Brittle Star info

[Sparky and Raw Dogg]

Hi,
I have the chance to adopt a couple of brittle stars for my reef tank. Is there anything I should know about these guys before I get them? I read about them oline a little but I want to make sure they don't come with a warning label. One is small and one is quite large. They seem healthy. My tank is running perfect with no trace of Ammonia, Nitrate, Nitrites and stable calcium. I just don't want the brittle stars to eat anything they shouldn't like my large feather dusters, hermit crabs, or scooter dragonet. Any and all advice welcome, thanks

 

[returnofsid]

Make sure you know what type they are. There's a "Green Brittle Star" that will actually hunt, kill and eat fish.

Here's some great reading material, on Starfish, including the Green Brittle star.
BrittleStars

 

[Sparky and Raw Dogg]

Thank you, returnofsid.
The info was helpful. The ones I'm thinking of adopting are dark blue/black. One is about 1 foot long and the other about half that. I still don't know if the risk vs. the benefits are worth it. I now know I do not what the foot long one. There must be some reason why the owner surrendered them. Do you have one/and or are they worth it? I once saw a chocolate chip starfish eat an Angel (not my tank) and I'm very leery of starfish now. Thanks again.

 

[returnofsid]

To be honest, I'd probably pass. The reason is, even if they're completely reef safe, you'll hardly ever see them...lol. I have had one. A beautiful, large one. At least it was beautiful when I purchased it. After I put it in the tank, I never saw it again, until I broke the tank down, a year or so later...lol.

Chocolate Chip Starfish are not at all reef safe, so stay away from them. Chances are, the one you witnessed, was cleaning up a sick or dying fish. The CC Starfish cannot capture or harm a healthy fish. They do, however, eat corals.

 

[Sparky and Raw Dogg]

returnofsid,
Thank you, I think I will pass. My next question was if I would ever see it because I know they are nocturnal. I much rather get a couple of emerald crabs or sally crabs for the extra debris. This is a well established 85gal I have been bringing back to life for the past year and the crushed coral/gravel still has a few red/brown areas. Wave makers are helping but I enjoy the scavengers crawling around the tank doing their job--fun to watch. Thanks, again!

 

[Faciosity]

I love my large brittle stars, and see them quite often. I have one in each side of my tank, and have trained them fairly well. They will beg for food, and take it right out of your hand. They also do a great job of cleaning up the tank, and look very cool. My larger one is over a foot wide (each leg is about 10") and he even lets me pick him up sometimes.
I woulda said yes, grab one if you can because they are fun and beneficial.

 

[Sparky and Raw Dogg]

Wow, cool. How did you train them and what kind do you have?

 

[Faciosity]

My really big one is kind of a purple color, and I have a black and white one about half the size in the other tank. If you give them large pieces of shrimp or other meaty foods, they get used to coming out and eating in the day after a while. You can see their long arms reach out of the rocks begging and waiting for more food, and they will take it right out of your hand. Once in a while I will see one out on the move, and gently pick them up for a moment.

 

[Sparky and Raw Dogg]

Nice! My sea anemone crab, skunk cleaner shrimp, and pistol shrimp/goby pair are all target fed by me and they beg for food like your brittle star. Sounds like it could work if I keep it well fed and target fed him. Thanks.

 

[Faciosity]

I also have a goby/shrimp pair, a few peppermint shrimp, and hundreds of mini brittles/stomotella snails/bristleworms. When you have a very diverse CUC, you don't stress as much on overfeeding. I vote to go ahead and get one, what harm could it do?

 

[Sparky and Raw Dogg]

I got him...

I also have a goby/shrimp pair, a few peppermint shrimp, and hundreds of mini brittles/stomotella snails/bristleworms. When you have a very diverse CUC, you don't stress as much on overfeeding. I vote to go ahead and get one, what harm could it do?

Hey, so I got my brittle star and we just love him. He is already trained to take food from the feeding stick and is visable all the time in the tank, as he seems to sleep at night and be out more during the day. I still have my obese scooter blenny so he is not a fish eater. I went back to the store where I got him and they had ordered 3 new brittle stars, however, these were blue/green in color. After a quick search on my phone I identified them and sure enough, they were the kind that stalks and eats fish. They had them in with bite size fish, lol. The fish store people had no idea but they do now.

After coming home from looking at the starfish, later that night I actually found a new starfish in my tank! It was orange, small and missing a few legs--should have six. I identified it as the asterina starfish and have only seen one. That was crazy enough, but that night when I went to go look at my new tank upstairs I saw ANOTHER starfish! This one looked just like the black brittle star I adopted but he is small, quarter size and I identified him as the a mini brittle star. So I have starfish coming out of my ears, I cannot image how two different starfish ended up in two different tanks--weird. Sorry for the novel.
Thanks for all your advice :redface:.