Brittle Stars

[jaBX1]

So i must have hundreds in my tank. every crevice of rock i see 1-5 tentacles.
For the most part they are fine but they must smell food because whenever i feed the arms come out! They must be getting large because some arms are over 1.5" long. i notice they tend to touch corals and cause them to retract.

i know that these little guys are beneficial and scavenge helping to clean.
but is there a limit? should i try to take out the ones who've gotten too big?

 

[KathyC]

So i must have hundreds in my tank. every crevice of rock i see 1-5 tentacles.
For the most part they are fine but they must smell food because whenever i feed the arms come out! They must be getting large because some arms are over 1.5" long. i notice they tend to touch corals and cause them to retract.

i know that these little guys are beneficial and scavenge helping to clean.
but is there a limit? should i try to take out the ones who've gotten too big?

They won't get any bigger than maybe an inch.
Likely you are putting too much food in the tank, and their population will grow in proportion to the amount of available food.

If you are coming to the swap, I'm sure many folks would like to take your extra micro stars to put in their own tanks. You could also trade them for small frags, sell them or just post them on the Freebie Thread

 

[jaBX1]

good idea.
thanks for the reply