fishwife Posted January 20, 2006 Share Posted January 20, 2006 Fishwife - How large is your brittle starfish? most people don't realize that they've grown to 16" tip to tip, and sure they leave everything alone - until you forget to feed the tank for a day, or go away on vacation and they get hungry - and then anything and everything is a meal - same as any type of crab in my book - they don't go in my tank It's probably about 8" from tip to tip if fully extended, with a carapace about the size of a nickel. I worried about it for awhile, and thought about taking it back to the LFS (who would have taken it back), but decided to see how he did. His only tankmates are a cherub angel and a flame hawkfish (and some snails). I've left him unfed for up to 5 days when I went out of town over the holidays with no problem. Priveval - they don't really "take over" the rock, they just hang out under it with their legs sticking out. Mine came in as a hitchhiker on some LR, too. I'm not sure I would have gone to the trouble of adding it otherwise. Still, so far no problems. If you're dead set on a larger star, this may be your best bet. Asterinas may or may not eat corals - if you do a search here, you'll find that opinions are mixed. Link to comment
Primeval Posted January 20, 2006 Author Share Posted January 20, 2006 I dont want a large star at all. A small one would definately be fine with me. Again, my sandbed is dirty too, but this would moreso be fore me liking stars than needing a cleanup addition Link to comment
MadTownMax Posted January 20, 2006 Share Posted January 20, 2006 It's probably about 8" from tip to tip if fully extended, with a carapace about the size of a nickel. I worried about it for awhile, and thought about taking it back to the LFS (who would have taken it back), but decided to see how he did. His only tankmates are a cherub angel and a flame hawkfish (and some snails). With a carapace the size of a nickel, your fish are safe as they're too large to be a meal - and those are pretty feisty fish. With a starfish twice as large, and smaller fish - like young damsels or chromis, predatation would be more of an issue Asterinas may or may not eat corals - if you do a search here, you'll find that opinions are mixed. I've heard similar results from those in my reef club - some were actually so convinced that they passed around a pair of harlequin shrimp to eradicat their tanks of starfish. I personally have tons of the tiny asterina starfish, and never notice them on my coral. That being said, there are a lot of species of starfish, so maybe there is a "look-alike" that does eat corals gotta love this hobby Link to comment
Primeval Posted January 23, 2006 Author Share Posted January 23, 2006 so a good starfish for my tank that wouldnt eat my fish would be...? Link to comment
c est ma Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 Gets confusing, doesn't it? Well, I think MadTownMax's caveats are important to keep in mind, but in a 20, if you have lots of rock and feed regularly, I'd sure continue to consider brittles/serpents...Search for more info on them, here and on other reef sites, and note the sizes advertised on vendor sites. One thing I found out while trying to identify my hitchers is that there are a zillion species of brittles. Who knows how many end up in the reefing trade? Perhaps there are some species that are not as small as the little hitch hiker "micro brittles" but don't grow too big either. And if the safety factor still bothers you, maybe you can find some micro hitchers at your lfs or get them from fellow reefers. BTW, size as expressed in diameter of leg spread can be very misleading with these guys. They never crawl around fully extended--in fact, I find their behavior more like worms--they stick tentacles out of the rock in various places and feel around for food. So although the big one may be 4-6" tip to tip, it has a penny-sized carapace and fits in well in the rock. So far, my brittles don't seem to have grown appreciably yet and are still small enough to coexist with my green banded goby, which is a very small fish. I'm very happy with the mix, but it's only been a few months... --Diane Link to comment
Primeval Posted January 24, 2006 Author Share Posted January 24, 2006 are there any ones out there that likely wont eat my smaller fish? or should i just scrap the idea? Link to comment
MadTownMax Posted January 24, 2006 Share Posted January 24, 2006 are there any ones out there that likely wont eat my smaller fish? or should i just scrap the idea? Look around at LFSs for small serpent stars if you're really set on one - a 20-gallon isn't that large of a tank to dis-assemble and get it out if it grows to be a monster - but that wouldn't be for a long time. They also come in some pretty neat colors Green brittle stars have the worst reputation as "fish-eaters" as they get large quickly, and probably because they've been available to hobbiests for a long time. My personal assumption is that the fish-eating would not be specific to only the green brittle starfish, and I wouldn't trust other brittles either (unless they're really small like c est ma's ) Link to comment
Primeval Posted January 24, 2006 Author Share Posted January 24, 2006 well I kindof have unlimited access to whatever I want. my LFS will order anything SW Link to comment
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