JasonDReef
New member
Brittle stars... Good?, bad? How many small ones is too many? Predator?
Brittle stars
- Thread starter JasonDReef
- Start date
when you say small, do you mean the tiny hitchhikers or do you mean the small ones in the lfs invert section?
i have 2 smallish ones in my 29g. i have one ginormous one in my 14g. i'm excited to get them moved to their new home, a 75g sometime in the next couple of months.
this is my big guy
<a href="http://s6.photobucket.com/user/Ninapearl/media/brittlestar_zps3def3b23.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y203/Ninapearl/brittlestar_zps3def3b23.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo brittlestar_zps3def3b23.jpg"/></a>
one of the smaller ones
<a href="http://s6.photobucket.com/user/Ninapearl/media/yellowbrittlestar_zps15aeac6c.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y203/Ninapearl/yellowbrittlestar_zps15aeac6c.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo yellowbrittlestar_zps15aeac6c.jpg"/></a>
i have 2 smallish ones in my 29g. i have one ginormous one in my 14g. i'm excited to get them moved to their new home, a 75g sometime in the next couple of months.
this is my big guy
<a href="http://s6.photobucket.com/user/Ninapearl/media/brittlestar_zps3def3b23.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y203/Ninapearl/brittlestar_zps3def3b23.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo brittlestar_zps3def3b23.jpg"/></a>
one of the smaller ones
<a href="http://s6.photobucket.com/user/Ninapearl/media/yellowbrittlestar_zps15aeac6c.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y203/Ninapearl/yellowbrittlestar_zps15aeac6c.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo yellowbrittlestar_zps15aeac6c.jpg"/></a>
JasonDReef
New member
By small I mean from 1/2 inch to 2 inch diameter... Three inchers being the few big ones... The situation is I started basically starving the tank hoping the population would diminish... It did not! I actually started losing cleaner shrimp and other inverts immediately!!! And I wasn't starving it that bad. I think the larger ones if not a different species started hunting due to lack of food. I soaked just half of my rock in ro.... One rock held over 20 brittle stars alone!!! Too many? I think so! Everything seems much healthier after the soaking action... Any other species I should watch out for or might have had?
smtank
New member
The Brittle star you describe is harmless and are not capable of killing a healthy shrimp or other larger inverts. Honestly I do not think any intervention was warranted other than cutting back on feedings.
You should instead strive for a natural environment that consist of many different hitch-hiker, most of them harmless and beneficial.
The intervention of soaking the rock in ro had a more detrimental affect on the tank than those brittle stars ever could.
You should instead strive for a natural environment that consist of many different hitch-hiker, most of them harmless and beneficial.
The intervention of soaking the rock in ro had a more detrimental affect on the tank than those brittle stars ever could.
JasonDReef
New member
Agree to disagree! And there is overpopulation in nature, until a species or disease comes along to put the population in check! Well the aquarium being isolated will not get that species hopefully not that disease! I did cut back on feeding with no positive signs... Many people said what you are saying and many said other things.... Each situation requires an in depth look at the entire ecosystem within the aquarium.... Not everyone is going to have the same results from simple actions...
