Matteo Posted June 23, 2020 Share Posted June 23, 2020 I have a pair of Harlequin shrimp who I can tell have done a great job eliminating stars. I still have many stars left but I also dont mind throwing more in. Anyone want to spend a few minutes each morning collecting theirs off their glass and giving them to me! I can pick up almost anywhere! Thanks! Otherwise I am going to be cutting up chocolate chip stars and freezing them in the next month or so.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertareef Posted June 23, 2020 Share Posted June 23, 2020 49 minutes ago, Matteo said: I have a pair of Harlequin shrimp who I can tell have done a great job eliminating stars. I still have many stars left but I also dont mind throwing more in. Anyone want to spend a few minutes each morning collecting theirs off their glass and giving them to me! I can pick up almost anywhere! Thanks! Otherwise I am going to be cutting up chocolate chip stars and freezing them in the next month or so.... I have a lot of them... maybe just bring the shrimp over once in a while for a little eating out vacation 😀 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obrien.david.j Posted June 23, 2020 Share Posted June 23, 2020 I knocked mine back last year with Harlequin shrimp too, and they're only now starting to resurface. Only find 1-2 per week now, which I rip out as soon as I spot them. If I had more, I'd offer to save them for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bevo5 Posted June 23, 2020 Share Posted June 23, 2020 Could always start cutting up stars yourself. That’s the next level. Or maybe you can find frozen? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matteo Posted June 23, 2020 Author Share Posted June 23, 2020 4 hours ago, albertareef said: I have a lot of them... maybe just bring the shrimp over once in a while for a little eating out vacation 😀 I prefer not to rent these babies out. Their sensitivity, rareness, and price makes me gonna baby the [language filter] out of them and hopefully breed for the community. If you don't mind, take a couple net fulls in the morning and throw in a Tupperware and I'll come grab them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matteo Posted June 23, 2020 Author Share Posted June 23, 2020 2 hours ago, Bevo5 said: Could always start cutting up stars yourself. That’s the next level. Or maybe you can find frozen? Lol read the whole post mate! 😜 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bevo5 Posted June 23, 2020 Share Posted June 23, 2020 1 minute ago, Matteo said: Lol read the whole post mate! 😜 Ah. Yeah didn’t see that last bit! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertareef Posted June 23, 2020 Share Posted June 23, 2020 13 minutes ago, Matteo said: I prefer not to rent these babies out. Their sensitivity, rareness, and price makes me gonna baby the [language filter] out of them and hopefully breed for the community. If you don't mind, take a couple net fulls in the morning and throw in a Tupperware and I'll come grab them! I might be able to hook you up with some over the weekend - will let you know. They aren't dense enough to just scoop so will need to hand pick. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matteo Posted June 24, 2020 Author Share Posted June 24, 2020 7 hours ago, albertareef said: I might be able to hook you up with some over the weekend - will let you know. They aren't dense enough to just scoop so will need to hand pick. let me know! Even if like 10 I am down! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MERKEY Posted June 24, 2020 Share Posted June 24, 2020 (edited) Hey Matteo, We have a pair also...once the female gets comfortable she will start to hold eggs every 20 days or so....Im sure you already know this hahah But my point is our famle will start to take down 1 small chocolate start every week and a half until she releases her eggs....so around 3 starts a month. We might be feeding too much but they are happy and produce about every 20 days for us. The male is so hilarious and cute. He will protect the female and also get her food if the star gets away hahah If we lived closer I'd give you some asterina stars as we started cultivating them in our big tank to feed the little tank that hold the harliquin pair. Post pics of the couple!! Edited June 24, 2020 by MERKEY 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matteo Posted June 24, 2020 Author Share Posted June 24, 2020 15 hours ago, Bevo5 said: 4 hours ago, MERKEY said: Hey Matteo, We have a pair also...once the female gets comfortable she will start to hold eggs every 20 days or so....Im sure you already know this hahah But my point is our famle will start to take down 1 small chocolate start every week and a half until she releases her eggs....so around 3 starts a month. We might be feeding too much but they are happy and produce about every 20 days for us. The male is so hilarious and cute. He will protect the female and also get her food if the star gets away hahah If we lived closer I'd give you some asterina stars as we started cultivating them in our big tank to feed the little tank that hold the harliquin pair. Post pics of the couple!! Boom! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MERKEY Posted June 24, 2020 Share Posted June 24, 2020 Oh she's still close to his size....Its so fun to watch her triple him in size! We are looking into culturing rotifers for the babies and also trying to make one of the nifty baby catchers....our manderins LOVE the babies when the female releases the eggs. Nice looking pair! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrBret Posted June 24, 2020 Share Posted June 24, 2020 I have a Vossen Larva trap if you ever wanted to use 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matteo Posted June 24, 2020 Author Share Posted June 24, 2020 2 hours ago, MERKEY said: Oh she's still close to his size....Its so fun to watch her triple him in size! We are looking into culturing rotifers for the babies and also trying to make one of the nifty baby catchers....our manderins LOVE the babies when the female releases the eggs. Nice looking pair! Okay couple questions! So the female will tripple in size? I noticed she is out more on the hunt than the male is. How do you feed your shrimp the choco stars? Do you cut a leg or bits off? I was gonna go the frozen route and buy one and cute them all into little pieces and feed occasionally plus donations from you homies! I have the gear to setup a culture tank, would it be easy to breed the crap out of these asternia starts in a 10g? Now about breeding, what do you do with the larve? how do you catch them and put in another tank? Will they only eat live pods and such as babies? once the babies hatch do they need the parents or can they be in their own tank? Any other ez pz star fish besides chocochip? It is only a 40 nuvo so if I threw a whole star in Idk about that... thanks! