Official Harlequin Shrimp (Hymenocera elegans) Thread

[Based]

So i ended up getting a male, I'm really looking for a female hawaiian harlequin shrimp. Does anyone know where i can get one? I know les from wph use to catch them but i cant find his website or cant find him on forums no longer.

[Based]

Nevermind not sure what sex it is. Lol.

[AMAYEU]

Anyone have more than a pair in their tanks. ?Trying to find out what a good mix would be that is greater then 2. For instance, 3 females and one male.

[BadCrab]

No one's posted in a while (and I haven't been very active ) but I thought I'd drop an update on my large blue dot Indonesian female. This week, in the last invert solo tank at an LFS I saw him: a beautiful purple and yellow Hawaiian male. I quickly confirmed his sex, graciously paid (they only asked $55), and took him home to acclimate.

I have had my dreams of beautiful harlequin love-pairing dashed, however. She's gotten rather... large... in her months with me. I would guess 2 and half inches - absolutely wrecks two full grown chocolate chips a month now. She doesn't appear to want to share her current meal, and in fact hunts and chases the new small (under 1") male. I'm afraid that the new male will starve if they do not pair.

 

Does anyone have any suggestions? Against my better judgement, I did physically pick up and place the male next to her - she took a few swings and he retreated unharmed. I'm afraid I'm going to have to rehome my blue-dot.

[Reef_Suds]

No one's posted in a while (and I haven't been very active ) but I thought I'd drop an update on my large blue dot Indonesian female. This week, in the last invert solo tank at an LFS I saw him: a beautiful purple and yellow Hawaiian male. I quickly confirmed his sex, graciously paid (they only asked $55), and took him home to acclimate.

 

I have had my dreams of beautiful harlequin love-pairing dashed, however. She's gotten rather... large... in her months with me. I would guess 2 and half inches - absolutely wrecks two full grown chocolate chips a month now. She doesn't appear to want to share her current meal, and in fact hunts and chases the new small (under 1") male. I'm afraid that the new male will starve if they do not pair.

 

Does anyone have any suggestions? Against my better judgement, I did physically pick up and place the male next to her - she took a few swings and he retreated unharmed. I'm afraid I'm going to have to rehome my blue-dot.

 

 

Keep me updated! Wish I knew!

[jhuneke]

I was curious if anybody has successfully kept a pair feeding only asterina sf? And how many should each consume daily? I would rather not deal with the mess of feeding CCstarfish..as well as my kids would be crushed watching them be eaten alive all the time I am fairly sure I can harvest asterinas from another reef tank..and my lfs.

Thanks in advance

[BadCrab]

I was curious if anybody has successfully kept a pair feeding only asterina sf? And how many should each consume daily? I would rather not deal with the mess of feeding CCstarfish..as well as my kids would be crushed watching them be eaten alive all the time I am fairly sure I can harvest asterinas from another reef tank..and my lfs.

Thanks in advance

 

 

I haven't seen anyone successfully keep them off of asterinas. You would need a massive supply and harvesting that often to add them to your reef tank is no small task. A pair would easily go through dozens a day. Ultimately, a captive harlequin needs to be fed full size star legs.

 

What you could do, that some people have had success with, is training the harlequins onto frozen legs or harvest legs from a group of starfish that you keep alive in a sump or secondary tank.

 

Keep me updated! Wish I knew!

 

 

It was because the big girl was actually a big boy! I've traded him in for a smaller female and successfully paired the two colormorphs. Here's a picture of the male from my build thread; They are consuming a full grown adult CC once/mnth.

 

 

[Based]

 

 

I haven't seen anyone successfully keep them off of asterinas. You would need a massive supply and harvesting that often to add them to your reef tank is no small task. A pair would easily go through dozens a day. Ultimately, a captive harlequin needs to be fed full size star legs.

 

What you could do, that some people have had success with, is training the harlequins onto frozen legs or harvest legs from a group of starfish that you keep alive in a sump or secondary tank.

 

 

 

 

It was because the big girl was actually a big boy! I've traded him in for a smaller female and successfully paired the two colormorphs. Here's a picture of the male from my build thread; They are consuming a full grown adult CC once/mnth.

 

 

where did you get a hawaiian at? Super jealous!

[BadCrab]

My LFS received one (I believe from their wholesaler); They occasionally receive rare colormorphs or fish. The store is AquaTouch. This is the first one I've seen locally, and I snatched it up for less then 60 bucks.

[RyNova]

What would be the cheapest route in feeding these guys? Freezing a CC star, then feeding 1 leg a week? Will they for sure eat a frozen one?

 

Or should I set up a separate tank, and cycle between 2 stars, cutting one leg each week?

[Eckozulu]

What would be the cheapest route in feeding these guys? Freezing a CC star, then feeding 1 leg a week? Will they for sure eat a frozen one?

 

Or should I set up a separate tank, and cycle between 2 stars, cutting one leg each week?

Mine ate frozen for like a month, then decided she only wanted fresh.

[llama roadkill]

Mine ate their first live starfish leg today. They dragged it into their cave within seconds of it dropping in. Awesome little critters