Herfinater12 Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 So I have read up on the basic care of Harlequin Shrimp, and now just have some specific questions. I am planning on putting together a 2.5 AGA how many could I house in an aquarium that small, would 2 do just fine? Also feeding them, can I just buy a few starfish and freeze them and then feed my shrimp a leg at a time or does the star have to be live? Those are my only two questions for now but anyone out there with some extra advice I would greatly appreciate it. Link to comment
mandarin dragonet Posted January 18, 2007 Share Posted January 18, 2007 no you cant freeze them. farm asternia in a small tank/fuge and feed them them. otherwise theyre expensive to keep. with frozen, they'll leave it. they now farm asternias and have got the shrimps eating very well. they shoiuldn'y be fed on nice starfish, its basically throwing them away... theyre a lovely shrimp.. farm asternias and go for it! Link to comment
CGNano Posted January 19, 2007 Share Posted January 19, 2007 Mandarin, unless you've taken care of them, you have no idea what you're talking about. I kept a pair in a 2.5 for a few months and they did alright. My only concern is with the starfish decaying, it happens quite quickly and in my cases, usually at night. You HAVE to keep up with your water changes. And yes, contrary to what Mandarin has said, you can freeze them. Link to comment
rics4me Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 I agree with CGNano. Mine ate frozen chocolate chip starfish chunks and I have seen other posts that say the same. Link to comment
mandarin dragonet Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 my lfs told me they dont freeze them because the shrimps teeth get ground down, and i have not personally kept them, but i used to care for ALOT when my friends dad was on holiday (he has loads in a system--trying to breed them) Link to comment
Herfinater12 Posted January 20, 2007 Author Share Posted January 20, 2007 Well I have continued to read on the topic and have seen a lot going both ways. I am going to go ahead and try it though. Just to be on the safe side I am going put together something small to keep a few live starfish in just in case they dont care for the frozen. Thanks for everyone input and hopefully I can make this work lol, if so I will post some pics just to show off a lil. Thanks again Link to comment
Uploadead Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 Well I have continued to read on the topic and have seen a lot going both ways. I am going to go ahead and try it though. Just to be on the safe side I am going put together something small to keep a few live starfish in just in case they dont care for the frozen. Thanks for everyone input and hopefully I can make this work lol, if so I will post some pics just to show off a lil. Thanks again That would be nice, I really like those shrimp. They are naturally (kept) in pairs would you keep them as so? Link to comment
Herfinater12 Posted January 23, 2007 Author Share Posted January 23, 2007 Yea I think I will get a pair of them. My tank is beginning to cycle now so I am getting very anxious. Link to comment
John Bloch Posted January 24, 2007 Share Posted January 24, 2007 lol... hurt their teeth.... I dont think you put the stars in there still frozen... break off a leg while frozen, put the leg in a cup full of your warm tank water, let it thaw, and then put it in... just like every other frozen food... <---has no experiance with these amazing looking shrimps, but hopes to before he kicks the bucket Link to comment
PotysGSXR Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 Just make sure you don't get them starfish that are too big for them. My pair usually finishes off a Chocolate Chip star in about a week and it doesnt pollute my tank but sometimes if the star is too big, it cant finish it before it dies and it pollutes my tank not by much, but then again in a 2.5, it could. Link to comment
er1c_the_reefer Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 i don't think shrimp have teeth. lol if you've seen how they eat, they pick at the stars and pull off little chunks of flesh, kind of like an ice pick almost. very interesting feeding behavior, imo. anyways, yes, you can freeze starfish. but instead, what i do instead is have a sump/refugium. i buy like 10-12 (you can get less) choco stars put them in there. each week, i pull one out and chop off the leg and throw it in for the shrimps. the next week i repeat again, but with a different starfish, so that the stars have a chance to heal and regrow the leg. oh yea, don't chop off the leg too close to the body; the closer to the body the more likely the star will die. for a more natural diet though, stick with linkias. i wouldn't though, unless i had a big tank. linkias die fast and decay even faster. oh yea, stay away from brittle and serpant stars. they can and will kill and eat the shrimps. Link to comment
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