Banded Shrimp vs Brittle Star

tdyrkacz · May 21, 2016

I have had a huge 5" banded shrimp and an even larger 14" brittle star in my tank for about 9 months.

The shrimp molts every month or so and the brittle star has grown considerably since i bought it. The banded shrimp has been a little bit of a bully to just about everything in the tank and i even considered taking him out.

The brittle star did it for me today. I walked up to the tank and saw the shrimp completely tied up. Somehow the star caught him when he was next to the rock work. It literally broke him trying to pull him into the rocks.

I guess the only question i have is if I should worry about leaving the star in the tank? Are they usually a menace once they get this big?

saltyfilmfolks · May 21, 2016

is it a brittle star or a serpent star? good to check.
And yea in the ocean everything eats everything esp if it gets hungry.

IDNTFU · May 21, 2016

tdyrkacz said:
I have had a huge 5" banded shrimp and an even larger 14" brittle star in my tank for about 9 months.

The shrimp molts every month or so and the brittle star has grown considerably since i bought it. The banded shrimp has been a little bit of a bully to just about everything in the tank and i even considered taking him out.

The brittle star did it for me today. I walked up to the tank and saw the shrimp completely tied up. Somehow the star caught him when he was next to the rock work. It literally broke him trying to pull him into the rocks.

I guess the only question i have is if I should worry about leaving the star in the tank? Are they usually a menace once they get this big?

I had a green brittle star onced in my old 25g nano setup, it ate everything that would touch the sandbed along with one of my jaw fish that didn't even last 24hrs in the tank they will eat anything they can catch and they're pretty strong creature, they're vicious for sure I had to take mine out.

IDNTFU · May 21, 2016

This was mine.

tdyrkacz · May 21, 2016

IDNTFU said:
This was mine.

Mine looks similar, but is larger and black.

tdyrkacz · May 21, 2016

saltyfilmfolks said:
is it a brittle star or a serpent star? good to check.
And yea in the ocean everything eats everything esp if it gets hungry.

Good question..... i just checked my old email from live aquaria. It is a serpent star.

tdyrkacz · May 21, 2016

tdyrkacz said:
Good question..... i just checked my old email from live aquaria. It is a serpent star.

Actually i ordered both a serpent and brittle star at this time. The large one looks like a brittle star to me. Sorry for the confusion.

Roboson · May 21, 2016

You must not be feeding it enough. If they're content, they will never hunt during the day and almost never during the night

tdyrkacz · May 21, 2016

Roboson said:
You must not be feeding it enough. If they're content, they will never hunt during the day and almost never during the night

How can i feed it? It stays under the rocks most of the day. When i feed the tank it's tentacles extend and every once in a blue moon it comes all the way out. Should I just feed the tank more? I can't really target feed the star since it isn't out.

Tahoe61 · May 21, 2016

Serpent Stars may eat sleeping fish and molting inverts regardless of how much you feed them. They get lucky once and it becomes a learned behavior, they will hunt at night. I do not keep them in my tank any longer.

Roboson · May 21, 2016

I drop sinking pellets and fish chunks to mine. I do this pretty much every day now. I drop it near his tentacles and he grabs it. You can also feed with tongs. They'll sense the food nearby with their feet.

There is always a chance they will go bad, but with feeding they will be content.

Naiad · May 21, 2016

Drop a large peice of shrimp in at night. The star will find it. Out during the day means it is really hungry. Starving animals have no rules.

Tahoe61 · May 21, 2016

The Green and Banded Serpents seem to be the most troublesome. I can not count the number of post that I have responded to were a hobbyist fish mysteriously disappeared, again and again. I would suggest they remove the Serpent, but no. Finally they would remove the Serpent and low and behold. I have had these inverts, they are pigs and begged for food regardless of how often I feed them.
I use to have a youtube video of a Green Serpent hunting and capturing a sleeping fish, they umbrella over them, grab hold, a smaller type reef fish does not stand a chance. There are always those exceptions to generalizations but this type of feeding does become a learned behavior for some Serpents.

Naiad · May 21, 2016

Tahoe61 said:
The Green and Banded Serpents seem to be the most troublesome. I can not count the number of post that I have responded to were a hobbyist fish mysteriously disappeared, again and again. I would suggest they remove the Serpent, but no. Finally they would remove the Serpent and low and behold. I have had these inverts, they are pigs and begged for food regardless of how often I feed them.
I use to have a youtube video of a Green Serpent hunting and capturing a sleeping fish, they umbrella over them, grab hold, a smaller type reef fish does not stand a chance. There are always those exceptions to generalizations but this type of feeding does become a learned behavior for some Serpents.

Greens are bad news. I honestly don't think they are scavengers at all... I have had good luck with reds and harlequins. I think ppl don't realize that these animals are just bottomless pits. They will eat every night and don't just sit and starve willingly. They really are more a member of the tank than cuc. I do believe you when you say stars in modern "clean" tanks are killers.