Micro brittle question

[Kbeck]

1. Would this be considered a micro brittle? It is bigger than what I expected.
2. I just upsized my tank and moved all my rock over plus added some more. Once I get a good bacteria load on the new rock I want to remove some of the older rock. Any suggestions on how to lure out the micro stars so I don’t remove them with the rock?
3. Unrelated but how big is too big for bristle worms? I removed and killed one that was about 8” long. I hated to do it but I didn’t trust leaving it in the tank.

 

[Kamden Uelton]

That isn't a Micro Brittle, I don't remember the name of this species but they reproduce as fast as Micro Brittles.

EDIT: It's hard to manually remove them, You may have to buy a something that preys on them, and 8 inches is HUGE for a bristle worm.

 

[Kbeck]

I have seen 3 separate sets of tentacles coming out of 3 separate rocks. I think 4 but it is possible it was 1 star coming out of multiple holes. Although it was 3 tentacles from 1 hole and 2 from another. Is it safe to assume these are also good hitchhikers?

 

[Kamden Uelton]

I have true micro brittle stars and they are very beneficial, They seem to extend their little arms when I feed my Crinoid and NPS coral food. If there numbers bother you, you could either purchase a Bongo Shrimp (eats brittle stars) or buy a Seagrass Wrasse which eats EVERY invert, If you have shrimp don't get the wrasse.

 

[Kbeck]

No I like them, but that is part of my problem. I get excited about every little creature I find in my tank. I’m going to be removing some rock in a month or two and I want to get as many out of the exiting rock and keep the stars in my tank.

 

[Kamden Uelton]

I harvest mine every now and then to sell to my friend that owns a Bongo Shrimp, I leave some rocks in a small uncovered container in the tank. I leave a lot of food in the container and wait overnight. You should be able to harvest them using that method.

 

[Kbeck]

Thank you,

 

[DSC reef]

Looks to be a banded brittle starfish. (Ophiocoma scolopendrina) They get large, almost a foot I believe. We kept a large one and made sure it was fed often with squid and silver sides once it hit 10". There omnivores and can feed on left overs but once it got so big I was worried about our smaller fish.

 

[Rakie]

There's a lot of small brittle stars that pass for Micro Brittle Stars. I think I don't have true "micro" brittle stars, but mine top out at about 1.5". I've had them for years and they don't get any bigger than that, and they breed like crazy (which I don't mind at all).

I have hundreds of "micro" brittle stars, and asterina. They're beneficial, they only hit that number if your tank has what they need to survive. I feed lots of particulate food and it keeps their numbers high. So, don't worry about them.

I'll also say, as @DSC reef has said, the "micro" brittle stars I have look exactly like a standard brittle starfish -- They just don't grow past 1.5" -- So you may have what I have.