id brittle star?

squishifishi · 03/02/2013, 08:38 PM

so, i bought some rubble today from the bottom of the lfs live rock tank. I found a brittle star on the rock, so i peeled it off(gently) and let it acclimate for a bit. It is the spiky, not smooth kind. it is a light peppermint green colour with tan/brown bands. actually, when you look at it closely it is just whitish and brown, but it has an overall green color...notsurewhere the green is coming from, maybevthe bristles are just green? anyway, i don't know what size it is, cuz it is staying kind of curled up like tangled mess, but it is pretty small(under 1 inch) and has very thin arms.
does anyone have any idea what kind this is? i hear green ones can eat other livestock. this is a major concern as this is a 2.5 gallon tank and all inhabitants will be very small.
please let me kow what you think.
i think it might die anyway though because i couldn't really acclimate it right. they take the LR out of the water and just give it to you in an empty bag. luckily i had some store water from a shroom i bought, but still...
anyway, ideas?

wenwillwego · 03/03/2013, 12:48 AM

I've personally never heard of the small hitchhiker brittles eating livestock. Mine are rust/red and tan, haven't had a problem.

Have you tried the search function on here? If you search it and nothing comes up, you're probably safe.

SushiGirl · 03/03/2013, 01:04 AM

Sounds like it's probably just a standard mini brittle star that won't get any larger than it already is.

rssjsb · 03/03/2013, 11:01 AM

Google "green brittle star images."

They look very different from other types of brittles, so it should be easy to figure out if that's what you've got.

squishifishi · 03/04/2013, 07:12 AM

yeah, it seems like green brittles are smoother and have slightly fatter legs. he's finnally stretched out now on a rock and is about 2 inches fromthe tip of the longest leg to the opposite one. his centre is round and brown with a star pattern on it. his legs are about 2 mm thick at the most i would say.
what/how should i feed him?
thanks!

squishifishi · 03/04/2013, 04:34 PM

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/detailed_image
oops. jk, i did another search on them. mine looks just like this one from liveaquaria.com. it's a "fancy brittle star"
so, will these eat small fish or softy coral or inverts?
thanks!

SushiGirl · 03/04/2013, 05:06 PM

That link didn't work for me. I'm still going with mini brittle star. It's extremely unusual to get any other kind of starfish as a hitchhiker, but it would depend on where the rock is from. Mini brittles get the size you're describing & will eat any meaty food they can get that you feed your fish.

squishifishi · 03/04/2013, 06:00 PM

sorry, that was supposed to show up as an image, not a link. let me try again...

here we go. i hope that worked!
is there a mini brittle star that looks a lot like this? thanks!
also, on a few of his legs the end fell off. he is still crawling around though, do you think he'll be ok?
will he be ok cleaning algae and detrius from the sand until i can pick up some real food like mysis or invert pellets? i tried feeding him the bloodworms and algae wafers that i had on hand but i don't think he ate any. miko the hermit likes it though!
thanks!

squishifishi · 03/04/2013, 06:09 PM

ya know what, i give up. no picture for you! lol.
anyway, do a google search on:
liveaquaria fancy brittle. it's thefirst page that comes up. look at the product picture.
mine looks like that but maybe a tad bit more of a greenish tint(just a tiny bit!)
oh yeah, just a side note, this is the same store where i got my rocks full of white ball/strawberry nems, i don't think those are too common as hitchickers either....
thanks again!

SushiGirl · 03/04/2013, 06:35 PM

Most minis look like that. I got 2 once that were black & red striped. I put them in my fuge & haven't seen them since. I have tons of the black & white ones. They won't eat algae but they'll eat meaty foods. Most stars can regenerate legs, not sure if it's just the tips, though.

I got orange ball anemones on some frags. I must have missed getting rid of a couple, because they've now invaded my tank very badly. Don't know if the strawberry ones will do that, but mine are a pest & I've had no luck killing them off. They sting my other corals & I swear they laugh at my attempts to kill them! I have probably 100 at least now in my 55.

squishifishi · 03/05/2013, 09:59 PM

yep. that's my kinda coral! i figure if ya can't kill it on purpose, i won't kill it on accident! mine are the less agressive, benine type though.

squishifishi · 03/06/2013, 05:17 PM

hmm. he's lost more legs and is looking a bit paler now. he's still alive though! i hope he's ok! any specific feeding reccomendations? i'm gonna try to feed him bloodworms today. i'll go shopping saturday and buy some real, saltwater food.
thanks!

