Harlequin Shrimp..Any experiences???

[Reef69]

I have been researching about these amazing looking shrimp for over 2 months..i came across this site that said you can feed them a live linkia star once a month..i think thats kind of..crazy...anyways, would like to know what yall think the requirements for these shrimps would be and if any of yall have had any experiences with them..THNKS!!!!

[cpreefguy]

Yeah, those things are awesome. Ive wanted one for a while. I've read that they're very messy eaters which means alot more water changes. Ive also heard that they dont actually eat the whole starfish, just a few legs at a time. Seems like they would be expensive to keep IMO.

[Reef69]

well, they only eat the little tubes in the legs, they dont eat the whole thing. They also live only in pairs..(so ive read), I would plan to keep them in the 25 gal. so i can pay more attention to them..since the 90 would be kind of hard since there are a bunch of fish and inverts in there..they also eat astrea stars, I think those are the small 5 legged ones..I would like to order a couple of harlequins from liveaquaria but would like to know if somebody has anything else to say..lol

[Tim Marvin]

I had one for a couple years. Awesome shrimp. It was fed chocolate chip star since they are the cheapest. They are very clean eaters, and carry the star around upside down like a pizza. The will eat a couple stars a month and slowly tear off pieces. The eat the entire starfish. Very cool to watch, and beautiful creature!

[Tim Marvin]

By the way, they only eat starfish that are smoot in texture. Brittles are no good for them possible because they move too fast, and are spiney. Mine would grab the brittle now and then but let go after being pulled for a ride.

[CD]

Hmmm...well, everything I've read strongly discourages the keeping of Harlequin Shrimp in a home aquarium set up. Noting that they are very hard to placate in their food needs/desires, and without a steady supply of the tube feet of echinoderms (and most are rather picky about what type of sea star they eat) will eventually starve to death. They like wild prey the best, and it seems to me that this would be impractical at best. See if you can borrow or purchase a copy of "Reef Invertebrates" by Anthony Calfo & Robert Fenner (great book!) and refer to pages 271 to 272. Gives some great info & possible feeding hints if you are determined to keep this species. However, both authors strongly discourage the home aquarist from raising these delicate little creatures. HTH ;-)

CDs wife, Wendy

[Tim Marvin]

If you have good water quality, and you don't mind buying the stars, they aren't that hard to keep. I had mine from the time she was may be a half an inch until she was 1.5-2 inches. The females have blue legs and the males have clear legs. Be sure there are no predators in there to eat the shrimp either. I am not sure of there life span but mine lasted about 2 years. That seemed like a long time for shrimp to me, but I could be wrong.
Wendy, does the book give a life span?

[Reef69]

Thansk for the replies..I really want a pair..dint know where to get them though..maybe you could give me a few pointers on how to take care of them Tim if you dont mind..they would be living on my 25 where my 2 percs live..

[Tim Marvin]

DO your water changes, run carbon, skim if possible, and feed live stars a min. of every 3 weeks. I used to buy the smallest chocolate chip stars I could get. I kept a star in there at all times to make sure she could eat any time she wanted.

[Reef69]

do you know where i could get a pair of shrimp..other than online?

[Tim Marvin]

No online is probably the only choice. I am sure one of the local stores would order them for you.

[CD]

Tim-
None of the books or sites that provide info on these shrimps are really sure of their longevity in the wild. As far as tank raised, the average seems to be one to two years depending on the size they were when you purchased them.

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/clnshrpfaqs.html

Wet Web media has some good "FAQ" info, and also found some useful info on
www.sihawaii.com/sydkraul/harlyabs.html

They are amazing little creatures! I imagine those two sites will help silverchair in their decision, and on wetwebmedia, if you have a specific question, Bob himself answers most of the time. Great site for info.

Wendy

[Reef69]

what about calcium??..b-ionic??

[TroyPham]

at Tropical fish haven in CC... they have some... they've had a pair of them for a while.. i go in and look at them now and then....

not try'n to plug a lfs.. but i kno they had some the last time i was there

[cpreefguy]

not try'n to plug a lfs..
Sure buddy, BTW finn-addict kicks ***! :-D

[Tim Marvin]

I keep my water for growing acropora, so I can't tell you what they like as far as certain chemistry. She seemed to do very well in that environment. I'd take another pair. If we can find some decent pricing how many want to do it? Be sure you are at least intermediate reefkeeper and don't kill any other creatures before you post for these shrimp. I say intermediate because I don't think anyone on this board considers themselves as an expert, even though some are.

[Reef69]

Well, I havent killed anything in over 5 months..i started doing SW december of last year..all my tanks seem very healthy, everything grows like crazy in my 90..I would like a pair..ive read they do better in pairs..i talked to Sarah and Felipe from Fin-addicts and they might be able to get a pair for 50 bucks or so..which to me seems reasonable, ive seen prices on sites and some go up to 30 or so for each..

[Reef69]

Thanks alot Wendy for the links!!!!