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matteo Posted June 24, 2020 Author Share Posted June 24, 2020 (edited) Edited June 24, 2020 by Matteo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MERKEY Posted June 24, 2020 Share Posted June 24, 2020 (edited) 2 hours ago, Matteo said: Okay couple questions! So the female will tripple in size? I noticed she is out more on the hunt than the male is. How do you feed your shrimp the choco stars? Do you cut a leg or bits off? I was gonna go the frozen route and buy one and cute them all into little pieces and feed occasionally plus donations from you homies! I have the gear to setup a culture tank, would it be easy to breed the crap out of these asternia starts in a 10g? Now about breeding, what do you do with the larve? how do you catch them and put in another tank? Will they only eat live pods and such as babies? once the babies hatch do they need the parents or can they be in their own tank? Any other ez pz star fish besides chocochip? It is only a 40 nuvo so if I threw a whole star in Idk about that... thanks! We stafted by cutting legs off and feeding 1 leg to each shrimp. They would finish the legs in about 2 days and come to the front of the tank like they wanted more or like they were hunting. We did a little more research and found that most harlys will keep the star alive until its gone. We started adding whole chocolates and without doubt the pair would eat the legs first and then the mouth. This takes about 1 week and a few days. If the female is in egg mode she feeds more. Our female tripled but we did get her small. She is easily now 2X the males size and most likely done growing around the 2" she is. As for asterina stars I would imagine they would reproduce in any established tank with algea growth....so for sure in a 10! There is a device sold on the web for around 80 bucks. Its called the volcano or something. It basically surrounds the female when she lays releases her eggs and the eggs naturally swim up to the collection are. The babies start on rotifers and phyto them move to asterina stars. They are so small when they start eating stars that around 10-20 can eat on the same asterina star lol Ours are in a 32 biocube with a pair of manderins so the babies get eaten very quickly hahah Ours also eat sand sifting stars...I just drop the stars in a separate area and let the hunt begin hahah Edited June 24, 2020 by MERKEY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matteo Posted June 24, 2020 Author Share Posted June 24, 2020 1 hour ago, MERKEY said: We stafted by cutting legs off and feeding 1 leg to each shrimp. They would finish the legs in about 2 days and come to the front of the tank like they wanted more or like they were hunting. We did a little more research and found that most harlys will keep the star alive until its gone. We started adding whole chocolates and without doubt the pair would eat the legs first and then the mouth. This takes about 1 week and a few days. If the female is in egg mode she feeds more. Our female tripled but we did get her small. She is easily now 2X the males size and most likely done growing around the 2" she is. As for asterina stars I would imagine they would reproduce in any established tank with algea growth....so for sure in a 10! There is a device sold on the web for around 80 bucks. Its called the volcano or something. It basically surrounds the female when she lays releases her eggs and the eggs naturally swim up to the collection are. The babies start on rotifers and phyto them move to asterina stars. They are so small when they start eating stars that around 10-20 can eat on the same asterina star lol Ours are in a 32 biocube with a pair of manderins so the babies get eaten very quickly hahah Ours also eat sand sifting stars...I just drop the stars in a separate area and let the hunt begin hahah So If I throw a chocolate chip star in we are thinking one a month for the pair? will the star harm my tank? I don't have another tank to keep it at the moment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CuttleFishandCoral Posted June 24, 2020 Share Posted June 24, 2020 I’m sure I can find u a few dozen next time u are in. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matteo Posted June 24, 2020 Author Share Posted June 24, 2020 7 minutes ago, CuttleFishandCoral said: I’m sure I can find u a few dozen next time u are in. Lol I can come today! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertareef Posted June 24, 2020 Share Posted June 24, 2020 16 hours ago, Matteo said: let me know! Even if like 10 I am down! OK - will do. I will let you know if I'm able to collect a batch. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdxmonkeyboy Posted June 24, 2020 Share Posted June 24, 2020 I think (hope) my harlequin is still at CF. They are savage eaters for sure!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matteo Posted June 24, 2020 Author Share Posted June 24, 2020 1 hour ago, CuttleFishandCoral said: I’m sure I can find u a few dozen next time u are in. Thanks again Jeff! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matteo Posted June 24, 2020 Author Share Posted June 24, 2020 I will happily take anyone's stars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MERKEY Posted June 24, 2020 Share Posted June 24, 2020 1 hour ago, Matteo said: So If I throw a chocolate chip star in we are thinking one a month for the pair? will the star harm my tank? I don't have another tank to keep it at the moment They don't let the star go once they find it. Mine usually find the staf witjing a few hours. I will say I have caught 1 star eating newly formed gsp before the shrimp found it but I didnt mind that hahaha 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matteo Posted June 25, 2020 Author Share Posted June 25, 2020 3 hours ago, MERKEY said: They don't let the star go once they find it. Mine usually find the staf witjing a few hours. I will say I have caught 1 star eating newly formed gsp before the shrimp found it but I didnt mind that hahaha sweeet. so is 1 star a month sufficient? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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