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thefu 
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 Topic: LOVE my Harlequin Shrimp
Posted: December 23 2009 at 5:11pm |
Three months ago I had the biggest invasion of those pesky little Asterina starfish. No matter how many I pulled out, the next day there were another 20 taking their place it seemed.
I read that the Harlequin Shrimp will work on these guys but I was not having high hopes. Still, I bought one from Chad and tossed it in there. If nothing else I figured it was about the coolest looking invert I had seen.
Well a couple of months later and I am hard pressed to find even one of those starfish and he has left my big serpent star (Cinco) pretty much alone.
Now I just need to find a way to catch him and put him in my nano to get them out of there.
I just thought I would post this out there in case there is anyone else with tons of these crappy starfish invading your tank.
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Mike Savage
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Posted: December 23 2009 at 5:31pm |
Bait him with a Chocolate Chip star.
Mike
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badfinger
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Posted: December 23 2009 at 9:19pm |
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Can a harlequin live pretty indefinitely on those little star fish? i would love to have a Harlequin but dont want to feed it starfish.. would that be an option? or would it die when they ran out?
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Crzyfshguy
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Posted: December 23 2009 at 10:52pm |
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It would definately die after all the asterinas were gone.
Lynn Griffith on here was feeding his a Choc chip star every few weeks with great success for quite awhile.
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45G w/ leds
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Mike Savage
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Posted: December 23 2009 at 11:04pm |
They are specialized eaters and only eat sea stars.
Mike
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badfinger
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Posted: December 23 2009 at 11:24pm |
knew that, just was hoping that they wouldnt wipe out all the little stars and could survive... thanks guys
Edited by badfinger - December 23 2009 at 11:24pm
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thefu
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Posted: December 24 2009 at 12:27am |
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My little guy is only about an inch and a half. I highly doubt that he would be able to eat a chocolate chip starfish every few weeks. He doesn't seem to move around very fast so I can't imagine his metabolism is that fast. Are we talking about the same kind of chocolate chop starfish? The 3" variety?
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Crzyfshguy
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Posted: December 24 2009 at 12:39am |
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Yes... Lynn had one a little bigger than an inch and a half, and maybe it was less often than every 3 weeks. I do know for a fact it was eating 3-4 inch choc chips though, I sold them to him on several occasions.
They digest them slowly over the course of a couple weeks, the bigger the star the longer the process. They dont just gobble them up in one sitting.
Edited by Crzyfshguy - December 24 2009 at 12:40am
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Crzyfshguy
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Posted: December 24 2009 at 12:42am |
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Badfinger, my suggestion would be to wait until your asterina population is HUGE before you add a Harlequin, so that it takes quite awhile to run out.
That or maybe you could pick some up from other reefers, I know I have some in my tanks, but for some reason they have leveled off, for awhile they were going crazy.
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griffith
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Posted: December 24 2009 at 9:54am |
Yes I had one for a long time and loved it 
At first it to 3 weeks to eat a starfish - at the end it ate one every 1.5/2 weeks.
So fun to watch them flip the starfish over, etc.
Now you made me want another one.
Linn
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thefu
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Posted: December 24 2009 at 12:54pm |
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It amazes me that this tiny thing would eat something 10x it's mass every two weeks. I guess I will have to rent him out. :)
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Sculpin
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Posted: December 24 2009 at 1:20pm |
I had a pair of Harlequins for almost a year before they disappeared. I love em'! I had a massive asteria star problem and they wiped the tank clean in about a month. I feed them a chocolate chip leg every week and sometimes threw the whole thing in. I don't know what happened to them (maybe I didn't feed them enough?) but I still don't get asteria stars. They wiped them out completely.
Here is a pic of my old friends-
Micah
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Mike Savage
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Posted: December 24 2009 at 1:56pm |
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