should i get a brittle star?

[8965]

i have a tank that's two weeks cycled, no fish but has some crabs, snails and schrimp. is it to early to put a brittle star in? will it get along with the other inverts? i think i'm still going to wait another two weeks to put a few percs in.

 

[austinsdad]

My 2 brittle stars get along just fine with the crabs, shrimp, and snails.What are you feeding the others? Asking since you aren't feeding fish yet and may not have residual food for them to eat. My brittles love the pellet foods.

 

[neide]

Although I don't see all of my brittles very often (usually just a leg or two sticking out from under a rock!), they are growing rapidly and seem to be quite healthy. I've had no problems with other inverts with them - and I've got quite a few crabs, snails and shrimp.

 

[Atari]

I would wait until after the fish. I know a lot of people get stars as hitchhikers on LR, but if you're buying one specifically then I think it's best to wait till the tank is more mature.

 

[bill0298]

My green brittle star ate my goby once his disk was about the size of a silver dollar

He would hide back behind the reef and pretend to be a rock by standing on all of his legs and wait.............

 

[seaham358]

I would wait till the tank has finished its cycle... 2 weeks is nothing.. Unless you used cured LR then you may not have much of a cycle. Have u tested for amm, nitrite, nitrate yet?

 

[malkore]

I thought I got 2 brittle stars with my live rocks.com order...

now that it's been a little while...I'm pretty sure I have 5 or 6, plus a serpent star I purchased separately 8O

I gots me a lotta stars

 

[klam]

My green brittle star ate my goby once his disk was about the size of a silver dollar

He would hide back behind the reef and pretend to be a rock by standing on all of his legs and wait.............

That sucks!!
It's been know that green brittle stars are opportunistic predators that will feast on sleeping fish.

 

[8965]

i just purchased a serpent start today. any advice on taking care of these inverts? i've been told they are great scavengers?

 

[srgetz]

We named ours Freak, because he seemed freaky moving around the tank really fast going after food. He will generally get leftover food and debris, so I don't think there is a need to direct feed them AFAIK. We took Freak back to the lfs after we saw him eat a snail as we were worried about small sleeping fish with him. So we got a red linkia star and returned Freak.

 

[EL Diablo]

I've got a bunch of Brittle Stars in my LR.com shippment. I never see them come
out. Just an occasional leg hanging from a hole in the LR.

 

[pecan2phat]

My green brittle star ate my goby once his disk was about the size of a silver dollar

He would hide back behind the reef and pretend to be a rock by standing on all of his legs and wait.............

I also "had" a black serpent star with the disc the size of a quarter or just a tad bigger. Thought he was pretty cool and being productive by stirring the sand bed. He "was" comical to see when feeding time arised. Like I said, thought he was pretty cool until I watched in horror when he grabbed the smaller of a pair of true percs that I had just purchased that cost me $100. I ran to get a net to save baby nemo, but he had it in his oral disc already & was slowly digesting him, tail still moving! The female eventually died 2 days later & was also never to be found. After that, Mr. serpent went to the LFS for free.