Serpentine vs Brittle Starfish

[slinky]

I am thinking about adding one of those scavenger starfish to my tank (currently have a clam/various SPS/LSP/zoa; one peppermint, one diamond goby (those are living in the bottom))

question1: would these starfish hurt peppermint or diamond goby?

question2: is there nother alternative starfish that will a)clean up; b)better looking (don't have that long of legs). I have heard chocolate chip will eat clams...

Thanks,

David

 

[smoothie]

Mini brittles

 

[tnyga]

I loved my sand sifter...never bothered anyone and did a great job..

 

[hhughes]

I have always had serpent stars without a problem. I've always heard to stay away from the green ones, and I do keep mine well fed. (He gets his very own piece of krill once a week and whatever bits of brine/mysis he can catch.

 

[jennm]

For clarity - serpents have smooth legs, brittles have prickly legs. The brittles, particularly the green ones, are notorious for eating fish.

I've got a few in my coral system that have been brought in (I don't usually sell them because of their predatory nature but I've inherited a few)... they will "tent" themselves up and drop on unsuspecting fish.

We have one here that I think has eaten a hermit crab, based on the current shape of its body disk.

Serpents *can* be predatory but IME they aren't that big of a risk, and they aren't active hunters like the brittles are.

Chocolate Chips will eat corals too - definitely not reef-safe.

Jenn

 

[weaglereefer]

I thought it was the opposite with the brittles/serpents. I thought the serpents waited inside of caves raised up on their legs, then dropped down on fish, while the brittles waved their arms and caught stuff in the water?

JennM;474476 wrote: For clarity - serpents have smooth legs, brittles have prickly legs. The brittles, particularly the green ones, are notorious for eating fish.

I've got a few in my coral system that have been brought in (I don't usually sell them because of their predatory nature but I've inherited a few)... they will "tent" themselves up and drop on unsuspecting fish.

We have one here that I think has eaten a hermit crab, based on the current shape of its body disk.

Serpents *can* be predatory but IME they aren't that big of a risk, and they aren't active hunters like the brittles are.

Chocolate Chips will eat corals too - definitely not reef-safe.

Jenn

 

[jennm]

Nope. In Shimek's "Pocket Expert Guide to Invertebrates" he calls them, "Green Death" (re Brittle stars).

I can observe the ones I have here, just about any time, all tented up waiting for something to swim underneath them. We don't keep fish in the tank where they are, for that reason.

The serpents will slither out when the tank is fed - but while I'm sure they are capable of "hunting" I don't see them doing it.

We have a green brittle right now that was brought in a few weeks ago - its body was flat (normal) but now it's like a cone. We think it must have swallowed a hermit or something (shell and all). Normally they extrude their stomach and engulf their prey from without, digest it and then pull their stomach back in but I don't know what this one did. It's kind of creepy. The lights just went out in the system and my camera is at home but if I remember, I'll try to get a pic or two tomorrow.

Jenn

 

[seedless reefer]

Never had a problem with our serpent star.

Caught our brittle having a snack once.........once.