Aquaculture asterina starfishh experiment

[new_fish_on_the_blok]

I want more than anything to have a Harlequin Shrimp.. BUT I also don't want to feed it chocolate chip starfish every other week, that could get expensive and my partner thinks chocolate chip starfish are cute, so that eliminates that option. I have been looking into other ways to feed the shrimp and know that many people feed asterina starfish. I like this idea because it is something that Sav would be okay with it, and it would be a simple add to the daily routine. But going to a LFS every week to clean out their tanks just isn’t feasible for me logistically. I am going to try and aquaculture some asterinas.
Does anyone have any advice on this? right now, I have a few from my LFS, but I want to know that i can do this before I go out and get the Harlequin Shrimp.

 

[glb]

I want more than anything to have a Harlequin Shrimp.. BUT I also don't want to feed it chocolate chip starfish every other week, that could get expensive and my partner thinks chocolate chip starfish are cute, so that eliminates that option. I have been looking into other ways to feed the shrimp and know that many people feed asterina starfish. I like this idea because it is something that Sav would be okay with it, and it would be a simple add to the daily routine. But going to a LFS every week to clean out their tanks just isn’t feasible for me logistically. I am going to try and aquaculture some asterinas.
Does anyone have any advice on this? right now, I have a few from my LFS, but I want to know that i can do this before I go out and get the Harlequin Shrimp.

I had a Harlequin and it cleaned out my 40g of asterinas pretty quickly (and I had a lot). I didn’t think I’d have to buy starfish, but every 3 weeks I’d have to spring for a sand sifter starfish to feed it. You could Asterinas in a separate tanks but I’m not sure if you could breed enough to keep your Harlequin. Maybe someone else has done this and hopefully will chime in!

 

[glb]

I had a Harlequin and it cleaned out my 40g of asterinas pretty quickly (and I had a lot). I didn’t think I’d have to buy starfish, but every 3 weeks I’d have to spring for a sand sifter starfish to feed it. You could Asterinas in a separate tanks but I’m not sure if you could breed enough to keep your Harlequin. Maybe someone else has done this and hopefully will chime in!

Ps they’re great shrimp!

 

[new_fish_on_the_blok]

I had a Harlequin and it cleaned out my 40g of asterinas pretty quickly (and I had a lot). I didn’t think I’d have to buy starfish, but every 3 weeks I’d have to spring for a sand sifter starfish to feed it. You could Asterinas in a separate tanks but I’m not sure if you could breed enough to keep your Harlequin. Maybe someone else has done this and hopefully will chime in!

I am hoping that one or two a day will be enough, if i feed it daily. Meaning I need enough asterinas that they are replicating at that rate, if not more.

 

[damsels are not mean]

If only we knew exactly what they eat and how to grow it we could do this easily...

 

[homer1475]

I have read that asternias are not good food for them. They prefer to eat the tube feet(kind of why urchins are a no-no with harlequins), and asternias do not have enough tube feet to keep them fed.

I had them to plague proportions, like there were hundreds on my glass every morning. Got a harley, and within a couple weeks they were gone. Within a month, I was buying CC stars to feed it.

My melanarus finally ended it's life, but I would not rely on asternias to feed them.

 

[glb]

I am hoping that one or two a day will be enough, if i feed it daily. Meaning I need enough asterinas that they are replicating at that rate, if not more.

IME a Harlequin will eat a lot more than that in a day and I agree with the others that asterinas aren’t the best total food source for them. You could certainly grow asterinas and throw them in the display tank, but I’d consider the possibility that you may have to buy starfish anyway to feed it. My Harlequin was the most expensive thing to feed in my tank, lol. I fed it sand sifting starfish because chocolate chip starfish weren’t reef safe. Good luck!

 

[homer1475]

IME a Harlequin will eat a lot more than that in a day and I agree with the others that asterinas aren’t the best total food source for them. You could certainly grow asterinas and throw them in the display tank, but I’d consider the possibility that you may have to buy starfish anyway to feed it. My Harlequin was the most expensive thing to feed in my tank, lol. I fed it sand sifting starfish because chocolate chip starfish weren’t reef safe. Good luck!

The great thing about harleys.....

The can immobilize the CC star so it cannot eat your coral. First thing they do is flip over the starfish so it cannot move, then they eat the feet first.

Making the non reef safe moniker null in void.

 

[Nemo&Friends]

I had asterina in my tank, and they did multiply quite fast. When I had too many and it became unsightly I bought an Harlequin shrimp. I placed it in a 40G tank, The asterina were in my 120G. The shrimp was so tiny, it was hard to find in my tank and I had fun trying to find it every morning. I fed it 3 asterinas star a day. It grew quite a bit. I must have had over 300 stars when I started. I kept my shrimp close to a year. I returned it to my LFS when my star supply ran out. I will do it again, when the stars become numerous. Stars did not eat my coraline and did not damage anything. But I only have 1 gorgonian. They ate the film algae on the glass.
I do not think you need to do anything special to grow them. They will do so just with what you have in your tank.
To know how many star it ate, I place 9 or 10 stars in the tank, and check how many I had left everyday. 3 a day was about right.

 

[SlugSnorter]

FYI choco chip stars are coral eating SOBs who are spawned from the evil residue when a clownfish poops enough times. They eat peaceful little inverts, nems and corals

Maybe you can try and "frag" some choco chip stars and feed that to the harlys. they will keep the choco star alive while they eat, and will only need a star like every other week.

 

[Spare time]

Could you use the micro brittle stars? That would be easy to culture. I am not sure if they eat these, but if so, it sounds like a good idea

 

[minus9]

Btw, they’re proper name is aquilonastra and not asterina and they mostly eat algae and detritus. Use a10g tank and don’t clean the glass, ever. Then drop a couple in there and you’ll have plenty in no time.

 

[SlugSnorter]

Could you use the micro brittle stars? That would be easy to culture. I am not sure if they eat these, but if so, it sounds like a good idea

Im not sure, I don't think they will though.

 

[SlugSnorter]

Btw, they’re proper name is aquilonastra and not asterina and they mostly eat algae and detritus. Use a10g tank and don’t clean the glass, ever. Then drop a couple in there and you’ll have plenty in no time.

Asterina and aquilonastra are not the same

 

[minus9]

Asterina and aquilonastra are not the same

I know and what people are calling asterina in this hobby are aquilonastra, not asterina. True asterina look very different and are usually much bigger. Here