serpent stars (Starfish)

[thepomonacow]

Will serpent stars eat diatoms in the tank? Will they eat coralline Algae? Thanks,

 

[crazyelvis]

My serpant star didn't do much diatom eating... Never saw him working on the live rock or substrate... He stayed in the live rock ,and at night he either hunted fish or picked up any left overs....(don't freek out , I had a bad serpant... but some do eat fish) .... Also he shouldn't hurt your coraline at all...

 

[sandy]

I have no idea what my serpent star does. Mostly just hangs out in one spot under the rock. For the first two weeks I always thought he was dead. If I put some formula one or two near him - he'll get on top of it and eat it. He must be eating because he had tripled in size... but what c. algae I have is fine and all my fish & shrimp are fine. In fact, the pepperments are often right next to the star. Not a very entertaining animal. Don't know if he is useful or not.

 

[von_rahvin]

at niht my serpent star will "run" across the bottom. it will come out in the day time to eat the left overs but at night he ( i use he loosely) just goes crazy!

 

[ocellaris_keeper]

serpents are scavengers that eat uneaten food (and anything else they can) which helps keep your biofilter stress free. They also eat ditritus sources in the substrate (at night) helping your filter.
Plus they're real cool looking, which is really why we put them in our tanks.