Feeding a brittle starfish
- Thread starter fire30b
- Start date
jrpage
Member
Originally posted by beaslbob
i feed my green brittle flake from a turkey baster each night. And a piece of raw shrimp each week.
Hey Bob
How do you like your green? I've read that they are the more aggresive of the brittles. Do you find that to be true? Is it in your reef?
Also, can you describe to me your flake-in-turkey-baster technique?
tee hee - I've been trying to use my hand (not working so good)
rhonda
yellowtail
Active Member
:scared: watch out for you slow fish they will eat them for a snack
wablondie98664
Active Member
i don't specifically feed my brittle star. i never se ehim, he hides in a piece of live rock all the time.
giraffemaster
Member
I had to get rid of my green brittle star after many chromis disappeared. My dad saw his try to eat his sailfin tang one night when he was watching tv. Luckily it escaped.
krishj39
Active Member
I have a 2 serpent stars and one black brittle, all are basically the same starfish, just a few different cosmetic differences. Only my red serpent is bold enough to be spot fed, I see the others maybe once every few weeks, and they hide if I try to spot feed them. Anyway, my red serpent comes running whenever it's feeding time. I feed the tank every 3rd day, and the serpent always gets a whole sand eel. But, it will eat just about anything. It enjoys scallops, shrimp, squid, krill, silversides. But, the sand eels are all my carnivore's and scavengers favorite.
saltymist
Member
I dont feed him specifically, but since he was the only inhabitant in the tank for a while, he was getting mysis shrimp. I just turn off my filters, and throw some frozen mysis shrimp in the tank, by the time it sunk to the bottom it was defrosted, and he would come running (literally, didnt think a starfish of anykind could scurry that fast), and find wherever the mysis shrimp had landed on the floor. He also seems to like Krill, since thats what Im putting in the tank now to try to get my new Lion fish to eat.
I've also fed him brine shrimp with a turkey baster, by gently blowing the brinshrimp mixed with water from the tank, gently to wherever he is and his arms just reach out and grab it.
I've also fed him brine shrimp with a turkey baster, by gently blowing the brinshrimp mixed with water from the tank, gently to wherever he is and his arms just reach out and grab it.
beaslbob
Well-Known Member
Originally posted by jrpage
Hey Bob
How do you like your green? I've read that they are the more aggresive of the brittles. Do you find that to be true? Is it in your reef?
Most don't consider my tank a reef. But is does have some corals and rocks in there. I ordered a cleaner crew over a year ago. To get the order up to $75.00 I added a brittle, green and bahama starfish. The brittle lasted about a month. The bahama i traded to my lfs for some food, when it attacked a pulsing xenia. the green just chills under the rocks all day. I understand they do attack fish and am worried. But so far he has left my fish including a yellow gobie alone.
Also, can you describe to me your flake-in-turkey-baster technique?
basically you put some flake food in a turkey baster, suck tank water in and shake. Then put the baster in the tank as squeeze it whereever you want. My fish (tang, coral beauty, clowns, and gobie) now recognize it as food and eagerly swim to the baster. I squirt some at a leg of the green starfish and the leg wraps around the tip of the baster to get the food. I start using the baster when I added an external sump/refug with an HOB overflow with skimmer box. The idea is to get the food where the fish are so they can eat it. Interesting and very effective.
tee hee - I've been trying to use my hand (not working so good)
rhonda
I to hand feed raw shrimp to my anemone, cbs, and star. As long as a peice gets within 1/2" or so of the star's leg he finds it nicely. I worry more about the CBS. LOL
HTH
krishj39
Active Member
Bob, you have an anenome in a tank that you wouldn't consider a reef tank? Hmm, that's unusual. If you have the conditions and light for an anenome, why don't you have more corals? I guess you can tell I'm so into reef tanks that I can't understand why someone wouldn't have one if they could. It seems unusual that someone would go through the troubles and expense of setting up a tank capable or the high demands of an anenome without also getting corals that are less demanding. Um, this is in no way a flame, btw, just curious.
beaslbob
Well-Known Member
Originally posted by krishj39
Bob, you have an anenome in a tank that you wouldn't consider a reef tank? Hmm, that's unusual. If you have the conditions and light for an anenome, why don't you have more corals? I guess you can tell I'm so into reef tanks that I can't understand why someone wouldn't have one if they could. It seems unusual that someone would go through the troubles and expense of setting up a tank capable or the high demands of an anenome without also getting corals that are less demanding. Um, this is in no way a flame, btw, just curious.
Understand. I guess my hesitation is the definition of a reef tank. I do have bout 1/2 dozen corals, some fish, lotsa macros and plants, and the anemone is for hosting the two clowns. What it is definately not is an invert only tank. Still a work in progress but things are comming along nicely. Just got calcium up over 400ppm for instance.
beaslbob
Well-Known Member
Originally posted by jrpage
Post another pic Bob!
here it is LOL:jumping: https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/101556/in-tank-back-wall-refugium
saltymist
Member
Well, after trying to coax my dwarf lion to eat a goldfish, he's just not interested, but the goldfish got to close to the brittlestar and it grabbed the goldfish, which got away (and is now sitting in a bowl waiting for another try with the lion). I also tried to coax the lion into eating a silverside, which he just ignored even though I did even try bumping it into his mouth a couple times.
But then i put the silverside near the brittlestar and he quickly grabbed hold of it, 5 minutes later and it was gone. "I can't believe he ate the whole thing", but it did.
So I think my new feeding regime for the brittle star maybe silversides since that seems to fill him up pretty well, compared to krill and brineshrimp.
Give it a try, I bet it goes for it immediately.
But then i put the silverside near the brittlestar and he quickly grabbed hold of it, 5 minutes later and it was gone. "I can't believe he ate the whole thing", but it did.
So I think my new feeding regime for the brittle star maybe silversides since that seems to fill him up pretty well, compared to krill and brineshrimp.
Give it a try, I bet it goes for it immediately.
benj2112
Member
I couldn't believe it. My Fancy brittle star (Ophiocoma sp...tan with dark tiger like stripes) ate my fancy red serpent sea star (Ophioderma sp.) !!!!
I was shocked. I almost never see my red serpent except if I wake up in the middle of the night catch a peek at him once a month or something.
I feed my brittle star (getting pretty big with 4 to 5 inch arms) a few pieces of krill during the week. I thought I was keeping him well fed!?!
I noticed my red serpent out before I had to go to work today and he only had ONE arm!!!
I just got home and my brittle star is sitting right where the red was and his central section has a huge bulging dome look to it. I think this is the second time he has done something like this. I suspected he at an Neon goby that like to perch near his hideout and suddenly disapeared one day.
I think this guy is going back to the LFS after this.
I was shocked. I almost never see my red serpent except if I wake up in the middle of the night catch a peek at him once a month or something.
I feed my brittle star (getting pretty big with 4 to 5 inch arms) a few pieces of krill during the week. I thought I was keeping him well fed!?!
I noticed my red serpent out before I had to go to work today and he only had ONE arm!!!
I just got home and my brittle star is sitting right where the red was and his central section has a huge bulging dome look to it. I think this is the second time he has done something like this. I suspected he at an Neon goby that like to perch near his hideout and suddenly disapeared one day.
I think this guy is going back to the LFS after this.