Question about brittle stars

[jdennysgir]

I have 2 of them I received about 3 days ago in my order. The are both in the rocks and have not come out. (I haved checked at different times during the night also.) How can I be sure they are eating? I can't even spot feed them as all I can see are their arms. I know they are alive because I can see them move. What do you recommend? Thanks.

 

[velvetchs]

As long as you can see their arms, you can spot feed them. Just place or actually hold a piece of food/pellets near them and they will grab it. When I got mine, I was told that they are scavengers, but spot-feeding regularly is best. Feed them a variety of fresh seafood. Mine favor shrimp over anything else I have tried. They also like shrimp pellets. If I remember correctly, a lot of people here have them and they tend to hide. Good luck with them. HTH

 

[jdennysgir]

Thanks, would you have any recommendations on what to use to hold the food to get it down in the cracks to the stars?

 

[shoregirl2]

I've had my brittle for 3 years now, my local fish store, sold him to me for 3.00 bucks, since he was missing most of his legs. In the beginning I fed him micro-vert, a liquid food, but after his legs grew back I noticed when I fed my fish at night I could seem him reach his arms out and grab pieces, so I don't feed him anything special anymore. He is nocturnal, so I only see him at night, he seems to be always in the same rock. I just look for the arms. Actually I've only seen his full body twice, once when I bought him, and one night I turned the lights on late night and he was in the sand, he ran right back to his rock, but I got another sneak.

 

[jdennysgir]

O.K. Thanks for the info. Never saw one before and didn't know what to expect. I did what Velvetchs said to do. I used a turkey baster and slowly dropped some thawed mysis shrimp on the arms and sure enough they started grabbing at it. I am glad because I was afraid they would starve. I will probably spot feed them at least for a while until I make sure they are really settled in. They are cool, but kinda creepy, don't ya think? Have you ever had any trouble with yours trying to get any of your fish or anything else in your tank?

 

[larryndana]

what color are they?

 

[aztec reef]

watch out for the "green" big ones they can be real agressive, they will eat fish if they catch them sleeping. other than that most of them are pretty much reef safe...

 

[lolly1]

I have 2 brittle stars, and I usually spot feed them freeze dried krill. I have a long toothpick-like skewer that I use to give it them. I just rehydrate the krill a little, and put it on the very end of the skewer so they can still get it off on their own. Mine are usually in hiding during the day too; I think they are generally a nocturnal creature...
Good luck with them!

 

[velvetchs]

I can actually hand feed mine. They come out when I bring food to them. It feels pretty cool when they touch you. Mine don't bother anything really. My green chromis and one of my peppermint shrimp share a spot at night with the larger of my 2 brittles.
However, if they get hungry enough, they will eat whatever they can. They may be scavengers for the most part, but they can be predatory (especially the green), but the brown/black ones do have a better reputation than the green.