Hi, I have a serpent brittle star in my tank and about 2 weeks back I purchased a GSP. A few days after, I noticed 6, 7, 8 baby brittle stars congregating under, around, and over my GSP. Dont know where they came from but they are really tiny and very colorful. However the past few days I noticed that my GSP was somewhat shedding small pieces of what seemed to be munched up GSP matter. Is that normal or are the baby brittle stars dining on it?
GSP....food for brittlestars?
- Thread starter Master Er
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My fault for not having any pictures to show you guys....but what I see doesnt look like algae, whether its red or green. What I see is GSP "flesh". Isnt it GSP's flesh is more of a lavender color....so imagine the lavender flesh with reddish bite marks underneath. About a square centimeter of it has come off the main colony with chewed up marks of red. I really dont know what to think since its my first so so coral. However I did see a brittle star dispose some detritus traveling down its leg. Thanks however for scanning my post. Any more suggestions?
How did you acclimate the coral?
What are your water parameters?
A lot of folks will introduce something that is either not healthy to begin with, or the new piece gets shocked by poor acclimation procedures, etc....And then think that starfish, fish, crabs, etc... are damaging it when they see them eating the dead/dying tissue. In fact the clean up crew is just doing their job of cleaning up waste.
Brittlestars, whether they're the mini variety, or not, don't eat healthy GSP.
Does the GSP look healthy? Are all the polyps extended?
It sounds like there's definitely something going on, I just doubt it has anything to do with the starfish.
B
What are your water parameters?
A lot of folks will introduce something that is either not healthy to begin with, or the new piece gets shocked by poor acclimation procedures, etc....And then think that starfish, fish, crabs, etc... are damaging it when they see them eating the dead/dying tissue. In fact the clean up crew is just doing their job of cleaning up waste.
Brittlestars, whether they're the mini variety, or not, don't eat healthy GSP.
Does the GSP look healthy? Are all the polyps extended?
It sounds like there's definitely something going on, I just doubt it has anything to do with the starfish.
B
Thanks for the hasty reply....the GSP's seem to be healthy, they've actually grown fluffier since I purchased them 2 weeks ago. I guess youre probably right, maybe it had some dead tissue and the brittle stars were cleaning them off. probably just paranoid since its my first coral. I've been enjoying my live rocks for 3 months now, so used to it, and now with a GSP, this is something different. At least that clears things up for me. Thanks
Thanks for the interest. 
Ammonia-0
Nitrite-0
Nitrates-5
pH-8.3
I havent tested my calcium and alkalinity though....never have....since all I had were live rocks, 1 maroon clown and cleaners but i will do it soon. By the way, is it possible to get the Nitrates to zero? Since I started the planaria syphon method, my Nitrates have gone down from 10 to 5 but thats it.
I did the drip method....thats with the airline tubing right? Took me about 45 minutes to an hour. Then topped off with new saltwater mix with the same salinity and approximately the same temperature...Did I do right? Thats what I did with my sea cucumber and brittle star...dont know if thats applicable to corals. If not, then its too late.
Ammonia-0
Nitrite-0
Nitrates-5
pH-8.3
I havent tested my calcium and alkalinity though....never have....since all I had were live rocks, 1 maroon clown and cleaners but i will do it soon. By the way, is it possible to get the Nitrates to zero? Since I started the planaria syphon method, my Nitrates have gone down from 10 to 5 but thats it.
I did the drip method....thats with the airline tubing right? Took me about 45 minutes to an hour. Then topped off with new saltwater mix with the same salinity and approximately the same temperature...Did I do right? Thats what I did with my sea cucumber and brittle star...dont know if thats applicable to corals. If not, then its too late.
I don't know what the planaria syphon method is. Planaria are flatworms. :???:
If you've got fish, and no refugium, the only way to keep nitrates down to zero is frequent water changes. 5 isn't really that high, not something I'd worry about anyway, but if you want it to zero you should be able to get there by either increasing the amount of water you change, or by changing it more often.
The drip method is the best way to acclimate them that I know of.
It sounds like the tank is healthy, and it sounds like the coral is happy as well.
B
If you've got fish, and no refugium, the only way to keep nitrates down to zero is frequent water changes. 5 isn't really that high, not something I'd worry about anyway, but if you want it to zero you should be able to get there by either increasing the amount of water you change, or by changing it more often.
The drip method is the best way to acclimate them that I know of.
It sounds like the tank is healthy, and it sounds like the coral is happy as well.
B
Oops!....soory about that, I now dont know what its called. Thats what my friend called it (newbie too....he made it up huh...jokes on me then) Syphoning the substrate with a small diameter ridgid tubing for detritus, first time I did it after 2 months I was able to get about a whole cup of yucky stuff thats less the water. The 2nd time was 1/4 of a cup. But now I stopped so as to not starve my brittle star.....what is that method called then?
So the drip method I did was good for the GSP....thank goodness!!! I do 2 water changes per week, every sunday I do 1 gallon and every wednesday i do 1/2 a gallon.
So the drip method I did was good for the GSP....thank goodness!!! I do 2 water changes per week, every sunday I do 1 gallon and every wednesday i do 1/2 a gallon.
3 gallons seem to sound fine too. I was just applying my past 12 year freshwater experience thinking that it would be the same with saltwater. By changing too much water may take out if not some, quite alot of the natural beneficial bacteria or prevent anything from being beneficial. But if not then I wouldnt mind doing the 3 gallon volume water change. Actually, I never did ask anyone about this.....any thoughts on this?
A
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If your tank is well cycled and testing as you said - your changing plenty of water 5, 10 even 20 isn't obnoxious unless your keeping SPS's and in fact most corals benifit from a little nitrate cuz they get some of their nutrition from absorbtion. I also doubt the brittle stars of guilty of anything other then doing their job. The only thing I can think of off hand that will sometimes eat GSP is pepermint shrimp, and thats not a given, you didn't say do you have any of them? Otherwise it was probably just some die off that occured during transport.
I see. Hmmm, thanks for shedding light on this...I could do that in the near future but just stick to what i'm doing now. Besides my tank seems to be doing fine for now. And yes as Incysor mentioned about the brittle stars, i guess its just me being paranoid about it. How about bristle worms, do they eat corals at all? I spotted a worm thats pink with white bristles last night.....is that a good or bad worm? (this should be a new thread)
bristle worms are told to be harmless detrivores. They go after things that die too as I've seen. I dont like the boogers, everytime I see them, I take them out. It's a never ending battle, I can never erradicate them all, but at least I keep it down to a few For the most part I think you should be fine with them, it shouldn't be a problem as to what you were describing up above.
For the most part I think you should be fine with them, it shouldn't be a problem as to what you were describing up above.