try that as well as a backup.

 

[uneverno]

Asterinas are often found on live rock.
There is some question as to whether they are a nuisance in tanks with corals. Some sites I've seen say they eat corals, some say they don't normally, but may resort to it given a lack of other food.
In a situation w/ a Harlequin, you'd need to have a fairly established population, similar to pods w/ a Mandarin, in order for it to be a reliable food source because they're so small.
IME, cutting off the starfish's legs doesn't work so well. This is primarily because the stars are not particularly easy to keep themselves. CC's seem to be the best option, but they are definitely not reef safe, so propogating them is a potential issue. (This is not a problem w/ a Harlequin in the display tank because it won't let the star wander around.) It also takes a very long time for the leg to regenerate.
I have read that the shrimp can be acclimated to frozen star legs, but there are inherent problems involved there as well.
First, the leg is dead, so it's a potential source of pollution in your tank. (Harlequins don't eat that fast, and a live starfish stays alive during the process.)
Second, when they grab the star to eat it, they will take it to their hiding spot, which you'll likely not be able to see them in. You have no way of gauging what state of decomposition the leg is in at that point.
Lastly, I know of no source for frozen starfish.
I feed mine a 1.5-2" star roughly once every 6-8 weeks and it takes her about 3 weeks to consume it. If she doesn't eat for a few weeks to a month, it's not a problem.
I rather like it, in fact, when she doesn't have food for a bit, because she comes out to hunt. When she's got food, I don't see her.
They won't attack anything else in your tank, and as delicate as they look, they are very capable of defending themselves against other critters as well. Mine routinely chases off a Sally Lightfoot 3 times her size when it gets too close to her.
As stated upthread as well, they will not eat brittle or serpent stars at all.
Lastly, there are those who will say they need to be kept in pairs. I've never kept more than one at a time and that's not been a problem.
HTH,
Emil

 

[spkdtch]

i suppose ill get 2-3 CC and throw them in my fuge and toss one in when it gets hungry, my main concern was how quickly will they eat(how often do i need to feed again) since i was trying to gauge how much the food would cost me, if its one CC every month or two, i can handle that
also, how do you --- them?

 

[uneverno]

Yep,
Mine costs me a star every 6 weeks or so.
As for sexing: the lower abdominal plates (not the swimmerrets) are body colored on the female and translucent on the male. (On a small specimen it can be really difficult to tell.)

 

[spkdtch]

good to know, do you have one or a pair?

 

[uneverno]

Just the one.
2 = twice as many feeder stars...

 

[spkdtch]

makes sense

 

[spkdtch]

last question, mainly about the star fish, if i got 2 CC could i keep them in my fuge, then when its time to feed, take one out, cut off one leg and put the CC back in the fuge or will it die? i know they can regenerate limbs, but i also know starfish are often fragile and when they die, they make a big mess
that way the starfish legs are fresh and i dont have to freeze a starfish
im not counting on the limb regenerating and feeding it again, just figure i could get 10 meals out of it and keep them longer so i dont have to go to my LFS every month for more starfish

 

[ophiura]

Technically this should be possible, and CC are relatively hardy. It is even easier to do this with Asterina

 

[cardstars]

So I read above that the harlequin does not allow the starfish to move - so I dont have to worry about the star eating my corals in the 3 weeks it takes the shrimp to eat it?

 

[kajunsausage]

Originally Posted by uneverno
http:///forum/post/3047035
Asterinas are often found on live rock.
There is some question as to whether they are a nuisance in tanks with corals. Some sites I've seen say they eat corals, some say they don't normally, but may resort to it given a lack of other food.
In a situation w/ a Harlequin, you'd need to have a fairly established population, similar to pods w/ a Mandarin, in order for it to be a reliable food source because they're so small.
IME, cutting off the starfish's legs doesn't work so well. This is primarily because the stars are not particularly easy to keep themselves. CC's seem to be the best option, but they are definitely not reef safe, so propogating them is a potential issue. (This is not a problem w/ a Harlequin in the display tank because it won't let the star wander around.) It also takes a very long time for the leg to regenerate.
I have read that the shrimp can be acclimated to frozen star legs, but there are inherent problems involved there as well.
First, the leg is dead, so it's a potential source of pollution in your tank. (Harlequins don't eat that fast, and a live starfish stays alive during the process.)
Second, when they grab the star to eat it, they will take it to their hiding spot, which you'll likely not be able to see them in. You have no way of gauging what state of decomposition the leg is in at that point.
Lastly, I know of no source for frozen starfish.
I feed mine a 1.5-2" star roughly once every 6-8 weeks and it takes her about 3 weeks to consume it. If she doesn't eat for a few weeks to a month, it's not a problem.
I rather like it, in fact, when she doesn't have food for a bit, because she comes out to hunt. When she's got food, I don't see her.
They won't attack anything else in your tank, and as delicate as they look, they are very capable of defending themselves against other critters as well. Mine routinely chases off a Sally Lightfoot 3 times her size when it gets too close to her.
As stated upthread as well, they will not eat brittle or serpent stars at all.
Lastly, there are those who will say they need to be kept in pairs. I've never kept more than one at a time and that's not been a problem.
HTH,
Emil
If you have a pair of harlequins, they can down a starfish leg in less than a week before the leg starts to dirty the water.