brittle startfish

[fefo23]

It's anyone have a bad expierinece with this starfish. My point is the i'm thinking to order one of the reef packages from swf.com and they have in the package 2 of those, for what i read, they eat waterver they find around. Please can somewone point me in the right direction. thanks for your help

 

[newbie 67]

I have a red brittle in a 35 with no problems. It dose not come out alot but I like it. I feed mine shrimp pellets. Hope this helps.

 

[fefo23]

WHAT fish do you have in your tank, and tanks

 

[newbie 67]

damsels,royal gramma, engenier goby and a clown

 

[sepulatian]

Stars need a higher SG than fish (1.025-1.026) and longer acclimation time (4-5+hrs) How old is your system? If it is under 8 months old then you should wait.

 

[fefo23]

The tank is sicle prosses, but after I tinking to get the reef packages for swf.com and they have as part of it 2 brittle starfish

 

[ophiura]

I would personally like to see the tank mature a bit more. Definitely watch specific gravity.
Also, avoid the green brittlestar, a known predator. IMO, also make an effort to directly feed these animals now and then.

 

[blennyboy]

If you are completely serious about keeping all of your fish alive, do not get a brittle star. If they are not hand-fed two or three times a day, they will devour your fish and invertibrates.(my green brittle star devoured 3 of my fish because it was hungry. I fed my brittle star 2 times a day.)

 

[ophiura]

Originally Posted by BlennyBoy
If you are completely serious about keeping all of your fish alive, do not get a brittle star. If they are not hand-fed two or three times a day, they will devour your fish and invertibrates.

This is simply not true, I am happy to say.
There are well over 2000 species of brittlestars and a couple of dozen show up in the hobby. ONE is a known predator in the wild - the green brittlestar Ophiarachna incrassata.
I have 3 very large green brittlestars, and I can't fault them for eating anything. I lost a clown goby and lawnmower blenny - both within 24 hours of intro...died, or killed? Well, our nature prefers to accept they were healthy and killed, when they are more likely to have died.
There ARE actual cases of this species of brittlestar eating fish and shrimp, don't get me wrong. But it is not a GENERALIZATION to be made about all individuals, and all SPECIES of brittlestars.
Many species are simply not capable of doing anything of the sort. And the predation even in the green brittlestar is an individual trait. There is a RISK with anything we keep - many crabs, anemones, etc also pose a risk.
But for most other species of brittlestars, this risk is virtually non-existant. I don't know what species you are getting. I wouldn't get a green, but otherwise, I don't see an issue.

 

[smork81]

I have had a green brittle star for a few months now. Never have I personally seen it attack an inhabitant of my tank. The star is almost 12 inches spread tip to tip. It will however take a 3 inch frozen silverside and devour it in seconds. Like the lady said above..Don't deem these guys BAD for inquiring minds.

 

[alyssia]

Originally Posted by BlennyBoy
If you are completely serious about keeping all of your fish alive, do not get a brittle star. If they are not hand-fed two or three times a day, they will devour your fish and invertibrates.
Untrue.

 

[aztec reef]

i have to agree with ophiura on this. on letting the tank mature a bit. and also on the fact of staying away from the GREEN ones, i tryed that star fish in my reef and it eat 2 of my fish the first week. so guess what i did? flushed it. jk. i took it back to the lfs and got another fish to replace the infantry.

 

[blennyboy]

Originally Posted by ophiura
This is simply not true, I am happy to say.
There are well over 2000 species of brittlestars and a couple of dozen show up in the hobby. ONE is a known predator in the wild - the green brittlestar Ophiarachna incrassata.
I have 3 very large green brittlestars, and I can't fault them for eating anything. I lost a clown goby and lawnmower blenny - both within 24 hours of intro...died, or killed? Well, our nature prefers to accept they were healthy and killed, when they are more likely to have died.
There ARE actual cases of this species of brittlestar eating fish and shrimp, don't get me wrong. But it is not a GENERALIZATION to be made about all individuals, and all SPECIES of brittlestars.
Many species are simply not capable of doing anything of the sort. And the predation even in the green brittlestar is an individual trait. There is a RISK with anything we keep - many crabs, anemones, etc also pose a risk.
But for most other species of brittlestars, this risk is virtually non-existant. I don't know what species you are getting. I wouldn't get a green, but otherwise, I don't see an issue.
BlennyBoy: I didn't mean brittle stars in general, but my green brittle star's a hog, and as you said, he'll eat ANYTHING.