How fast do harlequin shrimp eat?

[WhitePanther93]

My tank has a pretty large population of asters a stars. They are everywhere. And while they haven’t been causing any noticeable problems, I was wondering if such a large population could keep pace with the appetite of a harlequin shrimp. I always avoided getting harlequins due to their diet and the cost of keeping them fed. But if the chance arises that I can keep them on a free diet, I would.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

My tank has a pretty large population of asters a stars. They are everywhere. And while they haven’t been causing any noticeable problems, I was wondering if such a large population could keep pace with the appetite of a harlequin shrimp. I always avoided getting harlequins due to their diet and the cost of keeping them fed. But if the chance arises that I can keep them on a free diet, I would.

I don’t think there is a definitive answer for this, but one variable would be the size of your tank - how large is it?

 

[WhitePanther93]

I don’t think there is a definitive answer for this, but one variable would be the size of your tank - how large is it?

60 cube

 

[saltyfins]

when I got my harlequin, it was TINY! like I mean 1/4 inch. put it in the tank, and lost for over a month. when it came back out, it was almost 2 inches, and I had a HUGE population of stars!!! huge. I had that shrimp for 1 year, and towards the end i was asking locals for donations!! I finally rehomed it to another reefer. that was in a 300 gallon! so it lasted 1 year in my tank, slam loaded (infact, I MAYBE have 4 or 5 stars again) so in a 60, maybe a few months. please dont rely on chopping up a chocolate chip star....my 2 cents.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

each shrimp will probably eat ~10-30 (accounting for different species and their sizes) Aquilonastra stars a day when full grown (see the quote below). So, assuming you need ~20 a day per full-grown adult shrimp, you’d need to be able to produce ~14,600 stars a year just to feed two adult shrimp.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/a...rimp-and-aiptasia-farm.1018974/#post-11924203

 

[WhitePanther93]

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/a...rimp-and-aiptasia-farm.1018974/#post-11924203

Oof. Looks like it might just be best to stay away.

 

[exnisstech]

I had a harlequin once and traded it. I have multiple tanks and everyone has had a bunch of astrinas. I find they populate very quickly to almost nuisance levels at first then they dwindle in population to almost none. This has happened in every tank I've started. They tend to be on the glass in the morning before lights on. If they get too bad it's easy to just scrape them off with a net and dispose of them.