Harlequin Shrimp

[melev]

I saw them almost daily in a particular spot of my reef that they seemed to enjoy the most, but then over time I got busy and didn't even realize I was missing them.

It was only one day that it suddenly dawned on me that I'd not seen them in some time, and was when I figured they were long gone. I think I had them for about 3 months, maybe longer.

A friend of mine has a pair in a 3g pico tank, and every day she pulls out three or four asterinas from her reef and feeds her Harlequins. Crazy fun.

 

[Pufferpunk]

You didn't consider supplimenting their feeding?

 

[melev]

Now with how many asterinas were in my tank in the first place.

 

[Pufferpunk]

Considering they can go through a chocochip star in a few days, I wonder how many tiny asterinas they eat in a day?

 

[REEF-n-Chicago]

I was thinking the same thing Puffer......

 

[michael_cb_125]

I have seen my pair go through a 4 inch CC star in three days, and other times I have seen a tiny 1 inch CC star last over a week.

As far as seeing them, I have found that they are not intimidated very easily. Mine have always been out in the open. My first pair was in my 120 gallon, and they were always out and about.
~Michael

 

[buttons buster]

ya it is quite interesting to me too.

They will sometimes eat a larger starfish in a shorter period of time than a smaller starfish.

Sometimes it'll make me wonder lol

 

[Don-Coraleone]

it just took my pair two and a half weeks to eat a sand sifting star. i thought that was kind os slow.

 

[buttons buster]

how big was the starfish?

But, that does seem like a long time regardless

 

[rduong89]

getting ready for the nano

 

[Pufferpunk]

Will a Hawiian get along with the other kind (sorry, I don't know where the othes are from)?

 

[rduong89]

i think so michael_cb_125 has a pair of indos and one hawaiian

 

[Pufferpunk]

Yeah, I was thinking mine were from Indonesia but I wasn't positive.

 

[michael_cb_125]

Yep Hymenocera Elegans and Hymenocera Picta will get along just fine. I have a pair and they have actually spawned. It is very nice to have both "color forms" together as a pair.

Rduong- Very nice pair. I just love the purple color forms.
~Michael

 

[michael_cb_125]

I actually purchased an indo pair and a single Picta. The Female indo "left the male indo and paired up with the Picta male.

Another interesting point: I thought that the females were almost always larger than the males. But my female is actually quite a bit smaller than the male.

~Michael

 

[tangalone]

Here are my two Harlequins. They live in my 3 gallon Pico and I feed them 10-15 asterinas from my 210 display everyday.

The female was holding eggs about two or three months after I got them.

Here they are hanging out on top of their little cave.

One of these days I will try and raise a clutch, but for now I just enjoy them as my favorite little creatures to watch.

 

[revaltion131]

Those pictas are absolutely beautiful, tangalone.

 

[Pufferpunk]

Gotta love the Hawaiians! Where can you get them?

 

[tangalone]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13879635#post13879635 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by revaltion131
Those pictas are absolutely beautiful, tangalone.

Thank you very much! They are so photogenic that I have already taken over a thousand pictures/video of them in the two or three months I have had them. LOL

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13879941#post13879941 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Pufferpunk
Gotta love the Hawaiians! Where can you get them?

I got them as a pair at a local fish store (Dallas North Aquarium). I had them call me when they got a mated pair in stock, went to check them out and fell in love with these two! I still haven't given them names...but I made a list of possible names so I'm getting better!!

 

[melev]

You should call them m&m's