yellow serpent star

Greetings... San Antonio resident and music educator... I've been in the hobby for about two years. Given the complexity of this hobby and everything involved, I still consider myself a newbie. I would like to start a discussion on Yellow serpent starfish and people's experiences with them. The serpent star I have in my 100 gallon is about 2 years old. I had him in a 34 gallon and moved him over when I upgraded tanks.

Here is the issue: my small fish just dissapear... I realize there could be 1000 things going on; however, what are the chances that this starfish is grabbibg the fish at night and having a live midnight snack? This starfish is on the larger size. Each tentacle is about 4 inches long with a center diameter 0f 3-5 inches.

An LFS guy said this could be an issue, once he got this big? What are your experiences... Do I need to pull the cord on this starfish?

 

I dont have any personal expierence with them but this is just what i read about them,

 

Yes I do believe that serpent stars eat fish, with green serpents being the most trouble some. This comes from personal experience and numerious stories from others. Fish can fall prey when sick, weak or sleeping. A serpent star is not going pass up a meal of fish, and it soon becomes a learned behavior.

 

I've had my smaller fish disappear as well and blamed my green serpent star... Since I make a point of spot feeding both the brittle and serpent stars, ...the unexplainable disapperences have gone down...hum...