Brittle Stars - Evil?

vetshep

vetshep

New Member
Anyone ever heard of brittles getting so big - they hurt the other fish/inverts in the tank? I have 2 - the body of one is about 2 in (legs span about 12 in), the other is about half that size. They seem to be overtaking my tank - the little one - it is only 55gal. Slowly over the past several months my fish and some inverts (particularly bubble tip anem) have disappeared overnight. Everything is fine during the day - they eat well, look great, happy. But the next morning no where to be found - no remnants of them either. I feed various frozen foods daily and offer lettuce/bok choy. Sometime flake food if I am in a big hurry or someone else is feeding for me. brittles come out and eat during feeding time - so I know they are eating my food.
I cannot think of anything else that is happening. My tank is about 5 years up and running without any problems and no real change. Well established - water quality is always normal - water changes on time - supplement some - all the t's are crossed and i's dotted.
Any ideas? I love that my brittles have gotten so large but I think I might need to move them . . .
Thanks for any ideas.
 
veni vidi vici

veni vidi vici

Active Member
I have a rather large green brittle star and ive also had 2 fish that have disapeared in the past. My Lawnmower Blenny and a Diamond Goby,both of these fish i believe would be the most vulnerable to my GBS.Im not sure if that was the dimise of my fish but its possible.
 
woody189

woody189

Member
I think the green ones are supposed to be teh evil ones. Never had any stars though. (except 1 red general that lasted 1 week. his name was satan)
 
R

ryan80

Guest
A friend of mine got a big green brittle star. It ate one of his firefish and was an absolute menace. He got rid of it--they can get mean.
 
mech-a-nic

mech-a-nic

Member
I have a Brittle star that is a killer. He is a fuge dweller now. I watched him kill a Chromis in a nano cube. the chromis swam inbetween some low rocks and never came out the other side.
I looked in the hole and he was caught by the Starfish.
The brittle star is my sons fav so he was sentinced to life in the Fuge
 
windlasher

windlasher

Member
Originally Posted by vetshep
http:///forum/post/3061528
Anyone ever heard of brittles getting so big - they hurt the other fish/inverts in the tank? I have 2 - the body of one is about 2 in (legs span about 12 in), the other is about half that size. They seem to be overtaking my tank - the little one - it is only 55gal. Slowly over the past several months my fish and some inverts (particularly bubble tip anem) have disappeared overnight. Everything is fine during the day - they eat well, look great, happy. But the next morning no where to be found - no remnants of them either. I feed various frozen foods daily and offer lettuce/bok choy. Sometime flake food if I am in a big hurry or someone else is feeding for me. brittles come out and eat during feeding time - so I know they are eating my food.
I cannot think of anything else that is happening. My tank is about 5 years up and running without any problems and no real change. Well established - water quality is always normal - water changes on time - supplement some - all the t's are crossed and i's dotted.
Any ideas? I love that my brittles have gotten so large but I think I might need to move them . . .
Thanks for any ideas.
the green ones are nasty.
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
The green brittlestar is a KNOWN PREDATOR IN THE WILD.
However, I have seen every brittlestar in the hobby implicated - and I would say most people are wrong.
What fish have you lost? What are your parameters? There are a lot of reasons things die. We hope to believe they are eaten...most die, and are consumed by the clean up crew.,
A brittlestar that ate things would have a HUGE body (see attached image). This one ate a shrimp.
Not all species are predatory...most are opportunistic. I have 3 very large green brittlestars...and 7 other brittlestars in a 45 g tank. They shared it with other inverts and a sixline wrasse for 8 years. I can't accuse them of anything, but I fed VERY heavily and target fed the brittlestars.
They will not starve to death if they can eat something.,
That being said, most people never see their brittlestar catch something. They assume that it was the culprit. I have heard people say they ate their tangs, triggers, etc. Yes, some individuals will catch small fish, shrimp, etc- again they are known predators in the wild. But if you have not observed this directly, IMO, you may be missing another explanation by going for the brittlestar one. I definitely encourage more consideration. The hobby, though, is about risks. Brittlestars technically are a risk - as are crabs, shrimp and many other things we commonly keep. So it is a matter of where you draw that line. For me, I will always keep brittlestars as my priority because they are very cool.

