Asterina starfish

this listing is for  5 starfish ONLY - 

just order here  and ONLY  message us stating weekly sub please if thats what you want to do and there is a seperate lisitng if thats what you would like to do with freepost options

we will do the rest .. the subs are on a weekly rolling basis.  we set aside tanks for subscriptions only 



Harlequin shrimp will eat those pesky Asterina starfish. But they only eat starfish so if you don't have starfish for them to eat they could suffer

Do note a harlequin could eat a few in a day if it wanted to, so a HUGE and controlled population in another species tank may work but its extremely hard to pull off.

Bumblebee shrimp will eat them as they are a different type of harlequin shrimp.

AS you can see on my other listings i offer an effective mode of transport and materials that reduce postage costs.

On offer here is 5 or 10 and 20 Asterina starfish, various sizes but i will select as many adults as possible,

they are pretty hardy but i dispatch all my live stock Monday - wed and maybe Thursday on request.

the post is a bit problematic these days but that said they have lasted for days outside the marine environment .  I have also arranged with the post office direct into the local GPO so no delays at this end of the journey.

i do this for the love of the hobby and see my other marine items feedback ;) 

happy reefing and stay safe.

ps additional info on harlequin shrimp

What is a Harlequin shrimp?

First of all, if you never heard of these specimens, I should probably include what they are. Harlequin shrimp are small little shrimp that reach the size of around 1 1/2 to 2 inches in length. They appear as an odd, orchid mantis looking creature usually all white with several large blue, purple, pink, or red dots. They move around and preform a "Boxing" or "Dancing" motion as they hunt or scare off predators. They travel and form mated pairs for life. The most well know factor about these shrimp is the fact that they ONLY eat starfish... to be more specific, the tubefeet part of the starfish.

Diet

As you read above... they ONLY will eat starfish.. this may come to surprise but believe it or not this is true. Harlequin shrimp also hunt and eat them in a very horrific way as well. First, they find their prey using scent. They will roam around searching for the starfish.. once they finally find the starfish, they will walk on top of it to keep it scared and threatened.. thus immobilising it. Harlequins will then attempt to flip over the starfish to expose it's tubefeet.. the only part of the star they eat. They will then drag it to their lair, and for 1 to 2 weeks, slowly pick off the tubefeet and eat... what's even more scary is the fact the harlequin may actually harvest the algae the star eats and force feed it to keep it alive! This is a very disturbing and often the reason why we frown apon this animals.


Naturally, first thought in your mind is these animals must have an alternative as that's a bit ridiculous... well, surprisingly there is no alternative.. there are ways to get past the whole live starfish, and the expense, but everything has to be starfish.. it is recommended to check and make sure you have an LFS (local fish store) that can easily get a supply of stars in stock at any given time as this can get really really expensive..

Methods of feeding

There are a few ways to feed them... some more humane and less expensive than others. While there are probably more out there, only 4 come to mind.

First, there is the basic method.. just feed it a live star..

Second, this is the most commonly use method. This method is mainly used for the lack of expense but is frowned apon. Setting up a starfish species aquarium, filling it up with several starfish (mainly chocolate chip), and because of their ability to regenerate lost limbs, cut a leg off of one and rotate the process cutting the leg off another star until the first one's leg has grown back. Each star also needs separated to prevent cannibalism.

The third method is the most difficult to pull off... and shouldn't be attempted even if there are millions of them. Asterina stars  breeds rapidly. Do note a harlequin could eat 15 in a day if it wanted to.. so a HUGE and controlled population in another species tank may work but its extremely hard to pull off.

The last and final method, which I prefer, is a frozen starfish diet. One can buy a live starfish (unless a LFS supplies them) and freeze them... the only problem with this method is the starfish rots very very quickly. Remember how I said the harlys eat a star sometimes for up to 2 weeks? They would be lucky to get 2 days out of a frozen star... feeding them smaller pieces in a daily or every other day basis is recommended to prevent too much rotting and wasting starfish.

Do note that whatever method you use to feed them.. they only eat the tubefeet part, not the actual starfish leg. The only way to tell when they are truly finished eating is if they are walking around hunting for more. Remains will have to be manually removed as most CUC (Clean-up-crews) will not bother to clean up dead rotting starfish.