Harlequin Pair

[cabinreefer]

So today I received my pair of Harlequins in the mail along with a chocolate chip starfish that I had ordered. Since adding them to my aquarium I have only seen one of the Harlequins which worries me a little but I figured I will give it till tomorrow.. I also added the starfish but I think it's too big for the one Harlequin to eat on its own. So my question is, if I were going to cut off a leg of the starfish and feed it to the harlequin how would I go about doing that? and will that add a lot of ammonia to my tank?

 

[eatbreakfast]

Give the harlequins some time to settle.

You will be surprised to see how big of a starfish a single harlequin is capable of taking down. Put the whole starfish in. Harlequin shrimp actually paralyze the starfish and eat it alive, so it won't add ammonia.

 

[Bongo Shrimp]

Harlequin shrimp actually paralyze the starfish...

IDK where you heard that they paralyze the starfish, but that's completely untrue. The shrimp have specialized appendages which they use to stab the soft tube feet and cause them to retract, allowing the shrimp to easily move the starfish.

Edit: I see that some people claim they have a neurotoxin which is used in the way you've described, but I have never seen a reliable informational source which verifies this.

 

[Core]

Its alittle cruel but i would buy chocolate chip star fish and freeze them. Id cut a leg off for feeding the shrimp.

 

[litenyaup]

My harlequin would ride the chocolate chip star fish around eating a leg at a time as needed.

 

[ebushrow]

Its alittle cruel but i would buy chocolate chip star fish and freeze them. Id cut a leg off for feeding the shrimp.

Pretty sure the starfish has to be live since they only eat the tube feet.....it is just nature....predator-prey relationship.

 

[cabinreefer]

I'll give it another day or so and see how they are doing! Thank you all!

 

[eatbreakfast]

IDK where you heard that they paralyze the starfish, but that's completely untrue. The shrimp have specialized appendages which they use to stab the soft tube feet and cause them to retract, allowing the shrimp to easily move the starfish.

Edit: I see that some people claim they have a neurotoxin which is used in the way you've described, but I have never seen a reliable informational source which verifies this.

When eating larger starfish, which may take days, the starfish doesn't degrade and the tubefeet stay intact, which doesn't happen when a starfish dies on it's own.