Green Brittle Star- Fish Killer?

[howman1]

Hi,
I'm the guy who just bought the established system.
System came with a tomato clown, corals, live rock and sand, crabs and 2 starfish.
i think the culprit is the green brittle star (it is large--extends to a foot) and very active.
so, last week, i bought a mandarin goby...it is gone

on saturday, i bought a yellow tail damsel and scooter blenny--have not seen the blenny since bought it on saturday....could this guy be doing all this carnage, the crabs don't seem to be affected.

i checked the tank last night and i think the star has been hunting.....the blue damsel...am i paranoid????

Howard

 

[Litoria]

yes, the large green brittle stars, usually known as green serpent stars, have been known to eat fish, especially at night when they are sleeping. Gobies and other bottom dwellers are most prone to being caught. Stick to the smaller brown and black brittle stars

 

[ophiuroid]

So your basically saying that in a week, the brittle has eaten a mandarin, a blenny and a damsel??? That seems like a lot to me...surely his central disk would be extremely distended. The mandarin is a tough fish to keep, though I don't know your tank specs. If you bought the system, but moved it, it may still be too early to add some of those things.

What is your situation, and what are the water parameters?

Basically it seems that the new additions have all died, and I am wondering if the tank went through a period of disturbance quite recently (when moved?). Brittles will quickly scavenge dead fish too.

Green brittles are known to eat fish, snails, etc. You must keep them VERY well fed with frozen fish, shrimp, etc, especially if they are large. If you don't want the hassle, then you should take it back to an LFS. Please do not otherwise dispose of it, as they are only doing what comes natural to them. These are animals that do not belong in tanks as they adapt very well and establish new food chains irrespective of the price you paid for the prey. If they eat these fish, they are hungry.

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Brittlestars!! http://home.att.net/~ophiuroid
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[NaH2Ofreak]

NO PROBLEM with the green brittle star polishing off all those fish in just a week!!! I had one that ate 5 fish in 9 days. Yes it was fat! All the fish eaten were gobies or "goby like". Now that the star is gone, (traded to lfs) I've had no more dissappearences(sp?)!

Dennis