03/02/2013, 08:38 PM	#1
squishifishi Hopelesly Addicted Member Join Date: Feb 2013 Posts: 972	id brittle star? so, i bought some rubble today from the bottom of the lfs live rock tank. I found a brittle star on the rock, so i peeled it off(gently) and let it acclimate for a bit. It is the spiky, not smooth kind. it is a light peppermint green colour with tan/brown bands. actually, when you look at it closely it is just whitish and brown, but it has an overall green color...notsurewhere the green is coming from, maybevthe bristles are just green? anyway, i don't know what size it is, cuz it is staying kind of curled up like tangled mess, but it is pretty small(under 1 inch) and has very thin arms. does anyone have any idea what kind this is? i hear green ones can eat other livestock. this is a major concern as this is a 2.5 gallon tank and all inhabitants will be very small. please let me kow what you think. i think it might die anyway though because i couldn't really acclimate it right. they take the LR out of the water and just give it to you in an empty bag. luckily i had some store water from a shroom i bought, but still... anyway, ideas? __________________ ><(((((°>squishifishi! if I say anything stupid...blame autocorrect ;) I love my pico! Come see for yourself, check it out! just search for "pictures at last" in the nano forums:) Current Tank Info: 2.5g pico reef: 5-15hob filter, 10w led light,Stock;neon goby,Pom Pom crab,hermits, astrea, margarita, nassarius, micro brittles, shrooms,palys, xenia, galaxea, zoas,ricordea, litho,chalice,leather,pocci,.WISH LIST:sexy shrimp

03/03/2013, 01:04 AM	#3
SushiGirl Premium Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Fort Worth, TX USA Posts: 8,267	Sounds like it's probably just a standard mini brittle star that won't get any larger than it already is. __________________ Visit my Homepage or "My Albums" (via Profile) for hitchhiker pics. Current Tank Info: 55g softy/LPS tank & 20L reef tank

03/03/2013, 11:01 AM	#4
rssjsb Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Bay Area, CA Posts: 3,243	Google "green brittle star images." They look very different from other types of brittles, so it should be easy to figure out if that's what you've got. __________________ Robin

03/04/2013, 07:12 AM	#5
squishifishi Hopelesly Addicted Member Join Date: Feb 2013 Posts: 972	yeah, it seems like green brittles are smoother and have slightly fatter legs. he's finnally stretched out now on a rock and is about 2 inches fromthe tip of the longest leg to the opposite one. his centre is round and brown with a star pattern on it. his legs are about 2 mm thick at the most i would say. what/how should i feed him? thanks! __________________ ><(((((°>squishifishi! if I say anything stupid...blame autocorrect ;) I love my pico! Come see for yourself, check it out! just search for "pictures at last" in the nano forums:) Current Tank Info: 2.5g pico reef: 5-15hob filter, 10w led light,Stock;neon goby,Pom Pom crab,hermits, astrea, margarita, nassarius, micro brittles, shrooms,palys, xenia, galaxea, zoas,ricordea, litho,chalice,leather,pocci,.WISH LIST:sexy shrimp

03/04/2013, 04:34 PM	#6
squishifishi Hopelesly Addicted Member Join Date: Feb 2013 Posts: 972	http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/detailed_image oops. jk, i did another search on them. mine looks just like this one from liveaquaria.com. it's a "fancy brittle star" so, will these eat small fish or softy coral or inverts? thanks! __________________ ><(((((°>squishifishi! if I say anything stupid...blame autocorrect ;) I love my pico! Come see for yourself, check it out! just search for "pictures at last" in the nano forums:) Current Tank Info: 2.5g pico reef: 5-15hob filter, 10w led light,Stock;neon goby,Pom Pom crab,hermits, astrea, margarita, nassarius, micro brittles, shrooms,palys, xenia, galaxea, zoas,ricordea, litho,chalice,leather,pocci,.WISH LIST:sexy shrimp

03/03/2013, 12:48 AM	#2
wenwillwego Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Near Ann Arbor, Mi Posts: 92	I've personally never heard of the small hitchhiker brittles eating livestock. Mine are rust/red and tan, haven't had a problem. Have you tried the search function on here? If you search it and nothing comes up, you're probably safe.

