+Melissa Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 I stopped by the Dome last week, and when wandering upstairs saw a Harlequin shrimp that had been there since Christmas Eve. But he had been laying on his side the whole time. No one was sure what was wrong, so Hunter gave him to me. I didn't hope for much since he was on his side for over a week, his mate had been purchased already, and well, no one knew exactly what was up. The only thing that came to mind was maybe he was trying to molt, which Hunter agreed with, but it hadn't happened. After acclimating him for about an hour, I picked him out (still laying down) and put him next to a rock in the biocube. I started to realize part of the reason he was on his side. All his legs on his left side were broken and twisted in every direction. My husband thought maybe he would be ok, since we have rocks he can "lean" against. Sure enough the shrimp hung out under my leather, leaning against its base and standing as much upright as can be expected. I figured since my pep molts just fine, that he would be able too as well at some point, when he was comfortable. I woke up the following morning to find him as he was just emerging from his shell, laying on his side, and stretching out his legs. My pep got curious about the shell and came over and started picking it, and accidently touched the Harlequin, who immediately spooked and popped up and started walking around. I noticed one leg still funny looking but the others seemed to have repaired themselves with the molt. He's very active now and stays mostly in the front of the tank and isn't afraid of my hands when I have to go move stuff around due to the bubble tip relocating. I found a rather large (to me) Asterina star about the size of my thumbnail making its way into my powerhead, so I plucked him and flipped him over in front of the Harly who instantly started going to town on it. He was working on it for hours! I thought that they only ate the sucker feet off the stars,but no, he was eating it arm by arm. Even when he goes home, he comes back to the same spot and finds the star, and continues. I have read about some peoples Harlequins eating other food aside from Stars, does anyone else have information on that? I have no issues supplying CCs for him, once he clears out my Asterinas. Just to me it seems like they would need something else in addition, kinda like how we vary food for the fish. Also does anyone have a good way of supplying the CCs to them? Do you keep a lot of CCs in a sump and cut the legs off alternatley, or do you put a whole one in? ( I don't want to chance a whole one with corals though). Also, please add anything else about them that you would like to share. I would like to get another but don't know the right way to sex them and I don't want them to battle. Some sites say you can't sex them, others say females have blue legs/males have clear ones.. Mine has blue and white striped. Thanks for reading Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mFrame Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 Awesome story, I saw the one you're talking about at the Dome and thought it was a goner. Way to save it! Mine loved eating whole asterinas, which there was never a shortage of. I think that's all the food they need. No experience with feeding them chocolate chip starts (whole or in parts). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
August Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 a good person for advice would be Dave he seems to have had luck and knows alot about them... good luck way to save the poor shrimp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 I've had my Harly for over a year. All he eats are CC's (i'm sure he eats other stuff between meals but can't document it). Dave- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Melissa Posted January 7, 2011 Author Share Posted January 7, 2011 Dave, how long does it take him to eat the CCs? Do your water parameters change while he's eating one, since it takes them a while to finish one? Mike and August, thanks. I keep holding my breath when I look in the tank, because I've never had an such an expensive invert, ever lol. I'm scared I will do something wrong. I just want to make sure he gets whatever he needs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 Melissa, Robin feeds ours one leg a week. He will feed for a week. He gets the disc after he has eaten all the legs. They keep the animal alive during the process. I haven't seen water params change. One star fish last us about 6 weeks. Ours will roam the tank when he's hungery. Hop this helps. Dave- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 Oh I forgot we keep the CC in the sump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 Congradulations on the save! It is so rare that shrimp recover when they're that far gone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Melissa Posted January 18, 2011 Author Share Posted January 18, 2011 Ok, update time. After a second molt last week, I noticed new pinchers on the little guy, or gal as I am now thinking. She is continuing to eat very well, and I am starting to see more Asterinas with missing legs than before, and I always see her on one munching away. She doesn't go into hiding at all, which to me is nice, but always stayed in one of two places. Either the far right, back corner under the leather, or front and center, under her mushroom. I was up North over the weekend and found another one for a great deal, that I thought was male, so I took it home. After acclimating, I released him about a half inch away from the rescue, who "puffed" up (made herself as big as she could) for about 5 seconds. The new one just walked a little closer, and then started cleaning his antennae. She deflated and watched for a few minutes, still munching her star. After that, I kid you not, the she took the new one on a tour of the tank. I had never seen her in some of the areas they traveled to. Newest spot, on top of all the rocks. I turned on the lights at lunch today, and found them like in the photos below. Again, my camera broke, so my iPhone was all I had at the moment. They are never apart, and that alone made me happy. But they were "holding hands" and when I finally got my head between that tank and my 75, I realized they were sharing a starfish that the new one was carrying around. Anyhow. I believe I may have one Hymenocera picta and one Hymenocera elegans. Their colors are similar, though different. . The new one has a more brownish hue to it's spots, while the other is a much brighter purple. I will see if I can borrow a camera that can capture these guys. I think I have fallen in love. I found a really neat article relating to these guys while I have been trying to learn more about them. I hope it's ok to post it. http://www.chucksadd...quinshrimp.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesL Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 This is an awesome story that just keeps getting better! I really like these guys too, and would love to add them, but have two problems: 1) I have a blue linkia that is doing really well in my tank 2) Not sure how my wife would take to me buying starfish just to feed them Anywho, keep the updates coming! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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