harlequin shrimp

Yes, that is correct. Chocalate chip stars are probably most popular for this. I have not tried it but my understanding is that people buy 2. Keep one in the sump. Pop the other in the tank and switch them up every couple of weeks. The harlequin tries not to mortally injure the larger star so it keeps it alive for a pretty long time while it munches toe thingys, making sure to rotate the star so it can regenerate more "toes".

 

So if you let the starfish in would the shrimp eventually kill the starfish

 

Sorry i read your answer again and you said it. Can you have both the shrimp and the star in your tank and be pretty or would the shrimp alway try to eat the star. If i decide to have the shrimp are the star for feeding purpose only

 

Wow..I had no idea that these guys needed starfish to stay alive..I was starting to consider getting one. That's kind of cool though that you can just swap two stars out..sucks for them though haha

 

As long as the starfish is in the tank with the shrimp, the shrimp will try to eat it. When I had a pair, they would drag the starfish into their burrow and slowly eat away at it over a period of a week.