What is this? Starfish babies?

[rascole]

Anyone know what this is? I was upgrading my ASM G6 with a bigger pump and for the last few days I have had the doors off of the tank stand and at night and in the morning we noticed alot of Copepod activity, but the we saw these little critters, at least a 100, moving pretty quick through out the Matala filter. They look like little star fish.

 

[rascole]

Photo 2

Photo 2

 

[ReefingFreak]

mini brittle starfish. I have a bunch in my tank. harmless

 

[rascole]

Great, they are all in the sump. There are about 100 of these guys.

 

[ReefingFreak]

I love them, they are more in my rock and all you see are their little arms coming out of the rock trying to get food.

 

[tom499]

great for picking up extra food your fish have missed.

 

[rascole]

It's funny, I never really spent much time just looking in the sump. It's amazing the amount of activity that goes on down there. I plan on leaving the doors off for a few more days to enjoy them.

 

[IAReefer]

Yep, def. baby stars. I couldnt count how many I have in my tank. I bought a nice 50 head trumpet from a fellow reefer. I put it in a 5 gallon bucket and by the time i got home there were about 50 of these little guys that came out of that coral. I scooped up everything one and put them in my tank.

its funny you mention the activity in the sump. Ive taken several video's of my sump and all the life in there and I havent taken one of the display. Dont know why, but I spend as much time checking out the critters in my sump as I do in the actual display...

 

[rssjsb]

Well, they're not really babies - they stay small. They are great members of the CUC, though.

 

[Jeremy Snyder]

I can not find these microstars anywhere in stock for a feasible amount of money. Anyone seen them for sale?

 

[AJSTITAN14]

You might be able to get them at a frag swap although Im surprised that you don't have any in your tank. Stars are ubiquitous in the oceans.

 

[tom499]

your lfs live rock tank is the best place to find them. not sure what they would charge though.

 

[Jeremy Snyder]

The only saltwater store in my area frowned upon having to dig them out. I told him I didn't just want them for free but would pay a reasonable price for them. I'm on vacation Aug 29th - Sept 5th, but would be willing to purchase some from someone here and have them ship Priority Mail, flat rate. I'm thinking like 25ish would be a good start.

 

[mndfreeze]

As others have said, you should meet some local reefers. I find it hard to find a tank that doesn't have them. Then buy some rock or something from someone who has em and can spare a few pieces. In a few months you will have a massive amount of them.

 

[BEASTIEPENDENT]

Must be http://www.reeflex.net/tiere/2956_Amphipholis_squamata.htm or a very similar species (since You probably have them not from East Atlantic or Mediterranean). Oh no, I just see that it is common in the Pacific at US coasts either. However: Harmless and often hiding in the sand.

 

[LeslieH]

Not necessarily Ollie. Squamata shouldn't be in a tropical tank. There are a lot of these little species, very hard to tell them apart.

 

[BEASTIEPENDENT]

Hi Leslie,

yeah, You're right. But are they of one genus or are there even more genera with these?

 

[LeslieH]

Lots of species, lots of genera. We all fall into this trap of only thinking about the few species we know. I tend to turn every unknown into a worm of some sort, right or wrong!