How long have you gone without seeing your brittle star?

[alyssia]

I seem to be missing a brittle star. I never see him during the day time but usually I can find him at night with a flashlight. I've had him for about six months but I have not been able to find him for about a week now. I also had an unexplained ammonia spike 4 or 5 days ago. I do NOT want to take out 90+ lbs of LR. If he did die, should I just assume my cleanup crew will take care of him?

 

[dea_mt]

if he is indeed dead your cleanup crew should take care of things

 

[fedukeford]

if he did die, he might be the reason for the ammonia spike , also they like to buy under rocks, so look very closely at the bottom of the rocks...

 

[ophiura]

Your clean up crew would have no problems cleaning it up. But then if it is a sizable tank, I wouldn't expect a dead brittlestar to have much of an impact on water quality.

 

[rujelus22]

There's times where I don't see mine for weeks at a time, he gets so buried in the live rock, he always come out eventually though.

 

[moatdaddy]

mine buried itself under the live rock, i could see it one day and the next it was gone. hit an amonia spike my squirt bit it, then all heck broke loose in the tank and it crashed i will never buy another bristle star, ever!! plus it didnt clean anything

 

[ophiura]

Originally Posted by moatdaddy
mine buried itself under the live rock, i could see it one day and the next it was gone. hit an amonia spike my squirt bit it, then all heck broke loose in the tank and it crashed i will never buy another bristle star, ever!! plus it didnt clean anything

It is often a misconception that they are "cleaners." What did you want it to clean? It generally is not likely to clean detritus or algae for sure. Maybe extra food.
I've got loads and loads of brittlestars in a small tank...had some die...never crashed anything...and am in the hobby just to keep them

I have 11 in my 45 now (including some very large one's) and would challenge anyone to find them all. So they can definitely hide well and for a long time.

 

[alyssia]

I found him! He's alive! :cheer:

 

[8x8nhl]

congrads

 

[sterling]

YEARS!! I bought a harlequin star, similar to a brittle star, several years ago, and I see it once every 8 months or so. Usually when I move something around and it's been living under it.

 

[waynewfish]

I am new to this, and all readings were normal with a 6 week old well established inherited tank. Got a reef package, and upon entry, within a day, noticed white spot on main upper body(fungus?) and slow three day deterioration. Second star went 10 days, healthy upon entry, lost no legs like first one, and slowly developed white spot, and took three days to expire. Nitrates at 2, but all else within range post death, did water change, and all fine now. Are they that difficult, or did I not do something correctly? package took 2.5 days to arive, and fed promptly, many emerlad crabs, snails and hermits too. All else is fine including shrimp...HELP? Do the crabs feed on weak ones if hungry? curious...Thanks Also, how critical are ledges for them..had many large rocks and live rock but no ledges/caves...

 

[seareef]

I have around 5 in my 150 gallon tank, I haven't seen them since the day I put them in. But every so often i'll see a leg sticking out of a rock....but never seen them fully out... they like to come out at night when were sleeping

 

[thomas712]

I know where mine hides! and a squirt or two of mysis in his rock hide out usually shows his arms flailing about.
So Oph ~ you got any feeding tips for these guys? I usually feed mine when the lights are out cause she's pretty much a nocturnal creature.
I chased her out one day couple of weeks ago just to check on her.

 

[ophiura]

Thomas - for that particular beast I have no recommendations. Mine is definitely no where near as active or aggressive as others, and doesn't tend to move much when the tank is fed. I am assuming the it is doing OK as I feed very heavily and that generates all sorts of feeding opportunities from detritus to microscopic critters, etc.
waynewfish - You may wish to start a new thread to get more answers. But, IMO, this is an acclimation shock situation. How did you acclimate and what are your water chems, in particular specific gravity?

 

[ctgretzky9]

I have 2 brittles, both just incredibly large...arm to arm id say almost a foot spread out!
Both are really awesome, and both like to have most of their arms sticking out from the rocks, neither is shy!
Pic of one of them from a month or so ago in his hizzy

 

[smallfry]

ctgretzky9: Thats what mine usually look like. All legs.. :hilarious

 

[ctgretzky9]

Originally Posted by smallfry
ctgretzky9: Thats what mine usually look like. All legs.. :hilarious

Yup! They do occassionally cruise the tank, especially at night.
I have a theory that they can trap pods...Ophiura...any comments?
here is why:
I notice at night, a lot of times, they "curl" a couple of the legs up in what lookes like a "spider web" right in the flow of water...i mean, I am sure they do it to catch anything that would float by....but its interesting they do it exclusively at night, when pods woul dbe around more vs. the day.
Any thoughts anyone on this behaviour?

 

[bigdads]

We also have a Brittle Star that from end to end is about a foot across - is this to big for a 46 gallon tank - it has really grown since we bought it 9 months ago

 

[ctgretzky9]

Originally Posted by bigdads
We also have a Brittle Star that from end to end is about a foot across - is this to big for a 46 gallon tank - it has really grown since we bought it 9 months ago

Brittle are one of the starfish you could get away with in a smaller tank such as yours. They are quite adept at capturing food...just make sure to feed the tank a variety of foods, so it has many foods to choose from.

 

[ophiura]

Originally Posted by ctgretzky9
Any thoughts anyone on this behaviour?

One of the feeding strategies employed by several species of brittlestars is filter feeding, which IMO the one shown does do. So you are correct