Omilu Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 Hello, I have a pair of Harlequin shrimp that will only eat starfish. Would greatly appreciate it if you have any nuisance sea stars (Asterina) or others type of starfish that you want to get rid of or sale for cheap. I would raise them in my refugium. Thank you in advance. I can be reach at 503-813-4147. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downhill_biker Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 the cheapest and best way to feed harlequin shrimp is choc. chip stars. they are about $5 each, and maybe you can work out a deal with the fish store. if you get harlequin shrimp you pretty much are stuck buying a choc. chip star once a week for the rest of their life. keep this in mind everyone who is thinking about purchasing these shrimp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePremiumAquarium Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 I know it sounds a bit gross to do for some, but if you keep 5 or 6 chocolate chip starfish in your refugium and just cut a leg off of one every 3-5 days to feed the harlequin shrimp, you should be able to alternate between the starfish and will not run out of food for quite a long time. Or you could get a seperate tank and raise chocolate chip starfish simply for feeding your shrimp. Garrett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefin' Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 I'm pretty sure they don't eat asterina stars...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pledosophy Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 just cut a leg off of one Tis but a flesh wound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downhill_biker Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 never thought of the fact that you could regenerate the starfish. just make sure you leave the body of the starfish and they should grow back fairly fast, and as said above rotate between several and you should be good to go. that is a GREAT idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chewie Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 I'm pretty sure they don't eat asterina stars...... My Harlequins do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omilu Posted June 2, 2008 Author Share Posted June 2, 2008 Thank you all for the responses. I read it in "What invertebrates? : a buyer's guide for marine aquariums" by Tristan Lougher which says that Harlequin shrimp will eat asterina star fish, hence, my request. Anyhow, I think its a great idea to set up a separate tank to raise chocolate chip starfish for the purpose of feeding and raising copepods for my psychedelic mandarin fish named (Kunia Jr.). Does anyone knows a good place to buy chocolate chip starfish, Petco charged me $8 for one? Have a great day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AquaticEngineer Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 My Harlequins do. Mine did too when I had them. I had quite a few of those starfish in my main display and had my harlequins in another tank plumbed off of the main system. They were on a reverse lighting schedule, so at night all the asterina stars would come out onto the glass of the main tank and I would scrape them all off and wad them into a little ball and drop em in front of my harlequins. Worked great for me. Also, look at online retailers for the purchase of the chocolate chip stars, unless u can work a deal with a local store for em. I dont know if it makes a differnce, but the asterina stars I had were the ones with no green or red on them, they were completely tan across the whole body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Omilu Posted June 2, 2008 Author Share Posted June 2, 2008 Well, I'm still interested in getting some asterina stars to raise as food for my pair of harlequin shrimps named (Pima and Bima). Any support from the community would be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyles Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 When I had harlequins they cleaned out my asternia, as for regeneration I had 5 stars they never regenerated faste enough, it seemed to take over a year for a leg to generate. I was able to negotiate a cheap purchase of chocolates from a LFS. Sadly my starfish eating friend met his match and was eaten by a starfish one day... go figure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefin' Posted June 3, 2008 Share Posted June 3, 2008 Well that's good news that they eat asterinas....I guess I can resume asterina production.....lol Goodluck hopefully u can find some near u Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spectra Posted June 3, 2008 Share Posted June 3, 2008 SWF sells them for 6 bucks I think and Waves has them for 5. I have a pair of shrimp also and they eat a star a week at leastDOH! When purchased they were only going to need to eat every couple of weeks (so thats what they told me) Well hell they eat like a growing child and even when eating choc. chips they would ditch them and go after the sand sifters(flame) But they are neet to watch and especially funny when a star hits the water(nutty) Out they come wandering until they find it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Posted June 14, 2008 Share Posted June 14, 2008 Tis but a flesh wound. hahahaha..no worries....I still have 4 legs left Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay Posted June 14, 2008 Share Posted June 14, 2008 I have many many astrina stars in my tank. These are the ones that are reef safe and will noy eat any corals as of yet. If you want some....come catch them in my tank. You should be able to get 15-20 pretty quick. Jay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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