Will Harlequins eat frozen starfish?

[iamwhatiam52]

Here in long Island NY there are times when the local starfish wash up on the beach by the hundreds. My idea is to freeze them, and feed small pieces every few days.

BUT!

Will the shrimp eat dead starfish?

 

[philter4]

The problem with frozen stars is that they decay too fast to be useful, the way the shrimp feed is by keeping the star alive and feeding mostly on the tube feet, if the star is dead it begins to decay and the feet don't come out, they are retracted. I think they would eat one for a day or two, but then the break down of the star would cause more trouble then leaving the shrimp without food for a few days. I have heard from others here (even though I feed much more often) that they have kept theirs alive and healthy feeding only one star a month, you should be able to find stars more frequently then that, or buy multiple stars when availabe and just feeding them to the display tank one at a time, that way you could have 4 or 5 and not have to worry if they are temporarily out of stock.

 

[iamwhatiam52]

Thanks philter.
I had not meant that a whole star would be fed at a time, only a small piece.
The starfish I had planned to use appear seasonally. Yesterday I was at a beach where you could have filled a bushel basket in an hour, but at other times you won't find a single one for months.
I have been told they will not survive in at reef temperatures, so keeping a few in the sump is not an option.

 

[Pulp Fishin]

I would say that you could do this, although like philter said its not going to give optimum nutrition to the harlies.
After a reacent experiance my harlequins got sick and died shortly after starting to feed frozen stars. I know others who have done so for a short period but nobody has reported doing this for a long time.

Personaly I'd still recomend feeding 1 mth os fresh and then 1 mth of frozen so they arn't shocked onto a new diet they may not take to easily.

 

[iamwhatiam52]

Thanks. Before getting a harlequin I will look into ways of keeping the stars alive for feeding.

 

[JoeCreature]

You can probably keep some local stars alive in a 10 gallon and feed them bivalves. Collect 5 or 6 and chop off an arm from a different star every two or three weeks. By the time you get back to the first one it should be well on it's way to regenerating new arms. Time it right and you have a limitless supply of food.

 

[Hephalump]

You could always try setting up a small tank to raise Asterina stars. They multiply like crazy, eat algae, and are extremely hardy.