Harlequin Shrimp Breeding Project

to keep them happy you have to feed them

I cut off an arm and fed it, well one of them grabbed it and took off towards their shell and the other just kinda sat there, so I fed the rest of it to the tank.


Here's one of them making off with the leg I cut


the rest of the star

thieves!!! hehehe

i like how they wave their little hands!

Anything new with these Glen?

no, I'm still waiting for my larva snagger. It shouldn't be much longer. Just trying to keep them fed and happy. They stay hidden a majority of the time.

Wow, that's neat to watch.

They hadn't ate a large starfish in over a month. I have the small white ones, but they've pretty much wiped them out now. I found the chip today, with the harlequins munching on it lol

So I did something this week I've never done before. I had someone give me a ton of shells and some dried starfish. I put a few of the larger shells in and then a dried 6" star. My harlequins ate it all. I dropped a few smaller ones that were in that group too, and they ate those! I didn't know they would eat dead ones. That's awesome!

Originally Posted by rgrking

So I did something this week I've never done before. I had someone give me a ton of shells and some dried starfish. I put a few of the larger shells in and then a dried 6" star. My harlequins ate it all. I dropped a few smaller ones that were in that group too, and they ate those! I didn't know they would eat dead ones. That's awesome!

Sweet!!! Is this possibly a cheaper way to feed them instead of buying live all the time? Will it be enough for them, or lack nutrition?

That is absolutely awesome news! I have always wondered if one could feed harlequins frozen starfish, but never even thought about dried ones. New business venture idea.......harlequin shrimp food. The nutrition should still be good, often the problem with picky animals is that they simply don't recognize potential food as food, so no attempt is even made to eat it. If they recognize dried starfish as food, that seems like a huge deal IMO.

I would think that there would be a massive difference between FREEZE-dried, which would mean that the animal was gut loaded and then dispatched to retain nutritional value and a 'dried out' starfish. Was this a purchased, prepared food?
I am only asking out of concern, I hope that didn't come out as snotty- did not mean it that way.

Originally Posted by Lowtechgal

I would think that there would be a massive difference between FREEZE-dried, which would mean that the animal was gut loaded and then dispatched to retain nutritional value and a 'dried out' starfish. Was this a purchased, prepared food?
I am only asking out of concern, I hope that didn't come out as snotty- did not mean it that way.

Good question Chris I was thinking the same thing.

A difference, sure. But I doubt it's a MASSIVE difference. Only thing that might happen is a couple of vitamins diminishing.

I've asked around about the nutritional value, but haven't gotten a response. I guess ill have to use my Google fu to find out.

thats crazy!!! did it take them some time until the starfish got squishy again?

no it dehydrated really fast. I would say within 10-15 min. I just fed another chocolate chip star. They came running again lol.

Have then release any larvae yet? I know you where waiting on the larvae snagger but didn't see anything about releasing any,

I've caught larvae once when I wasn't expecting them. I have the snagger, but haven't been putting it up daily like I'd like to.