Serpant stars..Reef safe??
- Thread starter cato
- Start date
outta names
New member
I have had one in my tank for about a year with no problems. I wouldn't worry about them depleting your sandbed life either, I have tons of critters in mine.
waterfaller1
New member
Not all serpent stars are created equal.Be forwarned..if he cannot scavenge enough food and you don't spot feed him,he can take out small inverts or fish.Green brittles and even the brown ones,can get huge and are predatory.
jpslickorocks
Premium Member
mine does not bother any of the other inhabitants of my tank but he is very aggressive at feeding time
StinkinTuna
New member
In my opinion not worth it to have. You will hardly ever see him (at least I hardly see mine) and if they get hungry like mentioned above (hard to feed the guy if you don't see him) they'll make a meal out of your snails....I have both a serpent and brittle star (no green ones) and I have seen them both attack snails on the very few occassions I do get to see them.....
It looks cool on display in a LFS but if you have alot of rockwork I wouldnt suggest them. Regret getting them IMHO.
I don;t believe they will disrupt and deplete all the goodies in your sandbed, I think they go after larger, meatier prey...at least in my experience.
It looks cool on display in a LFS but if you have alot of rockwork I wouldnt suggest them. Regret getting them IMHO.
I don;t believe they will disrupt and deplete all the goodies in your sandbed, I think they go after larger, meatier prey...at least in my experience.
StinkinTuna
New member
Go for sand sifting stars (some don;t like them cause they believe it to go after the goodies in the sandbed (which they do) but I suppose it depends on how deep or how much of a sandbed you have....
I used to not want hermit crabs, but they are seriously great to have for cleanup (scarlet & blue legged), and of course snails...shrimp (peppermint & Skunk) are great little cleaners too, but I think the small hermits do the best job. I do like the sand sifting stars (i have a 6" sandbed) cause they keep the top surface moving without disrupting the depper layers)
I used to not want hermit crabs, but they are seriously great to have for cleanup (scarlet & blue legged), and of course snails...shrimp (peppermint & Skunk) are great little cleaners too, but I think the small hermits do the best job. I do like the sand sifting stars (i have a 6" sandbed) cause they keep the top surface moving without disrupting the depper layers)
StinkinTuna
New member
Sand Sifting stars and snails (Nassarius?) the ones that burrow into the sand and come out to feed.
Some people like getting cucumbers - I think its a' tiger tail cucumber' or something like that which is a good sand sifter, but I hear they get to be pretty big and with a shallow sandbed might not be the best thing for your tank..... but I don't have one so can't speak out of experience.
waterfaller1
New member
Sand sifting stars do not eat detritus and leftover food.They will eat the beneficial infauna from your sandbed.Most average tanks are not big enough to support them.Sandsifting gobies will do the same.
Cerith and nassarius snails,and atlantic spotted cucumbers are all good for the sand.Trochus grazers will help with sand,rocks,and glass.
Cerith and nassarius snails,and atlantic spotted cucumbers are all good for the sand.Trochus grazers will help with sand,rocks,and glass.
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JENnKerry
Premium Member
Most serpent stars come from the genus Ophioderma while most common brittles come from the genus Ophiocoma, Ophiothrix and Ophiura. They have very similar traits but are different.
If you like crabs I would highly recommend a sally lightfoot crab. Alot of people don't like them for their "bad reputation" of supposedly going after fish. They are The Best scavenger I have ever seen. Always on the go, looking for food and they eat various types of different algaes. I would trade all of my hermits for my sally any day. It's going on a year and a half since I got mine and he has been a model citizen.
