Green Brittle Star - Quite a Predator!

[davelin315]

Well, I have heard that green brittle stars can be quite the predators, and now I'm definitely beginning to think that it's been the culprit behind me losing fish over the past months. I have a large one that I bought when TRT closed down and I have probably lost about 5 fish that were looking great and then simply weren't there. I attributed it before to something going wrong with the tank that I couldn't see and then the crabs and snails taking care of business, but tonight I am of a different mind. I had a peppermint shrimp die in my refugium (not sure why they keep on dying on me, the mysids are going strong as are the coral banded shrimp and everything else) and so I fed him to the tank. This is the second time this has happened and the last time it was eaten by the regular serpent star, this time by the green brittle star. After it ate the dead shrimp, it began to grab other things that smelled like possible food, carrying some zoanthids on the bottom over to its mouth and then rejecting them and then pulling a rock with xenia over to itself. I figured that it would take a taste and then leave it alone, but then it proceeded to grab it with its mouth and then it plucked it right off of the rubble it was attached to. Took all of about 3 seconds and there was no more xenia!

 

Needless to say, this will accelerate my plan to ship this one off to school as an inhabitant in a touch tank for the Kindergarten grade level (and maybe the rest of the school as well), a plan that has been on hold while I search for a 40 breeder for them. In the meantime, I think it might end up making itself at home in either my sump or my surge chamber (which has been a frag staging area for the past month or so).

 

That said, if you want to rid yourself of xenia or similar species, it might be worth a shot! Jake, if you want to give it a try, let me know, but then again, you might lose some fish, too!

[Carl]

I've had quite a few fish "disappear" over the last year as well...2 Green Chromis, Hawkeye and a pygmy angel...I can't imagine it's my brown stripped brittle star???

[Guest goblinshark]

Yea, I lost 2 reef chromis to one

[GaryL]

I've had quite a few fish "disappear" over the last year as well...2 Green Chromis, Hawkeye and a pygmy angel...I can't imagine it's my brown stripped brittle star???

50766[/snapback]

 

IME it only the green guys that are predators. the brittles brittles and harlequin serps are aok. at least in my tank they are.

[discordja]

Needless to say, this will accelerate my plan to ship this one off to school as an inhabitant in a touch tank for the Kindergarten grade level (and maybe the rest of the school as well), a plan that has been on hold while I search for a 40 breeder for them.  In the meantime, I think it might end up making itself at home in either my sump or my surge chamber (which has been a frag staging area for the past month or so).

50764[/snapback]

 

Next weeks newpaper will read about kids mysteriously disappearing out of Floris elementary. At least we'll know what's goin on!