Harlequin Shrimp Detailed Article

[Conski]

Im ordering mine in the following days but i figured not alot of people on here know to much about them and i found this really great detailed article on them for anyone who wants to learn more about them!
The Care & Breeding of the Harlequin Shrimp (http://www.chucksaddiction.com/harlequinshrimp.html)

[Conski]

Hope it helps anyone who was in my position or wanted to just learn more about this awsome species

[zoakeeper]

Mine is the favorite of my tank. IT eats a chip a week. Measures almost 3" in length. Thanks for the article. I add iodine daily and this is one of the successes in its survival and growth.
http://i637.photobucket.com/albums/uu100/zoakeeper001/harliquein.jpg?t=1250044713

[Conski]

That is awsome man! do you think a single one would be okay in a 14 gal reef tank would be okay with one other scarlet shrimp one clown and a very small clown goby?

[Ace25]

Should be fine as long as you feed it a chocolate chip starfish about once every week or two.

[zoakeeper]

That is awsome man! do you think a single one would be okay in a 14 gal reef tank would be okay with one other scarlet shrimp one clown and a very small clown goby?
They seem to be pretty peaceful characters and as long as they have a starfish (chocolate is their fav) they pretty much just stay attached to it somewhere in the tank. When they are without a star they will soon learn where the next is coming from.
When mine goes for a few days without a starfish and it is not in molt it will hang out towards the front of the tank waiting for one to appear. They are really cool and do not bother any other tank mates, at least I have never seen them do so.
ANd yes, a 14gl is more than large enough as long as the parameters are all within norms.

[Conski]

Alright i ordered mine i very much wanted one for so long i got it from Live Aquaria and i got the small one. i sure hope he does okay!

Should i supplement iodine as well? and i think ill feed it once every 2 weeks until its an adult. and do i leave the whole thing in there while he eats it and does it eat the whole thing? would it be a problem with nitrates? sorry for the questions i like asking for first hand experiences as opposed to always articles thanks for all the help!

[Conski]

Bump

[zoakeeper]

Alright i ordered mine i very much wanted one for so long i got it from Live Aquaria and i got the small one. i sure hope he does okay!

Should i supplement iodine as well? and i think ill feed it once every 2 weeks until its an adult. and do i leave the whole thing in there while he eats it and does it eat the whole thing? would it be a problem with nitrates? sorry for the questions i like asking for first hand experiences as opposed to always articles thanks for all the help!
I am no expert with these but I do add iodine for inverts according to the directions of the iodine I use. I use only products that are made for reef tanks bought in either reef shops of from online dealers that deal in reef supplies.
I feed mine a chip a week on average and it pretty much will not turn loose of the star until it is done with feeding on it which basically means the star is gone. I do not think you will have any problems with yours, just let it do its thing and you should be fine.
Don't be discouraged if you loose it, which is unlikely, but as the same for fish and corals, even humans, not all are healthy and meant to live a long life.
I have had mine for over a year and if it passes away I will count myself fortunate to have had it that long so be prepared as with any invert...we are keeking them in a small glass container remember and there are some that do well and others that do not do so well. Some species are difficult to keep, some are easy, the Harliquin is easy, but that doesn't mean we can't get one that has not been properly collected and so forth.
Good luck with yours and enjoy.
Remeber, you are going to have to feed it a chip a week or two and depending on where you are and the availability of stars, it could become expensive, keep this in mind.

[Conski]

Yea i am more then willing to take care of it for itll be my pride and joy, im going to buy a 8 gallon nano to house the star fish in and maybe ill even put him in there and let him have his own whole tank i can suppliment with iodine that way itll be a perfect enviroment for him and i wont have to worry about rotting or decaying starfish parts.

I just hope he does okay!

[Conski]

he came today and boy is he tiny much smaller then i thought hed be, i hope doesnt get wrecked by my big ol scarlet (even though i know they are peaceful and that harlequins are incredibly strong!
I let the bag float for 15 minutes then i siphoned for 2 hours!

[cam191919]

ummmmmmmmmmmm pics!!

[Almondsaz]

Conski: I have read that article and it is quite helpful when starting out. Haven't tried breeding them yet as it is hard to do and harder to order a male or female. I do not feed mine anything but asternia stars and it is thriving in my system. I have 100's of asternia so it has a never ending supply - even with me doing the odd asternia cleaning off the back wall of my tank. I have fed (by accident) a sand-sifting star because it was already in my system when I added the HS. They are fascinating shrimp and left alone by all the other members of the DT. Don't forget to be careful with the CC stars - they are not reef safe. Many keep them in their sump and remove a leg at a time and it regenerates. Sounds a bit too barbaric for met to do, and fortunately I don't have the need with all the asternia.

Good luck with yours, don't forget to post pictures.

[lanimret]

I've been considering 1 or 2 to control my asternia outbreak. Didn't know if they would quickly dispose of them all and then starve. If I did 1 as you have (75g tank) it sounds like it might be viable. I have to move my sandsifter first though, thats the big issue.

[Almondsaz]

I've been considering 1 or 2 to control my asternia outbreak. Didn't know if they would quickly dispose of them all and then starve. If I did 1 as you have (75g tank) it sounds like it might be viable. I have to move my sandsifter first though, thats the big issue.

The one that I got for my 125 hasn't really made a dent in their population yet. I have to net them off the back wall of the DT to keep them from really growing out of control.

