which is better and info on both PLEEZ

[some'n'smellsfishy]

which is better a brittle star or a serpent starfish??? info on both please

 

[Quillen]

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/seastars.htm
ask ophiuroid, if you get the chance.

 

[Mouse]

Brisstles can be naughty, serpents behave. Both are scavengers. Nuf said

 

[Mouse]

OOOps forgot to say, jus because they scavange doesn't mean you dont feed em.

 

[ophiuroid]

Hi,
There is no scientific or biological difference between brittle and serpent stars. This distinction is made in the aquarium trade only. Indeed, fairly closely related species may be separated by this distinction, while completely unrelated forms may be grouped.

The only problems I have heard about stem from the green 'serpent' brittlestar Ophiarachna incrassata which is sold as a scavenger. Brittlestars are large animals and will not allow themselves to starve to death, so it is unwise to let them simply scavenge for their food. If hungry, a brittlestar can and will catch something to eat. When feeding shrimp (or shrimp pellets) or fish to your other inhabitants, you should spot feed the brittlestar as well. This *should* keep them out of trouble, but they have their own personalities and will sometimes prefer one of your other tank inhabitants. Still, I believe that the number of people who have had brittles eat something in their tank is low when compared to those who have kept these animals without any trouble. If you are going to avoid one, avoid the green serpent (a nice green with white spots on the disk). There is also a greenish one with bands on the arm...this is most likely an Ophioderma spp.. I have not heard anything bad about them. Others that don't seem to have a bad rap include the mini-brittles in the sand bed or live rock, red serpents, black brittles and a few other grayish/greenish/reddish serpents (generally with banded arms).

IMO, and others agree, the brittlestar is one of the most interesting animals in a home aquarium!

You can find a lot of information about these animals at my site, link below!

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Brittlestars!! http://home.att.net/~ophiuroid
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[John@Carline]

Both will do the job fine, I have both in my tank, they behave, but are also small too, and they can both get quite large over time, very quickly if fed enough. Feed em once a week and they will be fine. They are both excellent at keeping the top layer of your DSB stirred, just make sure you're fish are sized accordingly or the green serpents may attemp lunch call if not fed on a regular basis.

 

[Anonymous]

I had a "green brittle star" that was about 14" across. It was well fed and never bothered any tank inhabitants. It would come out at night and crawl up on the rock searching for the shrimp. It was neat to watch. The "red serpent" and "brown serpent" stars act the same. All are excellent additions. HTH

 

[GMH320]

I have a brittle star which doesn't seem to bother anything. The other day I saw the legs of a scarlet hermit crab hanging out from under the star, but it turns out that the hermit had molted and the brittle star was just feeding on the empty shell. I do feed it a piece of shrimp or clam every so often though.

 

[rmor22]

I love my green serpant. He is 13 and has only caught two of my fish, a red lipped blenny (6 years ago) and a blue damsel (2 years ago). I think I was slack about feeding him during these times!