Did my serpent star eat my damsel?

[Zoe0206]

Hello Everyone,

Although I've owned freshwater Cichlid tanks for years, this is my first salt water tank. I'm sure I will be coming to you all with plenty of questions. We have owned our salt water tank for about two months and are already planning on upgrading we enjoy it so much Smile

We bought a 15 gallon biocube already established with two damsels and live rock. We added a purplish serpent starfish, and an emerald crab about three weeks ago. We went away for three days and when we came back we can't find the blue damsel anywhere.

We picked up all the rock thinking he might have gotten trapped under one, checked in the filter, and looked on the floor around the tank. He's nowhere.

Could the purplish/maroon serpent star (round part is about the size of a nickel), or emerald crab (1/2 inch) have eaten the damsel?

We read on the internet that the green serpents are "hunters" and have been know to eat fish, and shrimp. But what about the other colored ones?

 

[faithenfire]

not likely, the "purple" ones really are more scavengers. so your sea star could have eaten the damsel after he died. same with the crab.

 

[Zoe0206]

Ok thanks faithenfire. I'm curious what is the correct name for the "purple" ones.
: )

 

[Calappidae]

The damsel could've died from several other causes. The serpent starfish, even if it was a green one, I doubt would ever catch one.. even I can't!

While the damsel was sleeping an emerald crab is more than capable of taking it on.. but we can't blame him for sure as more often than not they stick with algae. Plus he sounds extremely small at only 1/2" to catch anything.

Do you have an image of the starfish? I've never heard of a purple colored one.. atleast as a serpent star.. although I imagine you're just confusing it with another species similar looking.

 

[Zoe0206]

Joe,
The owner of the Aquarium shop said it was a serpent star. I would think "Seth" (the starfish) is more of a dull maroon, maybe dark mauve color now that I really think about it. When posting I asked my BF what color he would say he was, and he said, "purple". That what I get for asking a guy about colors : P

I'd gladly post a picture if I can figure it out. Do I just copy and paste from photobucket? Another problem would be he only comes out when the tank is dark. Once the lights come on he hides under the rocks and you just see the tip of a tentacle here and there. But I will do my best.

 

[Calappidae]

You can copy it from photobucket. It should have like

at the end, however if it's too much trouble don't worry about it!

Sounds like a regular banded serpent starfish. If it has "Hairy legs" it's a brittle star.

 

[Zoe0206]

Ok I'm sure I can figure out the Photbucket thing. When I went to snap a picture just a tiny tip of him was out. I will get a pic on here as soon as I get one worth posting.

He defiantly doesn't have hairy legs. But he seems like a different color than the banded ones I've seen on the internet. There are no visible bands on him, he is a solid color.

This IS NOT my picture, I found it on the internet. The body looks exactly like this. The color is similar but more of a dull maroon, and he has no stripes.



While trying to find a picture of sea stars I found this fish. This is also NOT my picture, and was found on the internet. Do you know is this a salt water fish, and what type it is? It's so unique I love the colors.

 

[Calappidae]

That is a pajama cardinal fish. They'll swim together in odd numbered groups. Very peaceful fish.

I never seen serpent stars like those before!

 

[Zoe0206]

Great thanks Joe,
I just looked up their tank requirements and it says they need at least a 30 gallon. So I'll have to wait on him : (

Do you have any suggestions of pretty and colorful fish I could put in a 15 gallon biocube? Maybe I should post this in a different thread to get more hits.

I bought the tank already up and running with two Damsels. I was going to trade them in for something more interesting. But I'm having difficulty finding something for such a small tank.

My dream fish is the Mandarin Goby after reading up on them I realize with such a small tank that is almost impossible although some people have said if I set up the "pods" and feed them and let them breed for 6 months it should be ok. To also train him to eat other things.

Another pet store recommended Dwarf Anglefish, Royal Gramma, Clownfish, and something else I can't remember.

What do you think of any of these? Or can you recommend anything else?

Right now we have the serpent star, an emerald crab, a porcelain crab, along with the yellow damsel (we will be trading the damsel out).

 

[pagojoe]

Zoe, I had a really big specimen of the maroon serpent star for a while. A short while.

He was the first "killer" I ever introduced into my tank. He killed all my crustaceans within a couple of days and would attempt to catch fish. I never saw him actually catch a fish, but I didn't leave him in there long enough to give him a good chance. The central disc on mine was about as big as a half dollar.

Cheers,



Don

 

[Zoe0206]

Don,
Now you've got me worried. Is there a specific name for the maroon ones? I'm having trouble finding out.

His center discus is about the size of a nickel but I'm concerned because we haven't seen the emerald crab, or porcelain crab for a few days. They are each about 1/2". I did see the emerald crab crawling around the serpent a few times. Could he have gotten the crabs? He's still so small.

Is there a serpent star fish that doesn't eat things? We love watching him move around but I really liked my crabs....I hope they are ok, and just hiding.

 

[rssjsb]

You should look into harlequin serpents from the Caribbean. They don't get very big and they're very peaceful. On your fish choices, you're going to be very restricted by the size of your tank. No angels, even cherubs. There are some small gobies that would work. Maybe a tail spot Benny. You might be able to do a bluestripe pipe fish once the tank has matured.

Definitely no mandarin. You can't possibly add enough pods to sustain them. You could get lucky and get one that eats pellets, but odds are that it would starve even if it takes some prepared foods. Save yourself the heartache.

Ina tank that size, I personally would stick with corals and some interesting inverts, but that's just me.

 

[Betta132]

I'd suggest a shrimpgoby/pistol shrimp combination. Awesome to watch.
You could also try a bluestripe pipefish, yes.
I'd suggest you look into colorful shrimp, maybe a swarm of sexy shrimp. Yes, that's actually what they're called.

 

[faithenfire]

can you get a picture? of yours?

pajama cardinals are nice and in the front.

but for that little tank
you can do a neon goby, any of the clown gobies, yellow striped cardinal, possum wrasses, harptail blenny, i like the basselets and the catalina goby but they like cooler water in comparison to the other fish mentioned

 

[Betta132]

I suggest a shrimpgoby/pistol shrimp pair, whenever you decide to start adding things.
As for your star... Yes, I think maybe it could have eaten those small crabs. If it ate the damsel, the damsel was probably dead or dying anyway.
I'd suggest you catch the star and get us a picture, make sure it's okay.

 

[Zoe0206]

We caught him and took a few pictures for you guys. With the flash of the camera I DO see faint stripes on him. So I was wrong about him being stripeless. I'm so happy we did see the porcelain crab tonight, the emerald one is still missing.

We think his round part is bigger, hopefully that's not a sign he's full.

So exactly what kind is he?

So you can see how big he is compared to a mans hand