Brittle Stars

[ReeferMama]

i noticed after i bought some live rock that 2 brittle starts appeared. well i saw their legs dangling out of some holes. very small, brown and blue striped w spiky legs. i did some research and found out they were brittle stars and they like to come out at night.

my question was, will they ever come out so i can see them? should i be feeding them anything special?

ill try to get a pic of them when they come out again.

 

[dcantucson]

Hi again. My live rock has tons of those mini Brittle Stars. Usually I only see their little arms as well, but occasionally I will see one scoot across the substrate. At first when I saw one I thought that my regular Brittles had reproduced. I was very excited, but soon realized that it was one of the mimi ones. I have on occasion come across one while doing maintenance and messing with stuff and actually picked one up.

You probably have more of them than you've seen. As far as feeding them, that's a good question. I have never feed mine though I think they basically will eat left overs just as the big ones do. Which means they have to come out of those little holes they hide in.

 

[John]

I have a few brittles in my tank. They are great scavengers. I rarely see them in the day but they come out at night. I dont feed anything specific as they seem to find their own food

 

[Smitty]

+1 to Dcan and John.

 

[ReeferMama]

Thanx for the replies!

Another question, i know i have some small brittleworms, which i know r not good. there r tiny, only 1/2 in to 1 in. my removal method is simply plucking them out w tweezers.

r they harmful to my brittle stars? should i b worried?

 

[Bifferwine]

The bristleworms are actually good. They are some of the best cleaners you can have in your tank, and you should leave them alone. They will not harm any of your animals. Just the opposite -- they will help keep your sand and rocks clean.

 

[ReeferMama]

Really!? i wonder y the fish store people told me the opposite. i was told that they sting. my sis got stung by one when the tank was at my moms.

ok, ill stop removing them

thanx

 

[AdeptMrSniffles]

My brittle star is always visible, atleast his legs are, but he's not a mini one. I pick him up in my hand and feed him some mysis while feeding my Duncan coral. He's super cool.

 

[dcantucson]

Really!? i wonder y the fish store people told me the opposite. i was told that they sting. my sis got stung by one when the tank was at my moms.

ok, ill stop removing them

thanx

Your right they do produce a nasty sting so be careful about touching them, however like Biff said they are beneficial to our systems.

 

[yote]

The only 2 worms thats actually bad for your tank,are the caribbean fire worms and eunicid worms.Both are coral predators.
But its rare to get the fireworms any more because its illegal to harvest caribbean rock from the reefs.
The largest caught eunicid worm was about 20ft.They say they can get up to 50ft long.

 

[ReeferMama]

Wow! thats big.

Thanx to everyone.

Much appreciation.