Harlequin shrimp compatibility?

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Stomatopod

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Sep 1, 2013
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Would a pair of harlequin shrimp be compatibile with the following animals in a 125 (and aware me if those animals aren't compatible with each other either) I don't have most of the animals on me, nor do I have the 125 set up yet. So this is just what I was planning to put in the 125 soft coral, zoanthid, mushroom tank when its running.

5 ocellarius clowns
1 sailfin tang
1 blue hippo tang
1 yellow watch goby
1 green banded goby
1 bangai cardinal (the current one I have ate one of my sexy shrimp...)
1 peppermint shrimp
1 fire shrimp
1 scarlet cleaner shrimp
1 BTA (will it sting or kill anything? Will it also nuke the tank?)
Lots of turbo, and nassarius snails.
Lots of hermits (blue leg, yellow-tip, scarlet reef, zebra mixed)
3 pom pom crabs
1 or more McCosker's Flasher Wrasse
a school of fish (either green chromis, red eye cardinals from diver's den, or more bangais)
2 scooter blennies
1 Green madarian
and possibly 1 or a pair of dragonface pipefish...

If the harlequins can't mix in there, what could they live with in a 6.6 gallon? Its a small tank gallon wise but as far as the shrimp are concerned since they don't need swimming space there is alot of room for them. I'll just have to give them room from the rock. How much water flow would I need in the 125? I have 4 powerheads (magnetic) and no idea where to put or use them, and all the other harlequin shrimp I had died in the intakes of powerheads and filters. :violin::rip:
 
What could I put in the 6.6 with them? Sexy shrimp and bumblebee shrimp are pretty and cool looking but they are not something that going to be fun or exciting mainly due to size like the harlys, plus wouldn't a bumble bee fight for the starfish as well?
 
Are you wanting a fish or another type of invert? Fish wise you could go with one of the smaller Goby's and maybe a Pistol Shrimp combo or Clown Goby's. You could also go with a Porcelain Crab, way cool lil critters.
 
I had harlequins years ago. Perfect nano tank inhabitants. Just them and some zoas, maybe some macro algae to make it pretty. :)

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I didn't want a mini-reef and huge investment (other than harlys). I was thinking about a sponge invert tank with rubble. I don't want any anemones but I was thinking.. 2 Anemone crabs, 1 pom pom crab, pair of harlys, 2 bumblebee shrimp, and 5 sexy shrimp.. Would all those mix, I have big ricordae shrooms (for some reason they are thriving under a single bulb 3 year old running flurecent that my 29 came with.) that my current sexy shrimp love, and I was wondering if the anemone crabs could live without their host and settle for the coral. Would the bumblebee shrimp fight for the starfish I heard they like tubefeet also?
 
Actually, could more than one pair be kept together if fed seperatly:?:. The dementions of the 6.6 tank are 24lx9hx7w bowfront.
 
I didn't want a mini-reef and huge investment (other than harlys). I was thinking about a sponge invert tank with rubble. I don't want any anemones but I was thinking.. 2 Anemone crabs, 1 pom pom crab, pair of harlys, 2 bumblebee shrimp, and 5 sexy shrimp.. Would all those mix, I have big ricordae shrooms (for some reason they are thriving under a single bulb 3 year old running flurecent that my 29 came with.) that my current sexy shrimp love, and I was wondering if the anemone crabs could live without their host and settle for the coral. Would the bumblebee shrimp fight for the starfish I heard they like tubefeet also?

I'm skipping on the anemone crabs apparently they do need an anemone.. now I'm just thinking that the bumblebee shrimp will fight for the starfish... personally what I would love above and beyond is a pair of picta and a pair of elegans but I doubt they could mix huh?
 
plus harlequins are so small, you'd never find them in a 120.... :) - and I have no idea on mixing shrimp in a 6.6 - every time I've tried to mix one thrived, the other died...shrimps are territorial!!

I think there is even an article out there somewhere that talks about it - maybe if I find it I will repost :)
 
Not sure how much you want to read into this quote, but I found this entire article interesting!!

Care should also be taken when adding different ornamental crustaceans to the same aquarium. All crustaceans are either carnivores or omnivores, and most feed on fellow crustaceans if the opportunity arises, even to the point of being cannibalistic. Even if two species are seen together in an aquarium, this does not mean that the combination will always work, especially if it is attempted in a smaller aquarium. It is not uncommon, for example, for aquarists to keep Lysmata amboinensis with Stenopus hispidus, but in some cases the latter can become aggressive and kill the smaller, less aggressive shrimp. In some cases, such as with some stenopids, other crustaceans are a preferred prey item, and they should not be kept together under any circumstances.

The full article:
Ornamental Crustaceans by Aaron Sewell - Reefkeeping.com
 
plus harlequins are so small, you'd never find them in a 120.... :) - and I have no idea on mixing shrimp in a 6.6 - every time I've tried to mix one thrived, the other died...shrimps are territorial!!

I think there is even an article out there somewhere that talks about it - maybe if I find it I will repost :)

I kept them in my 180 and they were a hit. Always came out within 2 minutes of feeding time. Lost them when adopted a mystery wrasse which wiped out my entire shrimp collection. Always at night and with no evidence remaining. Quite the stinker
 
Well harlequin shrimp need star fish to eat. I have a Blood red shrimp, a Cleaner shrimp, and 5 peppermint shrimp all living good together. But I have asteria star fish in my tank I can have a harlequin shrimp eat.
 
Well harlequin shrimp need star fish to eat. I have a Blood red shrimp, a Cleaner shrimp, and 5 peppermint shrimp all living good together. But I have asteria star fish in my tank I can have a harlequin shrimp eat.
That ain't going to last long... they can clear thousands and thousands in a few months I heard..

Anyway I think I made my decision! :whoo:I'm going to do a 6.6 mini reef. It will contain star polyps, yellow colony polyps, and ricordae shrooms! (thats if they will thrive under this light.. Aqualight Dual Lamp T5 HO Light Fixtures | thatpetplace.com). I will have a pair of harlys, 1 glass/venus anemone shrimp, 1 or 2 bumblebee shrimp, 3 or 5 sexy shrimp, a pair of porcelain crabs (not anemone crabs), and a pom pom crab. Does that all sound good? I might even throw in my green banded goby if its not overstocked. I want to do hawaiian harlequin shrimp but I heard they are very rare and hard to get ahold of.. so I might just go with the normal pictas.
 

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