feeding harliquen shrimp

[Moonstream]

Are the harliquen shrimp worth the effort? I was thinking about getting a choco chip star to put in my sump, and weekly, chopping off one arm, and putting it in the tank w/ the harliquen shrimp. Or should I get more then 1?
also will it get along w/ my livestock?
reef hermits
coral
BTA
small reef fishes
snails
2 ceaner shrimp
3 sexy shrimp
2 pepermint shrimp

would these guys get along?

[AquaReeferMan]

When I had one shrimp, I did that. Since I ended up with a pair I just drop a whole star in now. Yes they will get a long with everything you have.

[Moonstream]

cool! how many stars should I keep in the fuge? I would be worried w/ the choco chip stars getting into my main tank and eating my corals. are there any cheap, small, pretty stars that would do better w/ corals so I dont have to worry about the star getting into the main tank?

[da1jewfish]

there are asterinas... small (smaller than a dime), scavenger stars that the shrimp will eat. There good b/c instead of having a large decaying star in the tank you have very small ones.

you can keep just one, its fine. But in the wild they are found in mating pairs. and yes they will get along with everything in the tank.

Do yours shrimp come out of hiding often? I believe they are nocturnal.

[Springmo]

This is something I've thought about doing many times. My personal opinion is that it is not worth it, unless perhaps you have a population of asterina starfish in plague proportions. It's a big commitment otherwise, having to keep a constant supply of live starfish. Feeding chocolate chip stars can get rather expensive and I feel like keeping such attractive animals just to feed them to a shrimp is a questionable practice. If you decide to do it, I would suggest trying to culture asterina starfish, as well as chocolate chip stars. If I were to estimate, I'd say they need at least 1 CC star arm a week. You could keep a few and rotate them out.

[Moonstream]

dont have the shrimp yet, but will be adding them after summer, as I dont have the time to feed them now. how often do I have to feed the shrimp? Could I feed once every 2 weeks w/ 1 starfish are? I will try to find the small stars and feed those everyday.

[AquaReeferMan]

I feed my pair 1 choc chip every 2 weeks.

[SDguy]

You can get away with once every three weeks no problem.


And yes, they are absolutely worth it! By far the coolest, craziest looking creatures in my tank.

[dodgersfan25]

whoa! that pic makes me wanna get one now haha

[Moonstream]

what do cc stars eat? would it be okay to keep 2 or 3 stars in the fuge? here is my plan, get 2-3 cc (depending on price) and rotate the ones getting their arms chopped off. how long does it take for the stars to grow back their arms?

[SDguy]

Originally posted by Moonstream
what do cc stars eat? would it be okay to keep 2 or 3 stars in the fuge? here is my plan, get 2-3 cc (depending on price) and rotate the ones getting their arms chopped off. how long does it take for the stars to grow back their arms?

CC stars eat anything meaty. scallop, clam, shrimp, etc.

You can try the rotating thing. Problem is, I think you'll need more than 2-3 to keep up with demand. I'm not sure how quickly the legs grow back, but a pair of harlequins will polish off one leg of a star in mere days.

[Moonstream]

what about a single shrimp?

[AquaReeferMan]

My roommate has a Single shrimp and I have a pair. Usually he will chop off an arm and feed in to his shrimp while I take the rest and give it to my pair. Usually every 2-3 weeks(depending on the size of the star). I usually have an extra star in my sump. I have no problem with paying $5 for a star every couple of weeks. The shrimp are my favorite so Ill do what it takes to keep them happy and full.

[Moonstream]

cool, will keep2 at a time in the sump, and give 1-2 arms depending on the size of the star every 3 weeks.

[da1jewfish]

do your shrimps come out much? there isn't much point in having these cool shrimp if you never see them.

I only see mine maybe once a week and thats only a partial view!

[SDguy]

I have very little rock on the bottom of my tank for them to hide behind, so I see mine all the time.

[slevesque]

Question for the arm choppers: How close to the disc do you cut? Are you using regular kitchen cisors? Do you feel bad doing it? Once I killed a rat using a steel pipe, boy that was no fun at all .

[agoutihead]

how many asterina stars would a single harlequin eat a week? 1-2 maybe?

how quickly do asterina stars reproduce themselves? i know i have them in my current tank, not sure of how many as its just live sand and rock with no light, so i cant actully see them to count, but im sure i have maybe a couple of dozen?

[OmarD]

Originally posted by da1jewfish
do your shrimps come out much? there isn't much point in having these cool shrimp if you never see them.

I only see mine maybe once a week and thats only a partial view!

I thought same...only got partial glimpses now and then...

Now I tie their "dinner" upside down on rock in front of their lair...see them all the time now.

[OmarD]

Originally posted by agoutihead
how many asterina stars would a single harlequin eat a week? 1-2 maybe?

how quickly do asterina stars reproduce themselves? i know i have them in my current tank, not sure of how many as its just live sand and rock with no light, so i cant actully see them to count, but im sure i have maybe a couple of dozen?

My guess is, that if they would, a pair of Harlequins could eat a couple of hundred asterina stars in a week.

My asterinas reproduce in waves it seems. Scraping them off glass keeps them under some control...but I certainly would not depend on them for food for my Harlequins, for which they would be mere appetizers...