 
vetshep

vetshep

New Member
Thanks for all the opinions. These 2 are not green brittles. They are the common brown/red ones - not sure of the scientific name, but bought them as plain brittles on SWF.com.
All of my water parameters are normal - even good. The things that are alive are doing great (mar.clown, y.tang, royal gramma, feather duster, crabs, snails, mushrooms, polyps) - no odd behavior, signs of stress everyone is eating well. The tank population had been unchanged for over 2 years without any problems. Then, every 3 - 6 wks something disappeared with no trace. Never saw my brittles with fat bodies - that said they hide in the rock work pretty tightly. Stick their arms out for food during feeding time. I only see their bodies when I surprise them first thing in the morning with the lights. I have lost several shrimp, crabs (not hermits, but others), bubble tip anem (tried to replace it twice -gone within 2 mos each time), pygmy angel, blackcap basslet, bicolor blenney. This has all happened slowly over the past year.
I am worried about them because they have grown leaps and bounds over the past year while everyone is staying the same size or disappearing.
I truly believe they are too big for the tank regardless if they are the culprit or not, but did not want to incriminate them wrongly. I was always taught they peaceful cleaners - maybe not once they are 1 ft across - so, maybe I'll move them some place safer and see if my tank population stabilizes.
Again, thanks for all your help. This was my first time to post- wonderful response. Will be back more often. Just don't trust my local reef store 100% - nice to get several responses to a single question.
THANKS!!!!
 
vetshep

vetshep

New Member
Ok - I reread Ophiura's response and now I have a new thought and would like to run it by ya'll.
If I kept them in the tank where they are - because they are cool and I have had them since they were so tiny, I "raised them up" - now they are bigger and maybe they need more food then they can scavenge. I have not target fed them - they just clean up whatever is around. So, if I target feed them and keep them full - they ought to be peaceful (assuming they were evil), right?
So, now - what and how do I target feed them? My maroon steals everything he can get. What if I fed them in the dark - early morning - when they are usually out and easy to find? Any other ideas? I am sad at the idea of moving them someplace else or even trading them into the fish store.
I am quite fond of them - even if they are a bit bad - but what if they are just hungry or not even the culprit . . .
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
Hi,
I would really be surprised, in particular on the bubble tip anemones. There are just so many things that can go wrong with those...
What I would add is this. A maroon clown and gramma can be two very aggressive fish when established. I personally would not recommend adding the blenny and the basslet with the gramma, so aggression is a possible issue there. I am often overly cautious though.
How soon after introduction did you lose these fish or inverts? That may also give us ideas.
IMO, the standard brittlestars sold apart from greens are Ophioderma (species appressum, rubicundum and cinerum) and Ophiocoma (echinata and wendtii). I would not consider these huge risks, to be honest. But it is possible.
There are no guarantees that spot feeding will stop predation if it is going on. However, there is no doubt that if they are hungry - anything is fair game. They are highly opportunistic animals, capable of pursuing several feeding modes. Though IME, Ophiocoma (which have clear arm spines) are fairly secretive during the day. Ophioderma (which don't have spines perpendicular to the arm, and so are frequently called serpenstars) can be a bit more outgoing. Still, behavior and feeding varies quite a lot.
I do several things. Typically I feed shrimp pellets near their crevice. You can use a bamboo skewer and take a small piece of shrimp or something and put it next to their arm - they should grab it. Or you can try feeding the shrimp pellets at night, since your fish may not be as active.
 
vetshep

vetshep

New Member
My 2 are the Ophiocoma sp. I confirmed it with SWF.com website. They have large black spines all along their arms. I know maroons can be aggressive - and mine is territorial, but usually was not badly behaved except right near the Bubble Anemone. I also know that you are are not supposed to mix a lot of gobies,blennies and basslet together - but I did not know this when I set up the tank. They had all been together and happy for about 2 yrs - when this started happening. I am going to try and target feed my stars - can't hurt. Then see what happens. Thanks!!
 
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