Good news is that they will leave serpent starfish alone. I have a large one and a small one and both have been in there for several months unharmed.

[zoakeeper]

I never had any luck with the shrimp eating the astrenia either. I think they are more chocolate chip eaters. When I place a chip in the shrimp flips it over and holds onto it until it has finished it off. Depending on the size of the chip it can take a week to eat it all. I didn't't much care for the cutting legs off thing so tryed this and so far have not had any problems except one when the shrimp went into molt so I put the chip into the fuge till the shrimp was done.

[zoakeeper]

he came today and boy is he tiny much smaller then i thought hed be, i hope doesnt get wrecked by my big ol scarlet (even though i know they are peaceful and that harlequins are incredibly strong!
I let the bag float for 15 minutes then i siphoned for 2 hours!
might be small but just means it will have a longer lifespan for you to enjoy. Congrats on its arrival in good shape. You will enjoy it. Really personable shrimp as far as a shrimp can be personable.

[Conski]

I LOVE HIM! before i went to work all night i went out and bought him a medium size CC star and 11 little aster stars to populate my tank! I come home from work 7 hours later hes on top the of the guy in the middle of my tank doing work! the star is still alive ( no rot is nice!) I moved him clover to the front lol and now the star is trying to get away and hes pulling it back!

i am SO glad i got one they make me so happy to see eating! heres a couple pic of my little guy! i will be buying idoine tomorrow or when ever its aviable at my lfs

Im not worried about the CC in my reef he seems to have it under control and ill be buying a 29 gal bio cube within a week so ill be moving all my corals in that tank and the HS can have this tank all to himself with his stars lol and this cc is probably gonna last him a while.

im gonna do small water changes daily to help rotting if it occurs!

[Almondsaz]

It is incredible how strong they are. When I saw mine flip a sandsifting star I couldn't believe it. Looks great and glad he is eating. The asternia's won't seem to populate quickly, and then all of a sudden they are everywhere.

[Conski]

haha well i have 11 so hopefully they go crazy! that way i wont have to buy him 11 dollar chips every 2 weeks! CC are only not reef safe because they crawl on corals and stuff right? not because they release chemicals or anything like that

I know about the spinals

[zoakeeper]

I think they are not reef safe because they can eat corals. They will stay alive and not rot during the whole time it is being eaten. The shrimp will eat all the legs keeping it alive then eat the rest of it before it has time to rot. The shrimp eats the stars in a way that keeps them alive for the longest time possible, this keeps it fresh for the shrimp.
Sweet, going to give the shrimp a tank for itself. Maybe get another or two.
I got my local reef shop to drop the price of the stars since I would be buying them every week, maybe yours will do the same for you. Maybe even get them to order a shrimp for you and that way help to support your local reef store.

[Conski]

Hes kept him in the same spot all night and today so far so im not worried about him eating any of coral

heres an update pic of him in day i moved my clam as well, poor guy i moved him so much i hope he doesn't get harmed by all this moving

[Conski]

I begin supplimenting iodide tomorrow! i also replaced my stock pump with a maxijet 600

[zoakeeper]

I begin supplimenting iodide tomorrow! i also replaced my stock pump with a maxijet 600
Be sure to use the iodide according to directions and it would not hurt to use a bit less if you do not have many softies/inverts.
That is a small fella. I am fortunate in that one of the LRS gets the chips in pretty steady and there is usually small ones I can pick out. Just keep an eye on the chip and if the shrimp goes off it for a time might need to place it in your sump/fuge for a few days. The shrimp will probably molt more with the smaller size.
THe chip will stay alive even if the shrimp has eaten a few of the legs off so don't toss it if you have to remove it for a little bit.
And if you miss it for a day, the shrimp leaves it, don't freak, the chip probablyh won't eat anything right away. I have had my shrimp go off feeding during molts and left the chip in the display for a couple days. THey usually head to the top of the tnak hanging on the glass at the water's surface.
Time to enjoy it. I might have already said, but mine will drag the chip off to a secluded spot and once it is finished will hang right out in the open at the front till I place another star in the tank. Really cool. Like it knows now where its food comes from. It will explore my hand now when I get near it.

[Conski]

i dont have a sump or fuge, just a fully modded 14 gallon biocube lol. thats why im getting a 29 so that i can remove all my corals and let everything do its own thing in this 14 gal.

You were right about seclusion after 3 days hes managed to drag it from the front of the tank to the very back behind all the rocks to a place where i can barely see him. I was wondering i could maybe put a little container and hang it over the tank (but in the tank) and use that as a little fuge?

[Conski]

He finally flipped it and i dk wtf happened but he now only has one defensive claw?

[Conski]

maybe im not seeing him right but it definitly looks like one?! aww i hope this doesnt screw him up :/

[Conski]

Does anyone have any idea if it will? i mean he is still eating and anything that comes near the star he pushes it away with his other claw? how could he even of lost it nothing in my tank is aggressive like that?!

[Conski]

he is doing fine without it! instead of the legs hes pretty much taken a huge chunk out of the center area a deep chunk too.. the star is still alive and everything seems to be okay in his world!

[zoakeeper]

I was moving my rock around and noticed one of the paddle like appendages had come off of mine also. It seems to be doing fine. Will take some time but it will grow back. It is used to flip stars over but can do just fine with one.

[Conski]

He molted :)