03/04/2013, 05:06 PM	#7
SushiGirl Premium Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Fort Worth, TX USA Posts: 8,267	That link didn't work for me. I'm still going with mini brittle star. It's extremely unusual to get any other kind of starfish as a hitchhiker, but it would depend on where the rock is from. Mini brittles get the size you're describing & will eat any meaty food they can get that you feed your fish. __________________ Visit my Homepage or "My Albums" (via Profile) for hitchhiker pics. Current Tank Info: 55g softy/LPS tank & 20L reef tank

03/04/2013, 06:00 PM	#8
squishifishi Hopelesly Addicted Member Join Date: Feb 2013 Posts: 972	sorry, that was supposed to show up as an image, not a link. let me try again... here we go. i hope that worked! is there a mini brittle star that looks a lot like this? thanks! also, on a few of his legs the end fell off. he is still crawling around though, do you think he'll be ok? will he be ok cleaning algae and detrius from the sand until i can pick up some real food like mysis or invert pellets? i tried feeding him the bloodworms and algae wafers that i had on hand but i don't think he ate any. miko the hermit likes it though! thanks! __________________ ><(((((°>squishifishi! if I say anything stupid...blame autocorrect ;) I love my pico! Come see for yourself, check it out! just search for "pictures at last" in the nano forums:) Current Tank Info: 2.5g pico reef: 5-15hob filter, 10w led light,Stock;neon goby,Pom Pom crab,hermits, astrea, margarita, nassarius, micro brittles, shrooms,palys, xenia, galaxea, zoas,ricordea, litho,chalice,leather,pocci,.WISH LIST:sexy shrimp Last edited by squishifishi; 03/04/2013 at 06:02 PM. Reason: grrr. the image function hates me!!

03/04/2013, 06:09 PM	#9
squishifishi Hopelesly Addicted Member Join Date: Feb 2013 Posts: 972	ya know what, i give up. no picture for you! lol. anyway, do a google search on: liveaquaria fancy brittle. it's thefirst page that comes up. look at the product picture. mine looks like that but maybe a tad bit more of a greenish tint(just a tiny bit!) oh yeah, just a side note, this is the same store where i got my rocks full of white ball/strawberry nems, i don't think those are too common as hitchickers either.... thanks again! __________________ ><(((((°>squishifishi! if I say anything stupid...blame autocorrect ;) I love my pico! Come see for yourself, check it out! just search for "pictures at last" in the nano forums:) Current Tank Info: 2.5g pico reef: 5-15hob filter, 10w led light,Stock;neon goby,Pom Pom crab,hermits, astrea, margarita, nassarius, micro brittles, shrooms,palys, xenia, galaxea, zoas,ricordea, litho,chalice,leather,pocci,.WISH LIST:sexy shrimp

03/04/2013, 06:35 PM	#10
SushiGirl Premium Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Fort Worth, TX USA Posts: 8,267	Most minis look like that. I got 2 once that were black & red striped. I put them in my fuge & haven't seen them since. I have tons of the black & white ones. They won't eat algae but they'll eat meaty foods. Most stars can regenerate legs, not sure if it's just the tips, though. I got orange ball anemones on some frags. I must have missed getting rid of a couple, because they've now invaded my tank very badly. Don't know if the strawberry ones will do that, but mine are a pest & I've had no luck killing them off. They sting my other corals & I swear they laugh at my attempts to kill them! I have probably 100 at least now in my 55. __________________ Visit my Homepage or "My Albums" (via Profile) for hitchhiker pics. Current Tank Info: 55g softy/LPS tank & 20L reef tank

03/05/2013, 09:59 PM	#11
squishifishi Hopelesly Addicted Member Join Date: Feb 2013 Posts: 972	yep. that's my kinda coral! i figure if ya can't kill it on purpose, i won't kill it on accident! mine are the less agressive, benine type though. __________________ ><(((((°>squishifishi! if I say anything stupid...blame autocorrect ;) I love my pico! Come see for yourself, check it out! just search for "pictures at last" in the nano forums:) Current Tank Info: 2.5g pico reef: 5-15hob filter, 10w led light,Stock;neon goby,Pom Pom crab,hermits, astrea, margarita, nassarius, micro brittles, shrooms,palys, xenia, galaxea, zoas,ricordea, litho,chalice,leather,pocci,.WISH LIST:sexy shrimp

03/06/2013, 05:17 PM	#12
squishifishi Hopelesly Addicted Member Join Date: Feb 2013 Posts: 972	hmm. he's lost more legs and is looking a bit paler now. he's still alive though! i hope he's ok! any specific feeding reccomendations? i'm gonna try to feed him bloodworms today. i'll go shopping saturday and buy some real, saltwater food. thanks! __________________ ><(((((°>squishifishi! if I say anything stupid...blame autocorrect ;) I love my pico! Come see for yourself, check it out! just search for "pictures at last" in the nano forums:) Current Tank Info: 2.5g pico reef: 5-15hob filter, 10w led light,Stock;neon goby,Pom Pom crab,hermits, astrea, margarita, nassarius, micro brittles, shrooms,palys, xenia, galaxea, zoas,ricordea, litho,chalice,leather,pocci,.WISH LIST:sexy shrimp