Brittle Stars?

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Crustyshellback

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
May 17, 2015
Messages
50
Location
Mid Missouri
Hello. I'm a freshwater enthusiast who just made the plunge into saltwater so to speak. I just set up a 29 gallon Biocube, and found out that my live rock is housing a bunch of tube worms, a couple of small sponges, and at least 3 brittle stars. Is there any chance they will survive the cycling process? Is there anything I can do? Do I want the sponges and brittle stars to survive? I've read that some brittle stars can be aggressive. I have no idea about the sponges. Any thoughts? Thanks.
 
I'm sure most of it will either survive or come back after the cycle. The stars you see in the tank are nowhere near big enough to hurt anything
 
That's good to hear. My intention is to have a few small fish (clown, cardinal, goby) and a couple of shrimp. Do you think the shrimp would be safe with the brittle stars?
 
Yep they'll be fine. The only reason it might go for something is if that animal is already dying
 
Yeah I have a 4 year old serpent star whose huge and he hasn't touched any of the other animals in my tank.
 
think your meaning these little guys (Asternia star) there harmless and will die off in time , if you have lots of these it's a good indicator of over feeding , bad part is some can get a taste for zoas ,
 

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this is one of my serpent stars reaching out for food he is king of the tank 12 inch in diameter
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I have about a dozen of these in multiple colors and sizes all are harmless , except the green guys they can be nasty ,

brittle stars are similar to serpents just hairier looking
p-80402-seastar.jpg

these are also harmless
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No. they are definitely brittle stars. I'm a diver from way back and I have seen them many times. Long thin bristled arms, move way faster than any other starfish. Your picture looks a lot like what I've got only these are probably less than 3 inches across.
 
ok now I know the ones your talking about , they probably hitched in on the rock you put in your tank . they most likely will survive your cycle depending if theirs any type of food source , a easy way of catching them is a tall glass laying on its side raised up about a inch on open side bait with small chunk shrimp , this is the best time since your cycling anyway the shrimp will help with ammonia source ,

place it close to rocks , they come out at night to feed so that's the best time to catch them , yes these guys are fast if you don't catch them they will die off overtime if you only feed your tank what the fish will eat up fast
 
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