Newbie: harlequin shrimps setup?

[b4life]

I'm thinking of setting up a 1.5ft cube marine tank with just LR, corals and 2 harlequin shrimps.

Anyone can suggest what kind of saltmix i should be using? Lightings?

Where can i get the above and LR?

Want to cycle the tank before putting in corals and harlequin shrimps.

[Underwater]

Why harlequin shrimps? You got to feed them with life starfish which is their only food. Are you prepare to sustain them with such diet?

[b4life]

Yap, blue starfish their usual diet. a bit cruel but they are a beauti...

Why harlequin shrimps? You got to feed them with life starfish which is their only food. Are you prepare to sustain them with such diet?

[Harlequinmania]

If you would wish to setup a dedicated species tank for a Harlequin shrimp, i would suggest the following;

- Salt mix brand ( Any brand should do, but choosing a good brand will helps )

- Filter : A good bio filter to take care of the waste especially from the star fish when they feed with a good skimmer.

- Parameter which you should take note, sg 1.023 ~ 1.025, PH 8.1 - 8.4, dKH 8 -12 and temperature ( ideally 26 - 28 degree )

- Lighting - since you would not be keeping any corals, maybe using a Atlantic or blue led would be enough since it will also prevent algae bloom.

- rock scaping, ideally you could keep it in pair with some hiding space . It would be very interesting to see the pair wresting the star fish .

If you want to increase the coloration of your Harlequin shrimp, feed them with blue lukin star . The Hawaii variant of the shrimp is most beautiful i feel due to it;s strong coloration.

Do remember to share some pics of your setup with us ..

[b4life]

Thanks bro for all the nice pointers, just came back from madpetz, but some live sand and salt mix. Will cycle my tank and do more reading... How do u suggest to lower the bio load?

[b4life]

Performing water cycle now... connected to Ehiem and resun... now was wondering how to take care of the bio load? Do i need a protein skimmer? Can dymax XP-30 do the trick? Or should i go for others?

[Harlequinmania]

Performing water cycle now... connected to Ehiem and resun... now was wondering how to take care of the bio load? Do i need a protein skimmer? Can dymax XP-30 do the trick? Or should i go for others?

regular small water change and keeping a low bio load should be enough to take care of it. Yes, skimmer is a must cos it can get messy when the starfish die inside the water. i am not sure about Dymax skimmer, and are you planing to run a chiller ? If not, try to opt for a good hang over skimmer instead since it doesn't give off extra heat into the water.

[b4life]

regular small water change and keeping a low bio load should be enough to take care of it. Yes, skimmer is a must cos it can get messy when the starfish die inside the water. i am not sure about Dymax skimmer, and are you planing to run a chiller ? If not, try to opt for a good hang over skimmer instead since it does not give off extra heat into the water.

No fish for sure. just Harlequin, rocks, some corals & of cos starfish... Ya running Resun 280 will keep the temp at 26 degrees (will that be ok for Harlequin?)

[Harlequinmania]

28 degree would be significant , but 26 will be better .

[b4life]

Can anyone suggest where i can get blue lukin star rather then coral farm? Prefer West side? Please advice...

[RushAct]

ML but you gotta call n check.