To catch a brittle star

[Pezking182]

So i have this brittle star that came as a hitchhiker in some LR. It was cool for a while but now its huge and seems to be picking off hermit crabs. I want to get him out. Can i just grab it and through it in the sump? Is there a better way to catch it?

[patback]

Feed the tank with flow off. Itll make its way to the food eventually and you can just grab it.  They aren't terribly fast. Just fast in starfish terms. 

[mndfreeze]

Have you seen the brittle star catching a hermit and killing it or you just suspect?  Brittles are generally considered reef safe.  It's a lot more likely you have something else killing your hermits and the brittle is just scavenging. 

[vegasgundog]

Are you talking about a giant brittle star or smaller silver dollar sized? I have tons of the small ones and are beneficial. 

[Pezking182]

He is big, probably about 10 inches in diameter and the disk is about the size of a quarter. Ive suspected him for a while and tonight i found the empty shell of my scarlet hermit in his cave. I want to banish him to the sump and see if i still lose hermits. What else would be killing them?

[mndfreeze]

Most brittle stars in the hobby are scavengers not killers.  If the crab died via some other means the brittle will act like part of the CUC and eat the remains but for the most part they lack the hardware required to kill most things. 

 

Do  you have pics of it?  What are your water params and how long has the tank been up.

 

[Reeferadicto13]

Is it aGreen brittle starfish ?

[Pezking182]

Its not green. The disk is black and arms are black with thin white stripes. I think its a fancy brittle star. The tank is about 6 months old. 

 

Sg 1.026 

Ph 8.1

Cal 430

Mg 1500

Alk 9.8

Temp 78

Nitrate 10-20

Phos <. 5

 

No other inhabitants have been lost. 

2 misbar occelaris

1 six line

1 turbo 

Like 6 nerites

A bunch of dwarf ceriths 

5 nassarius 

4 Florida ceriths

2 blue legs (tiny, the scarlet was twice the size) 

 

Xenia

Hammer

Gsp

Armour of gods

Utter chaos

Duncans

Micromussa 

Monti cap

Spongeodes 

Rics

 

 

[mndfreeze]

Do you have a LOT of extra shells of various sizes for  your hermits to switch too?  I still highly doubt the brittle is the culprit.  The hermit could have been old, had a bad molt (likely), gotten picked on by something else, stuck somewhere, the possibilities are endless.  

 

Six lines are notorious assholes,.  Maybe the hermit was in the middle of trying on a new shell and the six line popped him but not enough to kill him outright, so he died afterr hopping back in his original shell.  There are a lot of possibilities really.

[Lula_Mae]

I have heard that big brittle stars can catch and eat things, supposedly even fish. It's not unheard of, just like amphipods munching on coral isn't unheard of. Try the trick mentioned of turning off flow and feeding the tank. If you banish him and stop losing hermits, you've found your culprit.