Harlequin Shrimp

Here is mine eating an asterina:

HarlequinEatingAsterina.jpg


HarlequinEatingAsterina2.jpg


He cleaned out a 90g tank with hundreds of them within 3 weeks. Now he gets chocochip legs (I alternate between 3 stars I keep in the fuge).
 
CLICKABLE THUMBNAILS the ones w/ the shrimp on the star, i had just done a water change so the water is cloudy from the pump being turned back on....

 
are these types of shrimp worth putting into a 150 gallon mixed reef? Will I ever see them?

which pair (i think that I read that that there are certain ones that color up the best)

just curious and worried about how long you leave the starfish in once they start feeding on it. Again by what I read I think you just watch and if the shrimp seem to be done with the starfish (not paying attention to it) you pull it.

also my sump is a 125 gallon tank with a deep-sand bed that will be 48" long by 18" wide. Would it be wise to get sand-sifting stars and choco's and attempt to cut arms off in hopes of the shrimp eating arms, thus having a "rotation" of two different types of stars to feed.
 
that does make sense about the dsb. didnt even think about that.

are these types of shrimp worth putting into a 150 gallon mixed reef? Will I ever see them?

which pair (i think that I read that that there are certain ones that color up the best)

just curious and worried about how long you leave the starfish in once they start feeding on it. Again by what I read I think you just watch and if the shrimp seem to be done with the starfish (not paying attention to it) you pull it.
 
man, these are beautiful. Michael, when I look at the extreme closeups, it looks like some kind of monster in a cheesy B movie, lol. It's cool to see the feelers on the antennae. I have repeatedly thought of getting these, but I have an issue with buying starfish just to send them to their demise. I know it's food, but I just can't get myself to do it :( Maybe I'll just print a good picture and tape it to my tank :)
 
"are these types of shrimp worth putting into a 150 gallon mixed reef? Will I ever see them? "

I have a pair in my 225 gallon reef...although they are rarely seen. They seem to get more active if they haven't been fed lately and will peek out and look for food. Plus the added party bonus trick...drop a star in the tank and see the mysterious shrimp come out of the rocks to eat it!
 
I had a pair in my 280g reef for a while, back when I had thousands of asterina starfish consuming my corals. I was happy to watch their population dwindle down.

The tank also had a large black brittle starfish and two brown serpent starfish, as well as a Harlequin starfish. The pair of Harlequin shrimp never bothered those stars, only the asterinas. As time elapsed, I saw fewer and few of the tiny starfish until I could only find one occasionally.

Both Harlequin shrimp died apparently, because I never saw them again. The larger starfish are still in my tank to this day, except for the Harlequin star. Its disk was damaged once, and my Peppermints devoured it before I could save it.
 
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