brittle star invert killer?

[saltn00b]

i was about to order a big invert package from this site, and i realized it came with some brittle stars . i have been told by LFS and have seen britle stars will actively hunt down and kill certain inverts. is this true? are my hermits or snails or shrimps safe????

 

[alyssia]

Brittle star worms? Or a brittle star? I've never heard of brittle star worms

 

[saltn00b]

woops i meant just the stars, i was confusing myself with bristle worms.

 

[alyssia]

I have a brown brittle star that has never killed anything, but I do spot feed him 3 times a week. I have heard that green brittles are more likely to be predatory (as opposed to the other colors).

 

[fishinfool]

i have a brittle star in my tank with snails and hermits and hes never messd with them just cleans up any scraps the fish dont eat verry good at it to.

 

[fishinfool]

he is a good star to and one of the best cleaners i got

 

[alyssia]

Is that a serpant star? Does it come out often? I hardly ever see my brittle, unless I use a flashlight at night.

 

[tommygun8]

if i was to get a brittle star would he try to get my cc star

 

[scriggle]

I had a large (16"+ legspan) black banded brittle star that killed my green clown goby, but I never spot fed him, so it's probably my own fault. more than likely you would get a small one in your order that would

be OK.

 

[alyssia]

Originally Posted by Scriggle
I had a large (16"+ legspan) black banded brittle star that killed my green clown goby, but I never spot fed him, so it's probably my own fault. more than likely you would get a small one in your order that would

be OK.

I agree with scriggle. I also don't think he will bother your CC star at all.

 

[tommygun8]

ok caues i was thinking about geting one

 

[ophiura]

The green brittlestar is a known predator in the wild - certainly a risk but by no means certain to eat anything. Others are hit or miss, IMO, and feeding won't always help. I don't have any issues to report personally, and I have 11 brittlestars.
There is no difference, BTW, between brittlestars and serpentstars.
And no, it is not a threat to the chocolate chip star for sure.

 

[tommygun8]

ok kool i am going to get one then
and ophiura how many tanks do u have and how big are they jw.....

 

[mrdc]

I have two brittle stars and they will eat dead animals (had a clam die and the brittle stars had themself a buffet) but I have never seen them hurt anything that was alive. I have seen the star rub one of it's arms over snails but it just moves on.

 

[saltn00b]

cool thanks for the input all ^^

 

[ophiura]

My only salt tank is a 45g tank, and I would challenge anyone to find all the large brittlestars in there

 

[hottie79]

I think i have seen my brittle star once, and thats when I put him in the tank after 5 hours of acclimation (hope that wasnt overkill). All i ever see now is an arm waving around. I thought he would eat the peppermint shrimp, but he likes the mysis I feed him and doesnt reallys eem to eat anything else.

 

[blesum]

I have about 20 in my 120-gallon. Sometimes they come out even in daytime and streak across the bottom. Sometimes they'll come part of the way out from their rocks to grab something. Most of the time they just wave their arms around from under their rocks.
Never fed them. Maybe I should? I let them eat whatever they can find. Snails and hermit crabs have not had any issues. I did see one pull a Spanish Shawl in once, but it escaped from the lair about 15 seconds later unharmed.
Yesterday a dead crawdad got away from my calico bass. Two brittle stars pulled it in and under their rock. I'm worried about a spike from a decaying corpse that's now under the rock. I hope the brittle stars eat the whole mess. Will they?
-Paul

 

[saltn00b]

i think if something found it , it will be eaten very quickly

 

[tommygun8]

yeah i am pretty sure they will all eat it if them 2 dont ...