Brittle Star...fish & shrimp eater???

[scuba-raru]

Will brittle stars eat peppermint shrimp, sallys & sand sifter stars??
I have a 10gal tank, started about 2mo. ago. I put in a sand sifter star, brittle star, 2 pep shrimp, 2 sallys...no fish....3 weeks later only my brittle star is left...and is suspiciously healthy looking.
All others have "disapeared"....eaten im assuming. One day my sand-sifter star had an arm missing and there were green guts coming out...Is my brittle star responsible
Will he eat any fish I put in the tank as well? (small firefish and gobys im thinking)
Thanks for the help...also whats the best sand sifting organism I can put in my size tank?

 

[krazekajin]

what color brittle star? I have heard that the green bristle star likes to eat other animals. i have a black bristle star and it has done great in my reef. and I have a brown and black serpent star that has not eaten anything it should not have.

 

[scuba-raru]

its brown and black...

 

[krazekajin]

I don't know about that one. Sorry. Hopefully someone else can shed some light.
Is it possible that they have been dying on thier own and the bristle star is just cleaning up (which is thier natural job)? I would start checking levels and see if there is not another explaination as to what is going on.

 

[sinner's girl]

My black/brown brittle never ate anything that wasn't already dead. I've heard that green one will and SWF sent me green one (the first time I got the brown one...) I was/am ticked. But I don't have fish at the moment.
However, are you feeding your brittle star? If not, you can't blame him for eatting the other creatures.
Check your water levels, esp any change in sg.
I have a 10gal tank, started about 2mo. ago. I
YOur tank is young to have a brittle, and brittles get BIG. Mine, before an inaccuret hydrometer killed him with a sg swing, had legs longer than 6 inches...though he was five years old at the time.

 

[maxalmon]

You might want to consider taking the sand sifter back to the LFS, they need a seasoned tank, otherwise they slowly starve to death from what I've learned

 

[scuba-raru]

Thanks for the info guys, its possible that he's just cleaning up. He looks too cool for me to take him back to the FS...i'd like to keep him. I feed him the frozen brine/spirulina cubes and he loves them. I'll check my levels and put in a fish and keep an eye on him.
The sand sifter disapeared shortly after his wound and I havent seen him since, he may be dead or he may be deep in the sandbed recovering...but that was like 2 wks ago that he lost the arm.
Any suggestions as to other sand sifting organisms I can put in the tank?
Thanks

 

[j-bird]

He could deffinitely eat the other guys. Especially the peppermint, the sally's are usually pretty quick. How big is he?

 

[alyssia]

Originally Posted by maxalmon
You might want to consider taking the sand sifter back to the LFS, they need a seasoned tank, otherwise they slowly starve to death from what I've learned

Correct. Unless you have a huge,very mature tank the sand sifter will starve to death.

 

[scuba-raru]

hes pretty big, body is about the size of a quarter, arms are 4" long...he just looks so fast and motile, I just know he could take out whatever he wanted...I want to put in a cleaner shrimp but I dont feel like buying my star a twenty dollar lunch if you know what I mean...Much as it pains me, he may have to go...