Brittls Star

[davidandpam]

I have a brittle star that climbs into the intake basket of my protein skimmer and goes to the bottom under the pump motor. I assume he should not be in there and in trying to remove him this morning had one of his legs come off very easily.Tonight I thought I should remove the seperated leg that was near where I had left it. Upon picking it up I found it was moving like it was still alive. Could it be??
Next question, should I worry about the starfish when it goes into the protein skimmer intake? This was the third time it has happened and I am beginning to think he likes it there annd will come back out when he wants.
The tank is 125 gallons with much rock, a purple tank, clown and anenime, anf flame angel.

 

[ophiura]

Well...they don't call them "brittlestar" for nothing

Picking them up by an arm is not a good idea. "thinking" they are being attacked, their instinct is to drop the arm. It will not regrow anything though it will continue to move, and "confuse" the attacker. So the arm can be removed.
As for the brittlestar. Well, sometimes they want to get into an area of good flow. It is hard for me to picture exactly where the animal is. But often they will sit in areas of water movement - such as near powerheads - and filter stuff from the water.
How long have you had it, and what do you feed it?

 

[davidandpam]

I have probably had the brittle starfish about a year. He stays hidden and I assume he feeds on whatever he finds on the bottom which is not much. However he has grown from about 3 inches tip to tip to nearer 10 or so. I see it maybe once a month.

 

[ophiura]

What color is this brittlestar? Be forewarned, some are known predators...and without additional food (or sometimes even with additional food) they may feast on other critters in the tank. They can adapt to several methods of acquiring food.