Nooooo! Damn That Starfish

[coppycatt]

Hey everyone. I don't post many questions, I don't know enough to answer many questions. But I do spend long hours of every night reading. What do I read?....Thread after thread after thread after.....you get the point, right? Well here is a thread of my own. Saturday when I got off work I went to my LFS and seen something I've been trying to find for the last few months. A black brittle star. I have only been reefin' for about 6 months or so now and all of my info comes from the web. Well, I bought the starfish and brought it home. I know I've read that they are scavengers, and that the GREEN ones will sometimes do a little hunting but, the BLACK ones should only scavenge. I fed him quite well with brine shrimp but that wasn't enough for him. He ate my sebae clownfish:angry: Now I'm truly sick over this. Does anyone know more about these starfish? Do you think it was just a combination of close quarters,(10 gal AGA) possible underfeeding,(it must eat twice it's body weight) or is it possible that it could just be E V I L:angry: Thanks to any and all who read my thread, and feel my pain.

[$imple]

OMG...I don't think I can be of any help but how big was your Sebae Clownfish and how SLOW was it that a starfish could munch on it? How the hell did it eat it? Did the Sebae just decide to run into your starfish's mouth?

 

This isn't very helpful but I'd like to know for future reference.

[kamalehi]

when clownfish sleep......starfish are out and about,so while it slept ,it got it

[EnderG60]

bristle stars are evil, just like coral banded shrimp.

 

if you can get him out, do so

[Daemonfly]

Could be underfeeding, especially if you were only feeding brine shrimp. But, I wouldn't risk it again. Either take the starfish back, or since you've wanted it for a while, keep it, but no fish.

[MillerLite]

Are you sure your starfish ate him? Was he fat in the morning? How big was the starfish? Could possibly be that the clownfish died and is under a rock or something. They often do that. They go somewhere out of sight and tight fitting and then die. The starfish then would only be doing what he does best...scavenges. My brown bristle star is fist size and I have had him for over a year now. Never ate anything that wasnt already dead.

[coppycatt]

OK, just now got time to sit down and check my thread so I'll try jto answer all questions at once. My clown was small, the starfish was big. I may have been underfeeding it since I'm always paranoid over my water quality. And yes I'm sure he ate him......

At first I thought the fish might be under a rock because he had a spot that he liked being back behind the rockpile in this little cave. So I put some food in there like I always do and waited for him to come out. I waited and waited, then I paniked and started pulling everything out of the tank the only rock I didn't remove was the peices with coral on them, but I did move them aside. No matter how hard I looked, NO CLOWNFISH. I did however, remove the star from the tank and with any luck I can trade it back in for some crabs or snails.

[Kabuto]

I have a green brittle about 12" tip to tip. I feed him mysis and silversides when I feed my BTA. The guy I bought the tanks from never spot fed him. I notice when he gets hungry he will go into a "hunting position" with his legs underneath him and his body in the air. He did try to attack a snail one time. Shooed him away and fed him and no more problems.

[MillerLite]

A green brittle star in your tank is like keeping a tiger in your boat lost at sea (Life of PI). As long as he is well fed, he wont think of how delicious you might taste! Especially a 12 foot lion (size comparison). Eventually though, you might take that one extra day on vacation or something and when you come back from the holiday....