Mini brittle stars everywhere

falesdk

New member
Hello,

My father has what is probably thousands of mini brittle stars in his tank. So many that to feed his small anemone (3 inches or so fully open) he has to stand there and poke at the legs coming out of he rock, because they will steal the silverfish right from the anemones mouth.

I noticed tonight that I have a lot as well, not nearly as many, but certainly more than enough. Is there any way to reduce these numbers, or keep their population in check, without harming the rest of the fish?

Thanks a lot!
 
Ours came in on some cheato I believe, thats one of the few things we've gotten at the same time from the same place. It is kinda of neat to watch their arms poking out of rocks but when they start stealing food from the corals, it may be time to back off. :)
 
Hmm. I have had a lot for a while and have had no problems. Every tank is different. Mine get a litle bigger than a half dollar.
 
I have no idea how big these are really, as they dont ever come out of the rocks. I have picked a few out when cutting back the macro and they have been I think about the size of a quarter. Its not so much size I'm worried about so much as quantity.
 
IMO I like to feed heavy and skim heavy. The stars will let you feed heavy. I wouldn't do this if you don't have a good skimmer. Just bc the food gets eaten doesn't mean there is no waste. JMO

I know I'm leaving a lot unsaid. Pick me apart. LOL
 
feel free to send me some too, i'll even pay... i've been looking to buy these for quite some time now. can't find 'em.


J.
 
well geez, I've got a bunch of flat rate shipping boxes, if I ever decide to manually remove some of the stars I'll post in here somewhere if people are willing to pay for the flat rate shipping, I'd be glad to give em away. I think for now I'm too lazy to do it by hand though ( as I said they stay in the rocks and I think I'd probably end up ripping off arms trying to get them out)

If anyone knows a good way to lure them from the rocks I could probably be convinced to do this sooner, maybe even pick through my fathers tank.

But in the meantime thanks a lot for the responses guess I'll just deal with it if I end up with as many as my father has. :-D
 
I'll take as many as you can catch! Just tell me where to send the money. If you get serious about thinning them out post this in the sellers thread. But only after you send mine! LOL
 
I had a bloom of them in my tank when it was about a year old. There were thousands of them. The population declined on its own. I don't think the fish ate them, they just ran out of whatever it is that they eat. I still have some, but only one here and there.
 
Re: Mini brittle stars everywhere

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12977571#post12977571 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by falesdk
Hello,

My father has what is probably thousands of mini brittle stars in his tank. So many that to feed his small anemone (3 inches or so fully open) he has to stand there and poke at the legs coming out of he rock, because they will steal the silverfish right from the anemones mouth.

I noticed tonight that I have a lot as well, not nearly as many, but certainly more than enough. Is there any way to reduce these numbers, or keep their population in check, without harming the rest of the fish?

Thanks a lot!


arlequin shrimp only feed on live stars :)
they look amazing aswell...thats a pretty safe and natural way you can cut the star population back

http://www.marinecenter.com/inverts/shrimps/harlequinshrimp/
 
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