Mini brittle star rampage

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user 26995

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Mar 31, 2009
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I think I avoided a catastrophe this evening.
I was going to transfer my black ocellaris clowns from the 75 gal tank to the 90 gal tank. I had netted the female and was in the process of trying to net the male and noticed the water was starting to cloud up a little. I looked closer and all the mini brittlestars were crawling up out of the rocks and some of them looked like they were escreting something. A cloudy fluid was coming from them. Almost like they were melting but they were not dying. They were however climing out of the rocks like they were trying to get away or out of the water. I've got a LOT of mini brittle stars and some of them are big! The water was continuing to get cloudier. Some of the zoas closed up, the toadstool leather closed up and a couple sps started to slime. I did a good size water change and put an extra filter with carbon in the tank. It has all pretty well cleared up. The coral all looks good and the brittle stars all went back into the rocks, but that was weired and scarry. The nets were in and out of the water for about 5 minutes. They are stored in a bucket with no chemicals or anything. What could have caused the reaction like that with the brittle stars and do they excrete poisons? Could the toadstool leather give off a chemical to start a reaction like that? I did hit the toadstool with the net a couple times and it was all closed up, but I didnt see anything coming from it.
 
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They're spawning, not really anything to worry about. Mine do it every once in a while and I have noticed it at least 2X during large water changes. If anything, it's probably benificial food for the tank.
 
Oh wow...Thanks for the response...If thats the case, then OMG I'm gonna have millions of them....that was wild to see though. I'm not so freeked out about it now.
 
YOu will get a few more for sure but I owuld imagine its feeding time for a whole buch of things in you tank.

Mojo
 
Yeah, theres a lot of coral in my tank, but not as much as there is in some peoples tanks. Always something new happening and something new to learn about. So cool.
 
If by chance I am lucky enought to witness it again, I will try to get video.
 

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