brittle star?
Printed From: Utah Reefs
Category: Help
Forum Name: General Help
Forum Description: The place to ask about pest, problems, hitchhikers, etc.
URL: http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=44567
Printed Date: April 17 2024 at 11:41pm
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Topic: brittle star?
Posted By: Davidwillis
Subject: brittle star?
Date Posted: November 08 2010 at 12:09am
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Hey, I just found this little thing in with a coral. I think it is just a little brittle star, but wanted to make sure it was safe to put in my tank first. Thanks  |
Replies:
Posted By: SGH360
Date Posted: November 08 2010 at 12:21am
| yup thats a brittle star i have probably about the same size, its living inside a hole on a sponge, i thought it was some kind of parasite. |
Posted By: Davidwillis
Date Posted: November 08 2010 at 12:34am
| Thanks... I will dump him in then.. |
Posted By: Chad
Date Posted: November 08 2010 at 12:38am
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Those guys are a great addition to your tank! ------------- What?! You pooped in the refrigerator, and ate the entire wheel of cheese?! I'm not even mad.... That's actually amazing! |
Posted By: bfessler
Date Posted: November 08 2010 at 7:29am
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I have probably 100 in my tank. They don't bother anything and are a great addition to the clean up crew. They stay hidden most of the time and my grandkids like to see how many of them they can find. I have one very large brittle star. It must be 8" across. As soon as I feed the tank it starts waving its arms around trying to catch food as it passes by. ------------- Burt An equal opportunity reefer, I support all hobbyists and organizations involved in Marine Aquarium Keeping. [email protected] |
Posted By: Davidwillis
Date Posted: November 08 2010 at 10:49am
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Thats great. I thought it would be good, but wanted to make sure. Thanks
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Posted By: Jeffs_little_ocean
Date Posted: November 08 2010 at 11:14am
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I have thousands in my tank...literally.....  ------------- Life is good....right? |
Posted By: Ryan Thompson
Date Posted: November 08 2010 at 5:22pm
| Time for a Harlequin Shrimp, Jeff! |
Posted By: Davidwillis
Date Posted: November 08 2010 at 5:22pm
| wow, that is a lot of brittle stars... |
Posted By: Jeffs_little_ocean
Date Posted: November 08 2010 at 5:34pm
I totally agree Ryan. Ive bought a harleguin shrimp twice. Both times it lived about a month and then disapeared. I never saw it, but I think my cleaner shrimp kills them. He is pretty agressive. Its hard to pay $30-35 for something that you doubt will survive. Ive just been sucking out the asterina's when I do water changes, but I still have way too many of them in there. If I can find a good deal on two harlequin's, I might try two and see if that helps with survival. ------------- Life is good....right? |
Ryan Thompson wrote:Posted By: Chad
Date Posted: November 08 2010 at 9:44pm
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I love my harlequin shrimp ------------- What?! You pooped in the refrigerator, and ate the entire wheel of cheese?! I'm not even mad.... That's actually amazing! |
Posted By: Jeffs_little_ocean
Date Posted: November 08 2010 at 11:37pm
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Chad whats the best price you can get on harlequin shrimp, and is there a discount if we get a group order, say 10 or more? They are super cool looking creatures! ------------- Life is good....right? |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: November 09 2010 at 7:45am
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Are the Stars harming anything? Do they stay hidden during the day? I have serviced tanks that had millions of small Stars like that. Those Stars were great filter feeders and the tanks did very well, even had clownfish breeding from which we raised the baby clownfish. I wonder if that many Sea Stars is an indication of a tank that has plenty of food for them? I wonder if changing what is fed and how it's fed would reduce the population? Could you acclimate the Harlequin in a submerged container for 2-5 days, feeding it the stars so that it not only gets a good taste for them but allows the other shrimp to see that it is no threat? Or is the Cleaner Shrimp also feeding on Stars and sees the Harlequin as competition? ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member 
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Posted By: Jeffs_little_ocean
Date Posted: November 09 2010 at 11:25am
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No Mark the stars arent harming anything. I actually like having that many brittle stars in there and yes I do feed my tank on the heavy side just to make sure nothing is ever hungry. Its the asterina star population that at times seems to be at an epic overinfestation, thus the attempt for a harlequin invervention. Plus I just like the watching harlequin's because they are so cool looking. Anyway, no Ive never seen my cleaner shrimp eating the brittle stars but that is a good idea on using a container for acclimation with the threat issue. Next time I will try that. Thanks ------------- Life is good....right? |
Posted By: Lewy
Date Posted: November 09 2010 at 12:13pm
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Jeff, are they hard to catch? Ever concider giving any away? ------------- 40 gal w/ 20 sump |
Posted By: Jeffs_little_ocean
Date Posted: November 09 2010 at 12:30pm
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Lewy, Ive never tried? I throw away tons of asterina stars with each waterchange, but the brittle stars are usually in the rocks with just their legs sticking out, so I would imagine catching them would be a challenge. ------------- Life is good....right? |
Posted By: Lewy
Date Posted: November 09 2010 at 1:22pm
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No biggie, I just thought they looked pretty cool. ------------- 40 gal w/ 20 sump |
Posted By: kay181
Date Posted: November 09 2010 at 5:58pm
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lewy if you want some and are ever down my way stop in all give you some i like them i have a bunch ------------- day light scares me im going back under |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: November 10 2010 at 7:33am
I would bet that the overfeeding is not only creating a large population of Stars, but you can probably identify several other populations that are increasing because of the abundant food. Is there a large cleanup crew of Snails, Hermits and even a Cucumber or two in the tank? For what its worth, my rule of thumb is to underfeed. I've noticed that fish will keep eating until they almost burst. They are programmed to eat all they can when it is avaiable. In the wild, there are times of feast and times of famine. I have found that hungry fish are healthier fish, because they are picking at live food growing in the tank. About once a week I feed a "Thanksgiving Dinner". This is probably a different concept than most hobbyists, but it works for me. It helps the tank stay on the low side of dissolved nutrients (N & P compounds) with a temporary increase after the heavy feeding. I have found that fish excretions are enough to feed a lot of life in the tank. Of course, what works for me may not work for anyone else. Remember, I'm the weird hobbyist that keeps my non-skimmed tanks in the bright sun for much of the day.  ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
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Posted By: Jake Pehrson
Date Posted: November 10 2010 at 9:10pm
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I used to think the same thing about the Asterina stars until I had a major outbreak. They were everywhere and started to cover corals. I would get rid of them if possible... I agree with Mark on underfeeding. It is always best to underfeed.------------- Jake Pehrson Murray http://coralplanet.com" rel="nofollow - coralplanet.com http://utahbeeranch.com" rel="nofollow - :) |