cliffrouse11bas
Active Member
Are brittlestars good for a reef tank yes or no???
Brittlestars?
- Thread starter cliffrouse11bas
- Start date
E
eight2178
Guest
everyone i have heard from says yes, they are 'reef safe', but that doesnt mean they wont eat other things....my brittle ate a few damsels i had....keep an eye on it...you may have to supplement his feeding, a lot of people recommend silver sides....
ophiura
Active Member
Brittlestars (same as serpents stars) are simply the greatest animals you can possible put in a tank.
Why anyone would keep anything else, I don't know.
I am not in any way biased. Slightly insane (since I have studied these beasts for 10+ years), but still functional.
STAY THEE AWAY FROM THE GREEN
I would say most people do not have trouble, but some do, so why risk it? They are known predators in the wild, so are not doing anything unnatural.
The red serpent is beautiful, but very delicate.
For all of these guys, use a slow drip acclimation, at least 4+ hours.
Spot feed all brittle/serpent stars, even though they are good at scavenging for things. Anything meaty will do, from silversides, squid and krill to something simply like shrimp pellets, etc.
I don't know that they are "good" for a tank, but they are very very common on coral reefs. You probably already have quite a few if you have LR.
For all you could possibly want to know, visit my website
Currently being updated, and possibly user-unfriendly
Why anyone would keep anything else, I don't know.
I am not in any way biased. Slightly insane (since I have studied these beasts for 10+ years), but still functional.
STAY THEE AWAY FROM THE GREEN
I would say most people do not have trouble, but some do, so why risk it? They are known predators in the wild, so are not doing anything unnatural.
The red serpent is beautiful, but very delicate.
For all of these guys, use a slow drip acclimation, at least 4+ hours.
Spot feed all brittle/serpent stars, even though they are good at scavenging for things. Anything meaty will do, from silversides, squid and krill to something simply like shrimp pellets, etc.
I don't know that they are "good" for a tank, but they are very very common on coral reefs. You probably already have quite a few if you have LR.
For all you could possibly want to know, visit my website
Currently being updated, and possibly user-unfriendly 
ophiura
Active Member
Yeah, I know.
I have a green and 4 other large brittle/serpents in a 15 g and have never had anything go missing. In fact, I had a dying snail in there that I left as a 'treat' and it took more than a day for someone to do anything about it I have a 7 year old striped damsel in there that I would love someone to "get" so that I can put something more interesting in there...but no "luck" so far. And I don't even feed these guys that often (or the tank at all, the damsel being forced to "live off the land"). Once, I tried feeding them two days in a row, and they acted really lethargic and just dropped the shrimp pellets on the rocks as if it was the day after Thanksgiving. I have a yellow (very closely related to, if not the same species as the green) who is starving to death. I've tried giving him everything I can think of, as often as the tank will allow, removed him from the tank into a calmer one, etc. He used to eat a lot so I think there may be some sort of parasite involved. Just a thought though. At the same time, one of my former pickiest (who also dropped 4 arms at once, yikes) has become a little pigglet. Must be how I talk to him (really probably a her).
But, the fact remains that every week or so someone writes in panic about their green brittle eating something (though they don't really know if it was alive or dead)...but people rant about the green. So, it is best simply to not recommend them, cool and beautiful as they may be.
I have a green and 4 other large brittle/serpents in a 15 g and have never had anything go missing. In fact, I had a dying snail in there that I left as a 'treat' and it took more than a day for someone to do anything about it
I have a 7 year old striped damsel in there that I would love someone to "get" so that I can put something more interesting in there...but no "luck" so far. And I don't even feed these guys that often (or the tank at all, the damsel being forced to "live off the land"). Once, I tried feeding them two days in a row, and they acted really lethargic and just dropped the shrimp pellets on the rocks as if it was the day after Thanksgiving. I have a yellow (very closely related to, if not the same species as the green) who is starving to death. I've tried giving him everything I can think of, as often as the tank will allow, removed him from the tank into a calmer one, etc. He used to eat a lot so I think there may be some sort of parasite involved. Just a thought though. At the same time, one of my former pickiest (who also dropped 4 arms at once, yikes) has become a little pigglet. Must be how I talk to him (really probably a her).But, the fact remains that every week or so someone writes in panic about their green brittle eating something (though they don't really know if it was alive or dead)...but people rant about the green. So, it is best simply to not recommend them, cool and beautiful as they may be.