hitch hiking star fish

[Grenade Glass]

Found this little guy hanging onto a rock that had some zoas I bought today from Caribbean forest. What is this star fish called, and is it safe to add to my tank? I figure at its current size it couldn't do much harm but down the road I don't want a monster that's eating my fish and corals. I have a 30G reef, with mostly Zoas, a Cap, a Candy colony, small leather and some GSP's. do you think its a bad idea for my small reef?

 

[dreaminmel]

Beneficial mini brittle star. Great to have as part of "the crew".

 

[TimmyNY]

yep I have a ton of them dont expect to see them very often

Tim

 

[motortrendz]

theyre great... you got an added bonus good deal

 

[EllieSuz]

Every now and then one of these gets caught in the flow and zooms helplessly around my tank. I am amused by such little things. I have scads of them and they seem to stay around the size of the one in your picture.

 

[superkat]

keeper!

 

[eugeneK]

if you dont want him i'll take him off your hands
joking, they are good and i've been asking every reefer for some sand in hopes of getting some.

 

[shawna1972]

They are my favorite hitchhiker

 

[superkat]

if you dont want him i'll take him off your hands
joking, they are good and i've been asking every reefer for some sand in hopes of getting some.

i'm going to be doing some restacking here of the 90g and the 55g aggressive. I know i have tons in each tank. I'll put some aside for you and PM you when I've got them.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

most likely

most likely

Ophiactis algicola

ironically, I couldn't find many of these in my aquarium last weekend but just yesterday I found the largest specimen that I'd ever seen. I took a pic of it but deleted it Wed. afternoon.

 

[Grenade Glass]

Wow, thanks for the response guys! I put him in, and it quickly disappeared into the rock work. Does anyone know how they reproduce? I wonder if I will end up with a bunch in a few months or if he will be a lonely starfish the rest of his life.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

they reproduce sexually by pumping gametes into a moving water column. I have a pic somewhere.........