Harlequin shrimp...mated pair

[Serioussnaps]

A week ago I acquired a mated pair of Harlequin shrimp...yes a mated pair...i have always searched for a mated pair of these gorgeous shrimp but could A)never find a true pair or B) couldnt find a pair at a decent price...

so last Saturday i go to the lfs and bam...mated pair sitting there and the lfs employee said he would do the pair for 60 bucks and bam it was over...

they were munching on a starfish(chocolate chip) at the lfs so they were eating and had been in there a while

I brought home the pair last Saturday along with the star they were eating...they ate the whole thing

I HAVE A FEW QUESTIONS REGARDING THE CARE...

I would prefer people that have actually kept them successfully to chime in...

HOW OFTEN DO YOU FEED YOUR HARLEQUIN SHRIMP?

HOW LONG HAVE YOU HAD YOUR PAIR?

WHAT STARS DO YOU FEED YOUR HARLEQUINS?

WHAT METHODS DO YOU USE? DO YOU CULTURE YOUR OWN FOOD?

I AM WILLING TO CULTURE MY OWN BUT I DONT THINK THEY NEED TO EAT SO OFTEN THAT THIS WOULD BE WORTH IT TO ME?

ANY HELP/COMMENTS/ FEEDBACK IS GREATLY APPRECIATED!

sorry i just realized i was using caps..im not yelling

 

[Serioussnaps]

this forumn sucks...the mods can drop this thread

 

[Chad Vossen]

you can buy a group of chocolate chip stars, and harvest one chunk of leg to feed the shrimp. try and match the healing rate of the starfish with the feeding rate of the shrimp. keep your starfish in a sump and remember to feed the starfish too. im have not owned any of these shrimp yet, however i have done some research. if you have a huge tank, find someone who has those little starfish that reproduce by splitting and often take over the tank. add these guys to the sump and to the display tank. im not sure if the shrimp would eat all of them but this way they have little snacks to hunt for in the tank.

people sometimes get these shrimp to "cure" or at least controle the starfish infestation. kinda like buying a pepermint to eat aptisia.

 

[tineng]

i've got a pair before for 6 months and before that with a friend for nearly a year. The spawn regularly and consume about 1 star a week.

It will be trickly to culture star as they don't seems to reproduce fast enough to feed these hungry monsters.

For me prefer blue Linki star rather then cholocate chip...the shrimps sometimes find the cholocate chip hard and might not take to them as easily.

 

[Chad Vossen]

you buy a blue Linki star once a week? how much do they usualy cost ?

i didnt mean cultureing the starfish, instead removing one arm and letting the starfish regenerate. and have enough stars to feed the shrimp without running out of arms.

 

[tineng]

from where i am, they are cheap..about US$4 per peice....there are even cheaper source at about US$3 and if i buy bulk from the farm.....i can even lower it further....

by comparison, cholocate chip is not really sold in bulk here as most people wouldn't keep them....

 

[Frankysreef]

most people who get them have those asterina stars in their tank. I have a bit of an infestation in mine right now, but they are not harming corals, so I am not worried about it.

U have any of those little asterina stars?

 

[tineng]

nope. Don't have any of those asterina Stars....i am running bare bottom so it a tad difficult for them to thrive in there.....