Harlequin Shrimp reef safe?

[xdave]

They like all that are like chocolate chip, not serpents or brittles. The stuff I fed them was Smelt. Very cheap at the grocery store. I would soak it in liquid food for reef tank verts. Usually by the time they get bought, they're hungry enough to eat it without any hesitation.

 

[whitey_028]

mine didnt eat smelt but loved chocholate chips!!and yes they will eat any "meaty" starfish such as linkia or fromias or sand sifters but they dont like them they will start on them and sometimes not finish them...chocolates are a must...

 

[dragonboy]

I have those Asternia starfish wouldn't they eat those type and I have some that are starting to get pretty large about a penny size.

 

[ophiura]

Originally Posted by dragonboy
Do they eat any starfish or just one particular type. I have plenty of those small starfish and was wondering if they eat those. If so I play to get one and have him in small tank and just feed him these small starfish I have in my main tank.
Yes, they should eat the small Asterina seastars. YOu can also keep some chocolate chip stars, cut an arm off, keep the rest regenerating in a sump or another tank, and keep a single star going for quite some time.

 

[ninjamini]

Originally Posted by ophiura
Yes, they should eat the small Asterina seastars. YOu can also keep some chocolate chip stars, cut an arm off, keep the rest regenerating in a sump or another tank, and keep a single star going for quite some time.

Which is worse...to be eaten or to be eaten then allowed to heal then eaten again?

 

[ophiura]

I personally prefer that the fewest possible seastars be harvested from the wild to be fed to such a highly specialized feeder. From an ecological perspective, it is better to outright kill fewer animals. Even reducing the demand by just a few seastars a year is worth it to me. Seastars are "designed" to lose arms to fish and regrow them. But I personally feel that something like an Asterina star is the best possible thing to feed. Linckia are the worst, from IMO the ecological viewpoint.

 

[fishieness]

Orph, i have been pondering this, i know they only eat stars, and also i kenw they would eat the asternia stars, but how many woudl you feed them? someone in my club has a pair and they feed an arm or two of CC star a week. so taht owuld be a lot of asternia stars! i was thinking,, i could grow them in my two fowlrs, and then feed them to the pair if in my reef. i have numerous asternias there too. but in my 29 fowlr, right now, im looking at about 12 of them, and those are the only ones i can see on the glass, not even counting the rock.
how many woudl i need to feed? and i would think that it woudl be unlikly to harvest enough asternias unless you had a large tank. or spent a lot of time chopping them up.

 

[whitey_028]

Originally Posted by fishieness
Orph, i have been pondering this, i know they only eat stars, and also i kenw they would eat the asternia stars, but how many woudl you feed them? someone in my club has a pair and they feed an arm or two of CC star a week. so taht owuld be a lot of asternia stars! i was thinking,, i could grow them in my two fowlrs, and then feed them to the pair if in my reef. i have numerous asternias there too. but in my 29 fowlr, right now, im looking at about 12 of them, and those are the only ones i can see on the glass, not even counting the rock.
how many woudl i need to feed? and i would think that it woudl be unlikly to harvest enough asternias unless you had a large tank. or spent a lot of time chopping them up.
I tried that but i couldnt get them to reproduce their arms fast enough to sustain their food source but i only tried with 2 but if i had 4 or 5 It just may work.

 

[fishieness]

how many would you feed a week? i must have over 20 in my fowlr, and probably mroe in my reef.

 

[whitey_028]

Originally Posted by fishieness
how many would you feed a week? i must have over 20 in my fowlr, and probably mroe in my reef.
you have that many chocholate chips?

 

[alyssia]

Originally Posted by whitey_028
you have that many chocholate chips?

I think he/she meant asternia stars.

 

[whitey_028]

Originally Posted by alyssia
I think he/she meant asternia stars.
It may not eat them mine did but mine wasnt as finicky as others and really like the chocolates the best. It would eat a choloate in one to 2 weeks and others it would just "nibble on" and never really finish it...

 

[fishieness]

Originally Posted by alyssia
I think he/she meant asternia stars.
ohhh yes. i thought that is what you were refering to since that is what most of my post was based on. lol. i was about to say.... you could feed those just by producing two asternia stars?! lol. i knew there was a misunderstanding between one of us. lol
BTW: im a "he". and thanks alyssia

 

[ninjamini]

Wait-wait. How long does it take a CC star to re-grow an arm? Does it take longer if its missing 2? How many arms per week will sustain the shrimp?
How do you cut off and arm? Gruesome?

 

[whitey_028]

Originally Posted by ninjamini
Wait-wait. How long does it take a CC star to re-grow an arm? Does it take longer if its missing 2? How many arms per week will sustain the shrimp?
How do you cut off and arm? Gruesome?
Depends it usually takes a couple months for a starfish to regrow an arm my harlequin would eat a whole stafish in 1 to 2 weeks. You do the math... You can cut amd arm off with a sharp butcher knife as they are tougher than they appear and no they are still not gruesome...They look like a mushroom when it pukes until it heals over when cut off. stringy stuff comes out but still not gruesome...

 

[chris57]

at {EDIT LINK} they sell harliquen shrimp that eat regular food they have been taught to eat regular food there i bought one from there it feed on the flake food. but they still eat sea stars if they get the chance.

 

[xdave]

A dog will drink antifreeze like it was the best food on Earth. Just because you can get an animal to consume something doesn't mean they will thrive on it.
The only substitute for starfish (I got this advice from the marine curator at the zoo) is fish soaked in foods intended for the feeding of starfish along with general reef invert supplements. It usually only takes a couple of days of not being fed to accept the fish meat. I completely weened mine and almost every month the female had eggs on her.

 

[ninjamini]

Originally Posted by xDave
...fish soaked in foods intended for the feeding of starfish along with general reef invert supplements...
Hugh? can we have more specifics?

 

[colourmop]

btw, will CC have enough time to eat clams/corals/anemones/whatever expensive in the tank before those shrimps pin it down?
or the CC will level a coral field during the whole 'pin' process?
or i can feed the starfish some shrimp before i put him in my tank so he/she will not munch on my stuffs while being eating by my shrimps? xD

 

[dragonboy]

I say just feed them asternia stars they reproduce a lot faster than CC starfish does with its arm.