okay friggin serpent starfish

T

tygerfifteen

Guest
so does this thing come out?
I bought it three days ago adn it hasn't come out yet?
I feed my fish (yellow tang tomato clown, 4 zebra crabs), twice a day marine flake or mysis shrimp or krill, should i leave something on the bottom for the starfish or what?
I'm thinking of returning it if it doesn't come out on a regular basis and getting a different star, any suggestions?
 
T

tygerfifteen

Guest
soryy for the trouble but i am a newb
target feed?
silversides?
thankx again
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
It will never stay (fully) out in the open during the day. Maybe they will hang on the rocks a bit, but they are quick to flee. Fish like to eat them. Healthy brittlestars do not sit out in the open.
If you are interested in things that will always be on display, I don't recommend keeping animals.
Whatever you do, if you go for a different starfish, please do A LOT of research before you buy them.
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
BTW, most brittlestars will eat just about anything. Shrimp pellets, krill, squid, silversides...but mine prefer the shrimp pellets to just about anything. They are a lot easier to feed too. I agree to never let them simply scavenge.
 
S

starfishjackedme

Guest
They mainly come out at night. I have one that is 16" across. I feed him a piece of raw shrimp every 2-3 days. He will take it right out of my hands, or i give it to him on a stretched out coat hanger. You can tell they are hungry when you feed the fish and you can see his arms come out and wave around.
 
jillian ayers

jillian ayers

Member
At the lfs I work at, the serpent star (who is HUGE) NEVER comes out, except for one time, when it just sat there in the open all day and moved around a little bit, but never headed for the rock. I think maybe it was hungry, but my boss just kinda blew me off when I told him, so...? :confused:
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
Our tanks are packed full of things that scavenge, and these animals may not get enough to eat. Considering many can and will catch something if they get too hungry, I think it best to feed them to try and discourage this (though it doesn't always work). We have a responsibility to make sure animals we keep get enough food, and a few bits of flake food is generally not very much.
 
bandcamp

bandcamp

Member
we have a 460 gal reef tank, we're supposed to have a few serpent stars, didn't see one until yesterday - our lunare wrasse caught it and decided to munch on it all day
the 2 dominos and the chromis(?) tried to get a piece of it, but i don't think they had any luck
this tank is in our office
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
Yes, lunare wrasse are not reef safe and are major predators of any type of seastar or brittlestar, as well as snails, hermits, shrimp, etc.
 
nerdy

nerdy

Member
Mine only really comes out at night. Sometimes I drop a algae tablet in and it will go crazy and come out.
 
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