I need your help

[JoshLangerman]

Hi Mr. Calfo I just found reefcental because my friend told me you have a forum here. I e-mailed wetwebmedia like 5 or 6 days ago asking for help. Mr. Fenner helped me but I asked him to send my e-mail to you too so in case you have the answer. He said you were away but you are answering here so I hope it is ok to ask my questions here.
At my LFS there are a pair of harlequin shrimp that I want to buy. I asked Mr. Fenner if he knew about the little starfish you can feed them. I think you can buy them or get them as hitchhikers. I want to feed them to the harlequin shrimp at the store. Mr. Fenner didn't tell me how to cut them but I thought you would know. He said he has someone to help me but can't give me that information for awhile. I don't want to wait because the shrimp are only on hold for me for one more day.
Do you know where to find them and how to cut them? Do I just put them into them all in the tank? One more question and I will stop bothering you. How many do the shrimp eat?
JJ

[Anthony Calfo]

Cheers JJ,

I am indeed back home now. Good to hear from you my friend :)

Before we begin, let me strongly suggest that you do not buy these shrimp! At least not the ones you have on hold right now... and not until you have established a very sound breeding population of food Asteroid starfish. Else, you will lose/kill your Harlequins like the overwhelming majority of folks. Shame on the LFS too if they are simply offering these delicate beauties for casual impulse purchase to anyone with a dollar to spend, without also having the means (cultured starfish) to support their customer and the living creatures after the sale.

While its true that you can simply buy wild-caught "feeder" starfish like Chocolate chip stars or similar Asteroids... the practice is abhorent in my opinion for many reason (which I explain in great detail in "Reef Invertebrates). In a nutshell though, the mortality on most of the suitable starfish species to feed your Harlequins is staggeringly high... in some cases over 90% (number collected versus number that actually make it alive into a consumers tank... ironically to die anyway for the shrimp). So what that means is that 6 to 10 starfish, for example (gross figures based on pulse from LA wholesalers and my import experience) will die for every one that lives to be sold to you as a feeder starfish. And so, even if you only need one starfish per month to feed your shrimp, that means 70-100+ stars have to die in collection each year just to get one live one per month into an your tank. Hardly a responsible use of resources!

Now I do realize and respect the fact that you have expressed an interest in feeding culturable (Asterina species) starfish from the start. but the nature of your eager message here ("shrimp on hold 'til tomorrow") concerns me that you could make the same impulse purchase that kills such delicate animals too often.

It will take you months to get a flourishing population of Asterina growing. Please take the time to do so.

And please rest assured that Harlequin shrimp are very easy to acquire/import. There is no rush to get this pair no matter how "rare" or urgent the salesperson at the LFS might lead you to believe about this shrimps availablility ;) They ship well and often from Hawaii.

There are a few aquarists here on RC that actively keep these shrimp. Do ask around and check old threads/posts. My dear friend Tippytoex is well-read about these beauties. Do PM her and see if she has any info to share.

Unless you are an intermediate to advanced aquarist, I suggest you admire these shrimps from afar for a while.

Kindly,

Anthony

[JoshLangerman]

Woah, that is a lot of good information. Thank you for taking the time to set me right. I called the store passed on the pair. I though those little stars were cheap and you can get a whole bunch and keep them in a refugium. Then just cut some when you need it. I guess that was dumb of me.
I will wait until I get a lot of them and learn how to take care of them first. I'd like to PM your friend but I don't want to do that without permision from them. It sounds sort of rude you know? Can you ask her if it is ok? I do want to learn about them. Even if it takes a lot of months.
JJ

[Anthony Calfo]

Not dumb of you at all, JJ... on the contrary - I admire that you took the time to ask before buying. Not enough folks do.

You may indeed be able to keep an active colony of Asterina growing in a refugium, and you can simply divide them by cutting them in pieces. But they need a source of food to continue to grow, right? ;) Without a system that is actively growing enough/excessive diatom algae, for example, to support a population oif flourishing Asterina large enough to support your shrimps, then all is lost.

My advice is to simpy set up a cheap 10 gall. feeder tank for the Asterina. Light it with a very warm lamp (daylight 4k - 6500k K) to grow a lot of brown algae. Filter it with a cheap and effective sponge filter. Do regular weekly water changes on it to keep a fresh supply of nutrients for algae to grow (use display tank water perhaps and let the display benefit from small weekly water changes in turn)

Harlequin shrimp can be kept successfully and even bred (see breeder reports online... Breeder's Registry perhaps). But they truly need focussed if not specialized care. No casual keeping.

As to chatting with other RC members like TippyToex, please do not hesistate to drop her a PM (mention my name if you like). Its truly what this/any online community is about. And TippyToex is especially motivated to help others in need with shared opinions/advice.

Do look her up in the members directory!

Anthony :)

[TippyToeX]

JJ- Please feel free to PM me. :) I would be more then happy to help. If you do not feel comfy doing so we can chat in this thread.

[JoshLangerman]

Hey this is great. Thank you both for wanting to help me. I think I am going to like this place. TippyToex I am going to send you a PM now.
JJ

[JoshLangerman]

Hi Mr. Calfo. I want to update you so you know that I have the tank ready and I am getting my starfish from TTX this week. Then when her baby shrimp grow up I will get one of those or two. But that is not for two more months. I am going to wait for them because I know they will eat the stars.
I asked TTX why the harlequin shrimp eat the whole starfish and she said she didn't know for sure and only had ideas. She is going to ask Dr. Ron about it but I see you online and I wanted to ask you. Do you know about it? Why do they eat the whole starfish and not just the feet?

[Anthony Calfo]

I don't have a definitive explanation, other than the strong belief that the legend of them eating tube-feet only is just that... a legend: a literary article passed on from reference to reference in errata.

This belief is based on field and aquarium observations where the shrimp commonly feed on a variety of echinoderms (not just starfish) and on a variety of parts (not just tube feet).

In localized areas where a given species of sea star if plentiful, then the given local population of Harlequins may specifically seek that easy prey. But they will adapt in the wild and aquarium alike (they may not be obligate) when prey choices are limited.

If the shrimp can feed and spawn on eating whole Asterina, then that seems like a strong indication to me that they are not obligate on tube-feet ;)

Best of luck my friend,

Anthony