Green Brittle is doing something to my zoanthoids!!!
- Thread starter keonia
- Start date
murph145
Active Member
i wouldnt let it sit on your stars.... i have 3 starfish... a red serpent a knobby and blue linkia... anyways none sit ontop of my zoo's but i used to have a chocolate chip when i first getting corals and he ate half my zoo's so i would knock him off and you can usually see if there stomach is expelled meaning he is munching down on your zoo's .... watch carefully and if he is take him back.~~~!!!
promisetbg
Active Member
Green brittles are predatory!
Better keep him well fed,or he may eat your fish.
Better keep him well fed,or he may eat your fish.
ophiura
Active Member
Green brittlestars are known predators of things like shrimp, small fish and potentiall snails. This is an INDIVIDUAL behavior and may not happen with all greens (I have 3 and cannot report this behavior - but the tank is HEAVILY fed).
But brittlestars will commonly move over rocks, and find a nice place to hang out. Perhaps it is eating some detritus and things...IMO, it is not extremely likely that it is eating the zoanthids.
It should be WELL FED. If deprived of food, and being extremely opportunistic (and adaptable in behavior), these stars CAN and WILL use nearly whatever means they can to get food.
FWIW, brittlestars do not expel their stomach to eat - this is only true of certain types of seastars, but is not true of brittlestars. They grab things with their arms or tube feet and pass it to the mouth.
But brittlestars will commonly move over rocks, and find a nice place to hang out. Perhaps it is eating some detritus and things...IMO, it is not extremely likely that it is eating the zoanthids.
It should be WELL FED. If deprived of food, and being extremely opportunistic (and adaptable in behavior), these stars CAN and WILL use nearly whatever means they can to get food.
FWIW, brittlestars do not expel their stomach to eat - this is only true of certain types of seastars, but is not true of brittlestars. They grab things with their arms or tube feet and pass it to the mouth.
melkor
New Member
Just for the fun of it, one of these green brittles was kept in a species only tank.
A big one too. Once, a tang jumped into my overflow and got caught in the suction where he died. On a whim, I threw his body (a 7" naso) to the green brittle.
He jumped him. Opening ?vent? holes as it seemed, he put the whole fish into his small top, where he then bulged to the point of what I thought was breaking. Trying to escape back into the LR was impossible.
Since seeing this, it is clear evidence that they eat fish, and it implies that if they are sneaky enough - that they could catch a live or sleeping one too.
A big one too. Once, a tang jumped into my overflow and got caught in the suction where he died. On a whim, I threw his body (a 7" naso) to the green brittle.
He jumped him. Opening ?vent? holes as it seemed, he put the whole fish into his small top, where he then bulged to the point of what I thought was breaking. Trying to escape back into the LR was impossible.
Since seeing this, it is clear evidence that they eat fish, and it implies that if they are sneaky enough - that they could catch a live or sleeping one too.
ophiura
Active Member
There is no doubt or question about it I'm afraid. It has been documented in the wild - probably before it was well known in the hobby. However, as you note they are also very quick to consume a dead fish..and I reckon they are often caught with the "evidence" rather than actually killing it. People, naturally, are less willing to admit the fish died, and more (desperate) to believe it was perfectly healthy and killed. So distilling the actual cases of predation (IMO are limited to smaller fish, shrimp) to the cleaning activities (IMO, larger fish, perhaps other inverts) is difficult to do. But no doubt, they have this potential, and care must be taken not to simply let them scavenge. Regardless, the goal is to grow large and reproduce. Not aware that they have lost this battle, they will most likely take advantage of feeding opportunities as the present themselves in many cases.
Quite remarkable, considering they have no brain the we can identify.
Quite remarkable, considering they have no brain the we can identify.
mudplayerx
Active Member
My green brittle gets really excited whenever I feed anything in the tank, so I feed him a good serving of seafood every 3 days.