harlequin shrimp question pls help

[PurpleTang]

hey is it ok if i keep my small harlequin shrimp in a tinny tank in side at the bottom of my 100g reef tank? will the shrimp be ok in there? also is it bad for my tank to leave that tiny plastic tank inside it? the tiny tank is rlly used as a holder to go on the side of a tank, but it does not fit to good on the side of mine. and as long as i feed the harlequin shrimp some star fish legs, would it be fine?

 

[PurpleTang]

also, in that little plastic tank that i have inside my big tank, i put sand and few peices of live rock for him to hide in. Just not sure if he would be happy living in there or in my main tank, the only reason why i put himinto this small plastic tank is because i just love looking at him. also, in my big tank i have a serpent star, and hes much bigger then the harlequin shrimp lol so i was not sure if the harlequin shrimp would be able to eat that serpent star or would the serpent star eat my harley?

 

[D1J8Z]

i dont think the starfish will eat the shrimp and it will be hard for the shrimp thats tiny to eat a large serpent starfish being they are strong and fast

Anyway why do you want one just to keep it in a tiny container? why not setup a nano or something? or just add it to the display?

hope that helps
Dave

 

[PurpleTang]

what do u mean add it to the display? like just let it go inside the tank? and dont got the cash flow right now to set up a nano lol

 

[PurpleTang]

well i mean i dont mind lookin at him inside the little plastic tank, but is it ok to keep that tank in side my big tank? its a brand new plastic tank thats made to rest on the side to house stuff so i think it would be fine just not 100% sure

 

[Pinkheine]

We have two serpents and two harleys. Neither are interested in one another at all--from our experience. Our tank is a 120g, they kind of stay in the same spot.. because that is where they are offered their Chocolate Chip Star... rarely do they venture away from that spot when they have the star in the tank. Without the star they venture around the tank. Not bothered by anyone or bothering anyone. Are you concerned that they will get lost? hee hee, j/k. I'm sure he'd be fine if you just added to the main display. You may have to look for him if he wanders, but that's part of the fun for me.. seeking out what is going on in the glass box.

 

[PurpleTang]

ya lol i dont want him to get lost :*( lol and another question i feed him a diffrent kind of star fish that cost around 10$ am i supposed to just drop that whole star fish in the main tank or keep it isolated above my tank in the top in a breader holder thing lol dont know what u would call it, and keep the star fish in there and just cut off parts of its legs to give to the shirp? or will the harly just eat the whole thing if i drop the star fish in the tank? also will the star fish mess up my rocks or corals?

 

[Pinkheine]

We give our two the starfish. The whole starfish, they take a few weeks to eat it all. Once they get ontop of the starfish.. which is literally seconds from introduction of the star to the tank.. the star doesn't have a chance. It doesn't move, unless they drag it around where they want it to be. Some harley owners will offer a leg at a time and keep the star elsewhere so it can regrow the legs overtime.

We have thought about trying this but I'm still on the fence about chopping legs off a star. I'm not sure what is worse.. being mutilated than eaten or just eaten alive.

So far the feeding schedule for our two has been one every three weeks, depending on the size of the star. First one was a bit small, it took them three weeks to eat it. I gave them a few days without one because we have asterina stars in the tank they can eat as well. Than we introduced another one, larger, it is over three weeks now and they are still munching on it.

What kind of starfish do you feed? CC's are the cheapest for us to get. Though sometimes hard to come by at the closet LFS. For the messing up rocks/corals thing.. we keep an eye on the starfish and wait until the Harleys grab a hold of it before walking away. It takes less than a few minutes.. for such lil' shrimp they are movers.. it cracks me up.

I understand your concern, they are super cool lil' critters.

 

[PurpleTang]

ya ahaha i dont mind cutting the legs off but if i do the leg way and cut some off do i need to feed the harleys daliy? or how long would it last if i cut off half a leg and give it to him? and in a week or so if i wanna get another harly that would be fine? do they do well in pairs?

