brittle stars

[tjk971]

Got a new piece of rock for my tank. It is loaded with brittle stars. They keep coming out and standing up on there tips and spraying a red stuff into the water. Should I be worried one for having somany stars and two the red spray. Thanks Tom K

 

[lvsuckerfish]

do you have a photo never heard of a brittle star spraying anything especially red

 

[tjk971]

No photo they only did it once but it was all of them.

 

[freakin]

Maybe they were rioting. Like in Thailand.

Are you positive on your ID? Brittle stars are helpful. How many do you think you have?

 

[tjk971]

Around 30 of them. After they did that they all went back into the rocks. It was real wierd.

 

[Romewhip]

My brittle stars do that whenever I've done a major water change. Hasn't ever done anything to the tank, harmless. If I remeber rightly that's how they get rid of waste. It's kind of funny, like they're doing The Twist.

 

[Chichas01]

they are spawning....induced by moving into your system. Mine did the same thing when I moved rock I bought into my system.

 

[Shane and John]

Exactly correct...Spawning..I have seen this in my Tank many times...And I have wayyy to many!!! Good Call Chichas

 

[tjk971]

Thank you all for the info. Should I worry about having too many in my tank.

 

[Shane and John]

Dude..I ask the same question...so far I have had no ill effects...and I literally had 5 or 6 come off of a small Acan frag that got mounted yesterday...My Buddy tells me they are great as they are filter feeders!

 

[tjk971]

Nice to know. It is hard to figure what to put in and have and what not to have. It is so nice so far I just don't want to screw it up. Now what are the type of fish that are good for a reef in a 29 gallon tank.

 

[Skimmy]

the mini stars are great.... excellent detrivores
and yep, they spawn at the drop of a hat.

 

[Skimmy]

sorry, double post...

 

[returnofsid]

In Angie's Nano, I see them spawn every few weeks. It seems every star in the tank will climb to the highest point, stand on a couple of legs, waving back and forth while spewing clouds into the water. No harm at all. I never see this happen in our other tanks, just in the Nano.