Brittle Star problem

[bfhaynes]

I have a newly established 180 gal reef tank. Currently it contains:

210lbs Fiji LR
5 inch sand bed
12 Astrea Snails
10 bumble bee snails
12 Scarlet reef hermits
5 small Nassarius
3 large (@ 1") Nassarius snails
2 serpent starfish
2 brittle starfish

This morning I woke to find the smaller of the 2 brittle starfish badly injured. 2 of it's legs had been torn off, one missing the tip and generally missing a lot of it's spines. It was very recent as it was lying in an open area of the sandbed and the severed limbs were still writhing.

Have you experienced this type of aggression in Brittle starfish before?

I moved it to the refugium to see if it will survive. Is there anything else I should do?

 

[jimbob4755]

Hi, I am in no way an expert on Brittle Starfish or how they behave, except that I do know they can shed their 'legs' to escape a predator and do eventually re-grow them.

 

[Elysia]

How "new" is this tank? When brittles and serpents start to die, they will often loose legs. How did you acclimate them? Stars aren't the best animals for new tanks.