 

[PurpleTang]

late last night my harly climbed out of the mini tank and hes now in my big tank, but i am not sure were he is hiding, and i dropped the full star fish into the tank and so far i dont see the harly coming to get his lunch lol, do the harlequin shrimp have to see you put the star fish in? or will they know that hes in there? i just got no clue were hes hiding and want to make sure he eats

 

[PurpleTang]

still no sign of my harlequin shrip, and i looked all over my tank, he also did not come to the star fish lol idk were he could be hiding and hopeing hes not dead or something :*(

 

[PurpleTang]

any 1 got any clue on what 2 do? i just cut a part of the star fish's leg off and put it in the tank. My harley is still no were to be seen :*(

 

[PurpleTang]

yaya i found my harley, but when i dropped the star fish in the tank, the shrip did not run over to eat it, and the star fish covers him self with sand, and i was wondering if the shirp would be able to find the star fish and eat it even if its a litlte under the sand lol i just love the look of these little shirp and how the act, so i just wanna make sure that hes eatttign right and acting like a normal harlequin shirp

 

[KathyC]

I'm getting the impression that you just recently got the harley?
He might not be hungry yet
He WILL find and eat the CC when he is :eat:

 

[PurpleTang]

ya heheh just got him on sunday idk were the star fish went tho, its some were under the sand, can he still find it even if its not visable? also i did not buy him a CC to eat, i will next time the star fish that the fish store told me to get was a light tan and brownish color star fish not sure on the name sry but next time i will deff get a CC

 

[KathyC]

You have any idea what type of star you put in the tank for him?? They only eat a very small assortment of starfish...chocloate chip stars, asterinas, linkia & fromias.
Can you find a picture of the starfish you added to the tank?

 

[PurpleTang]

yup its the asterians star fish its kinda large, but i just cut a piece of its leg off and the harley is running around holding on to it, i think i might just leave the star fish in his own holding tank right by the top in side mine, i dont mind cutting off the legs to feed the shrip so i guess i will just do that, also in a week or so, would it be ok to get the harlequin a friend? and if any 1 here keeps halequin shrip in their tanks, i just wanted to ask if you see them often, or only at feeding time?

 

[wschang812]

what do you use to cut off the legs

 

[KathyC]

Huh? Asterinas are very small starfish. Maybe another type?
Try looking here
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/seastars2.htm
On the top of that pages are links to other pages with more Starfish on them..Starfish ID1..2...etc

IMO I wouldn't leave the Harley in the little holding tank..for a few reasons..one not enough circulation (if any), the water in the little tank will get way too warm when your lights come on, this guy came out of the ocean..seems unfair to put it in a 6" x 2" space just to admire it (yes, the entire concept of a reef tank is near the same thing..but at least we strive to provide the best environment, a plastic holder doesn't do the same..)

Yes, my Harley comes out so that I can see it. Is it out all the time? No, but that's ok too, makes the times he does appear more special.

You can only keep a male/female pair of Harleys. 2 of the same sex will kill each other. They are easily sexed by looking at the markings on their abdomens - the male has no markings, the female has similar markings as on the rest of the body.

Here you go..almost everything you ever wanted to know about a Harley:
http://www.chucksaddiction.com/harlequinshrimp.html

 

[PurpleTang]

a scissor that is brand new that i ran under hot water, seems to be working fine, some people just dont like the idea of cuttign up the starfish leg by leg, but i really dotn mind it and feel it kinda works better then putting the whole star fish in the tank and having it hide in the sand, just kinda dont want the harley not to be able to find the starfish under the sand. also, i was wondering if the harlequin shrip is able to tell when i drop a peaice of the starfishs leg into the tank or not, just wanna make sure that i am feeding him 100% right and that i can keep him nice and healthy i just love them and cant wait to get another so hes got a friend any 1 know if they travel in pairs?