When are there too many stars?

[Pitcom]

I was wondering if anyone else has the amount of brittle stars i do. When i spot feed the tank, i literally have 100+ 1"-2" brittle stars coming out of every crack in every rock. Will these guys eventually get big? Some of the legs sticking out of the rock are 2 " long.. They never come out of the rock though, even if i turn off the flow, they just seem like they live inside the rocks, and come out to sniff when i feed. Should i thin them out, or just leave em be, as im sure they are tank cleaners.

here is a pic..its crappy but u get the idea...

 

[roshi719]

Are you sure they are stars? Kinda sounds like Bristleworms to me. I'm guessing they kinda have a bit of a pinkish/orangish color to them.

 

[Pitcom]

Are you sure they are stars? Kinda sounds like Bristleworms to me. I'm guessing they kinda have a bit of a pinkish/orangish color to them.

No, they are stars, they are all charcoal colored. They are baby brittle stars. I got some live rock out of the coral tank at my lfs about a year or so ago and they had 2 huge brittle stars in the tank. Some small ones ended up being in the rock and after a year in my system it just seems like there is a zillion now.

 

[stylaster]

i have a bunch too, they are grey and black stripped. They never get much bigger then a quarter, awesome little guys. I would leave them be or give some to friends so they can get a collector going, they make great cleanup crews

 

[Pitcom]

i have a bunch too, they are grey and black stripped. They never get much bigger then a quarter, awesome little guys. I would leave them be or give some to friends so they can get a collector going, they make great cleanup crews

Thats exactly what mine look, matter of fact ill go take a picture of their legs hanging out of the rocks. Although a few of mine are bigger than half dollars.

 

[Emc]

I have thousands too. They are completly harmless and fairly beneficial. If you check your refugium you might find them in your chaeto or whatever macro you have growing.

 

[Pitcom]

I have thousands too. They are completly harmless and fairly beneficial. If you check your refugium you might find them in your chaeto or whatever macro you have growing.

Yeah i have a ton of the little white ones in my fuge. These guys are different though. What am getting at is I am wondering how big these guys are going to get. If I'm seeing legs 2 inches long than its probably rhat the star is 3-4" big. BTW Mike told me what he said he'd sell the dendro for, he is crazy!

 

[Emc]

Yeah i have a ton of the little white ones in my fuge. These guys are different though. What am getting at is I am wondering how big these guys are going to get. If I'm seeing legs 2 inches long than its probably rhat the star is 3-4" big. BTW Mike told me what he said he'd sell the dendro for, he is crazy!

No, I'm not talking about the asterinas in my fuge. I see the micro brittle stars in there as well. I really wouldn't worry about it. I've never seen any of them bigger than a few inches and every reeference book I've read (I'm a book junkie) discusses them as beneficial.

The question is whether I'm as crazy as Mike. :)

 

[Pitcom]

No, I'm not talking about the asterinas in my fuge. I see the micro brittle stars in there as well. I really wouldn't worry about it. I've never seen any of them bigger than a few inches and every reeference book I've read (I'm a book junkie) discusses them as beneficial.

The question is whether I'm as crazy as Mike. :)

No the white ones aren't asterina. I have a crapola of tiny white brittle stars that are smaller than a dime. I'm gonna pull one out and one of the larger ones out and do a side by side shot. Honestly that's just throwing money away if thats what it'd take to make the dendros walk.