Harlequin Shrimp Feeding Schedule?

I'm thinking of getting a single Harlequin Shrimp & was wondering if owners can chime in on how much they need to be fed. I know they feed solely on starfish and I may go the "get a choc chip star, freeze, & feed bits at a time" route. The one I'm getting does eat Asterina stars so that is another option. I'm just not sure how often to feed & how much. Also concerned about decaying starfish matter if I do freeze and feed pieces.

Any insight would be most appreciated!

 

one leg per week... i have known of people keeping CC stars in their sump and cutting an arm off to feed while letting them live and regenerate their lost limbs... its free food after a while

 

Thanks Dingo, I would def have gone the "put the star in the sump" route but I don't have a sump unfortunately. Dang, a whole leg a week seems like so much, but I have heard they just eat all day like a starfish buffet.

 

yeah they will carry it around for hours and just feed all day long on it.
even if you put a whole alive one in, they will eat from the tips of the arms to the mouth and then start on the next arm until all arms are gone. they do this to keep the starfish alive this whole time while they are slowly feasting on it... smart little guys if you ask me

 

That sounds like too much work I gave our pair an entire starfish every 3 weeks or so. That's about how long it took them to eat the whole thing.

 

I fed mine one whole starfish every 2-3 weeks.

 

Thx for the extra advice everyone, hmmmm, I'm trying to gauge if it will be worth getting one. Is there a cheap resource to get stars from that are reef safe?

 

If there was, everybody would have harlequin shrimp

 

def, well the + is that the one I'm getting is eating the small asterina stars & I know some find them to be a nuisance. What I might end up doing is just getting a handful for free from my LFS everytime I go, that would be cool & should work I think.

 

Not all harlequins eat asterinas so be prepared to have to buy other starfish to feed it.