Harlequin Shrimp

[Mr.First]

Does anyone keep these shrimp ? If so how do you like keeping them?
How often do they have to be fed ?

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

They eat starfish.

 

[scarf_ace1981]

i have two in my 40br seahorse tank. they don't bother a thing and do eat starfish. i have heard they eat nothing but linkia and i have heard they eat many kinds of starfish.

what i'm about to say may sound aweful but what i did was get a couple of linkia and cut their legs off leaving the central disk intact. i would then dump the legs and central disks in my 90 and every couple weeks i would grab a leg that was crawling around in the 90 and put it in the 40br for them to eat. once all the legs were gone it was the central disks' turn.

note: the feet can live independantly from the central disk of the star.

reefing ain't easy. i know i'm gonna get bashed for this post

 

[R32Brightliner]

One starfish every two to three weeks depending on size of starfish and how many harliquins you have in your tank.

 

[jackson6745]

I have 3 shrimp but I have a load of mini stars in my tank. I's been a few months and so far they have not wiped out my star population.

 

[Mr.First]

I was told to buy some Chocolate Chips and freeze them (without my wife knowing) cut them up and feed every few days.
I am just wondering they are worth the effort. LFS selling a pair, he says they are mated, I guess I should have asked when or if the actually mated.
They look really cool.

 

[andylee]

Wouldn't believe the mated part. It doesn't much matter anyway. Most shrimp larvae get chewed up by our filter systems, so it's very difficult to actually raise them to adulthood without specialized systems. I'm pretty sure it's only been done with cleaners and peppermints before.

 

[neptune]

this guy is unbelievable he hoisted a 3" sandsifter up a rock and sliced him apart with his sissor skillet hands....i believe hes blazing the sexy shrimp ..butta i dont know ..............

 

[ShaunW]

Here is my experience.
http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum...dition-action-shots.html?highlight=Harlequins

 

[lfsmarineguy]

Harlequins are easy to tell if they are mated or not...if not they won't tolerate a second in their territory let alone eat the same star as a second. Plus females have a fatter tale than the males do (for holding the eggs). They will eat "almost" any kind of star. They prefer Linkias and will not touch serpents/ brittles. Also, and I know this seems crazy but harlequins are actually wired to flip stars over and eat them legs first before devouring the disc. This insures that the starfish stays alive for the extent of time it takes to be consumed. They don't need you to precut their meals for them. Tossing a small chocolate chip in their tank once every week or two is enough to keep them going.

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

Harlequins are easy to tell if they are mated or not...if not they won't tolerate a second in their territory let alone eat the same star as a second. Plus females have a fatter tale than the males do (for holding the eggs). They will eat "almost" any kind of star. They prefer Linkias and will not touch serpents/ brittles. Also, and I know this seems crazy but harlequins are actually wired to flip stars over and eat them legs first before devouring the disc. This insures that the starfish stays alive for the extent of time it takes to be consumed. They don't need you to precut their meals for them. Tossing a small chocolate chip in their tank once every week or two is enough to keep them going.

My personal experience is similar even though I cannot say, for sure, this is the only way to keep them.

 

[loismustdie]

Another way to tell if they are mated is simply how protective the male will be over the female. My male would shield the female from view whenever I walked up to the tank with his front claws. If this is in fact a mated pair, maybe it would be better left to someone who at least knows how to feed them to give them a shot at spawning.
Like lfs said, they eat the feet then the disk. They may even pick at the flesh on the top side so the bones fall apart and look like a small pile of gravel. They don't eat the skeletal system, so even though a starfish seems big, not that much of it is consumed, so I feel weekly feedings are more beneficial than 2 to 3 weeks.

 

[JHOV2324]

Can asterinas be propogated to keep Harlequins with enough food supply.....

 

[DEEPWATER]

Can asterinas be propogated to keep Harlequins with enough food supply.....

all depend on how many stars you have to the # of shrimp you put in

If you have lots of stars ,i would just get 1 shrimp

best way ,is to keep some in your sump area and feed when needed

 

[lfsmarineguy]

As far as I can tell Asterinas can reproduce fairly rapidly. If you setup a small fuge and put a few in they can pack a tank fast.

 

[JHOV2324]

so i'ma put one in my hob fuge tonight, i plan on getting only one....don't know how my sixline is gonna react to 2 new inmates...i think he killed one of my peppermints.. and hes bullying my goby

 

[Pedro]

Nice looking Shrimp. If you have a fuge i would keep some Chocolate starfish in there for a steady supply. Here you go!