Puffers and black brittle stars

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sumfingwong
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Puffers and black brittle stars

Post by sumfingwong »

Does anybody know if puffers will touch the black brittle stars?
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Corvus
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Re: Puffers and black brittle stars

Post by Corvus »

Our porcupine puffer ate all brittle stars and I know a number of other marine puffers that did the same.
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sumfingwong
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Re: Puffers and black brittle stars

Post by sumfingwong »

ok thanks!

Trying to find some suitable tankmates to help with cleanup.
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Corvus
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Re: Puffers and black brittle stars

Post by Corvus »

I had long term success with Diodon and a Chocolate Chip Star (Protoreaster nodosus) and thickly armored hermits with large shells (were attacked in the beginning, but after failing success ignored). My experiences might not always be reproducible, though, since what a specific puffer eats depends a lot on its "personality" or his experiences what is edible or not (I even had GSPs live with fiddler crabs for many years without a single loss... not recommended, though, hardly reproducible). The best clean up crew is the hose or python.
Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day. Give a fish a man, and he'll eat for weeks.
sumfingwong
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Re: Puffers and black brittle stars

Post by sumfingwong »

So i picked up a chocolate chip star and a lawnmower blenny today. As for as hermits, they picked off 5 of 6. I came home one day and I saw an electric blue hermit inside my porc's mouth.

The chocolate chip star has been all over the tank grazing on everything, same with the lawnmower blenny. The puffers dont mind the new tankmates at all.
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Corvus
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Re: Puffers and black brittle stars

Post by Corvus »

With hermits as noted above I only had luck with well armored specimens. Those did not fit in the mouth of the puffer and had unbreakable, strong shells where they could retract in a way the puffer could not suck 'em out. The puffer tried a number of times and failed and left them alone since...
Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day. Give a fish a man, and he'll eat for weeks.
sumfingwong
Dwarf Puffer
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Re: Puffers and black brittle stars

Post by sumfingwong »

good idea.. i will look around for some big hermits with strong shells.

right now the blenny is claiming territory fighting with the damsels.. the puffers are just swimming around watching it haha

ill move the rocks around tomorrow and see how it goes

Ill keep you posted
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Re: Puffers and black brittle stars

Post by Pufferpunk »

Pufferentertainment!
You are getting sleepy... you only hear the sound of my voice... you must do water changes... water changes... water changes... water changes...

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sumfingwong
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Re: Puffers and black brittle stars

Post by sumfingwong »

Its like the MMAs for the puffers.. the Damsels look pretty beat up, one has small marks (from the other Damsel bullying it), and now the bully has a big mark on the body from the blenny.

Thats why I'm leaving it for now.. let the bully get bullied!
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stangd1909
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Re: Puffers and black brittle stars

Post by stangd1909 »

My puffer was killing my choloctete chip star fish.... I had to remove him. I got a really large hermit and 1 urchin, the puffer doesn't bother them.
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