Snowflake Eel vs Green Brittle Star!!

[MontanaRocknReefer]

Hi Everyone!! I have an interesting reef tank to say the least. I have a 80 gallon reef with 2 banggai cardinals which I hope will pair up, a bonded pair of maroon clownfish and a sharpnosed puffer.
I also have a large green brittle star and a snowflake eel about 6" long. My snowflake has set up resident under my largest LR and has a hole in the front and one in the back under a ledge and one in a small hole at the top of the LR.
Next door is the resident of the green brittle star and when it is feeding time it gets real interesting.
I first feed the cardinals, clownfishes, and the puffer fish and they are usually out of the picture when I feed the brittle star and the snowflake.
When I put the tongs in with a chunk of raw shrimp, scallop or clam the fun begins. The green brittle star likes to put one of its limbs across the hole of the snowflake hoping to grab the food. I usually feed the brittle star first so he will retract back under his LR and then the snowflake.
I fed the snowflake first one time and the brittle star put one of its limbs down the hole and pulled it out with the chunk of shrimp. NO FEAR!!!
Usually after wrestling with them for awhile they are both well fed and peace returns to the reef. It is exciting to watch this unfold and a learning experience for me. Thought I would share. Johnny

 

[davelin315]

Watch out for that snowflake when he gets as fat as a broom stick and a couple feet long! He'll topple your rocks in no time and turn your corals over for his hiding places! They are very cool, though, and one of the more easy going eels out there (I've been stabbed by a lion fish which reduced me to crying like a baby for 5 hours with my hand in ice, sliced open by a tang which only reduced me to crying for about 2 minutes until I got the damn salt out of it, and I've been bitten by a nurse shark, a wobbegong, and a blue spot ray, but by far, the snowflake - besides scaring the hell out of me - hurt the least!). Guess you can say that I've had a lot of hands on experiences.... and that I cry a lot

.

 

[Anonymous]

Man davelin,
Haven't you learned to keep your hands out of the tank yet

?Also, I never had a problem with my snowflake doing the things you mentioned. He was also about as large as you were commenting on. Perhaps I got one of the well behaved ones.

Montana,
Isn't watching these creatures fascinating? Gotta love it!