Mini Starrs

[cb]

I would like to have some mini stars for my sand bed the tiny ones that stay in the sand mostly does anyone know if they stay little like that and if the are safe in the tank for the sand and other inhabitants. I have also read that they don't ship well does any know if this is true?

 

[dburr]

They stay little and are reef safe. I don't know if they ship well, mine came on LR or a coral, not sure.

 

[ophiura]

Do you mean little brittlestars, or little seastars (as posted by Lesa in a recent thread...search for Asterina). The little seastars do nothing for a sand bed. The little white brittlestars are very common in our tanks and if you have LR, you probably already have them. They reproduce easily and will not get larger than about the size of a nickel. They are very good little scavengers.

 

[bang guy]

ophiura - are there species that stay in the rock vs sand or are they all the same?
My rocks are teaming with the mini-brittle stars but I have yet to see one in the sand. I was thinking of buying some sand bed mini-brittles, but if they are the same specie then I don't really want to do that.

 

[cb]

Where can you buy the mini brittles from?

 

[ophiura]

There are tiny white ones, about the size of a nickel that hang out just about everywhere...they have relatively short arms. Then there are forms with much longer (and generally striped) arms that tend to hide in holes in the rock and extend only their arms. I have a few pictures at:
Map to the 'stars (which is not finished yet )
The tiny white one is Amphipholis. The size armed species are common in refugia (an Ophiactis sp). Below is the arm of another common one, and Amphiurid brittlestar, with banded arms sticking out of the holes in rocks.

 

[cb]

Can you buy the tiny white ones that stay in the sand from anyone?

 

[phil1964]

I love the little white ones as in the pic above.
So do my pepermints