Calappidae, Thank you very much for your response. Yeah it was kinda the moral thing about offering the life food. I totally understand the whole life cycle. I wanted to add them to my office tank, Im a veterinarian so I dont wanna offer up the star for food. I guess i will hold off until i feel more comfortable with feeding them live starfish.
Thanks again
No problem!, I actually fed frozen in the past for the same moral reasons. I hate to hurt a fly and everything I have which is normally a predator (example mantis shrimp) all get frozen food. Harlequins give me a different point of view do to their food's anatomy.
I have been considering a one (or a pair) as they are some of my favorite creatures in the hobby, however the concern of constantly buying starfish as caused me to shy away.
Calappidae:
Are you saying that get away with 3-4 weeks from one Starfish for 2 Harley's?
On adverage yes, MOST of the time it takes atleast 3 weeks or so for a starfish to be finished. Sometimes they speed it up a little and it's gone in 2 weeks but I suspect the starfish just didn't make it at that point.
There are many things that may occur tho..
For example, starfish in general are very unhardy.. can't expose them to air, etc etc.. There's the possible risk of the starfish not surviving prior to being eaten or throughout the process. Which would lead to this..
Want cyano, hair, bryopsis, diatoms, and bubble algae for 6 months? Well here's your ticket.. This is a risk to take and reason why I say a very very good skimmer is a must have with these. It wouldn't hurt to run some medias dedicated to removing nutrients as well.
And then there's the obvious size differences where it depends on the size of the star and shrimp on how fast they may consume it..
White pebbles can also appear on the sandbed for better or for worse.. the white pebbles are basicly like the starfish's skeletion broken up after it's finished off and it just lays there like gravel. This can either look ugley or blend in with the sandbed.. unforunantly it looks awful in my hawaiian black sand..
It's also a good idea to really stock up on stars as you never know when one is going to be finished early, if any die in the holding tank, etc.
You have to remember.. even tho the starfish is food it still requires treatment like a living animal as you want it to have a good chance of survival rather than just tossing it in there saying "whatever it's food, ain't like it's living in the tank forever". Meaning proper acclimation, water quality, avoid exposure to air, etc.
