ShaunW

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Check out one of my two new Harlequin shrimp in action. These are such cool shrimp, but they are NOT for the faint of heart, :D :tongue1: .

First additon! Just a little confused. WHERE DA FOOD AT?
harlequin1.1.jpg


BUT, it took no time for them to feel right at home, :D . You can see a tasty morsal (umm, I mean starfish in the foreground) :sgrin:!

harlequin2.jpg


The shrimp taking a closer inspection, wondering how tasty this species of starfish may be? :givebeer:

harlequin3.jpg


Passing it by, on the move for other "bites".

harlequin4.jpg
 

ShaunW

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Maybe this starfish needs another pass? and taste.

harlequin5.jpg


:inlove: Inspection and removal.

harlequin6.jpg


And in the mouth it goes! The makings of a beautiful relationship, ;) :birthday:

harlequin7.jpg


The PORTRAIT OF A HAPPY SHRIMP! :D

harlequin8.jpg
 

ShaunW

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Shaun, great action pix. Thanks for the kudos.

Is that the mother of all Harlequins'? Or the little guy? Tough to get perspective.

Russ
Russ, that's the big guy. The little one is just as cool, :birthday: . These guys should have plenty of food for the next year, since my glass has at least 100 starfish on it as I type. The rocks are covered.
 

loismustdie

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Shaun, I've found that mine never went after brittle stars or serpant stars. In a tank together for over 2 years. You may have different results.
 

ShaunW

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Shaun, I've found that mine never went after brittle stars or serpant stars. In a tank together for over 2 years. You may have different results.
:scratch: I guess I will find out. I have large numbers of the small brittle stars, I sure hope they go after them. As for the big serpant star I was going to save it from the carnage anyway. Chris what do you feed yours and how often?
 

loismustdie

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Mine ate the small stars all over the tank like you've got. I don't think they did anything to curb my mini-brittle star population. I really just don't think brittle stars are part of their diet. I was able to get a couple of atlantic stars and fed them one of their legs a week. At one time I had no food for them and I shamefully bought them a chocolate chip star to eat.
Mine were a mated pair and readily spawned in my tank. I was never successful at raising the fry. I decided to give them to someone who was much more serious and better equipped than me to breed them. With the star fish problem on the great barrier reef, it would be better to leave as many as possible to deal with them in the wild and try to get a breeding program here. I believe he has yet to have a successful spawn. :(
The mini stars you've got should last them a while. As you start feeding them larger starfish, you will notice that they don't eat the entire starfish. You'll see they leave behind a pile of what looks like gravel when they are done, this is the starfish bones. They only eat the tissue. Also what you will notice when they are dealing with larger stars is that there won't be a fight or anything. They seem to have a toxin in their 2 front most feet that they will poke the star with and basically paralyze the star.
Beautiful and very interesting animals though. Good luck with them.
 
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