mini white brittlestars

[dragonboy]

Anyone here have problems with these guys they are eatting up my coralline destorying the beautiful purple color on my rock. What can I do to rid of these guys?

 

[bigarn]

I've never heard of them eating coralline. :thinking:

 

[laxwarrior]

well if they are a considerablesize then you can get a tube with krillin it and leave it for 5 minutes and they will come up to it and just catch em.Because if these are big brittle stars they are know to eat other fish.
joss

 

[nm reef]

mini brittle stars destroying coraline?
Not that I've ever seen....I try to encourage them to populate both my display and my refugium....I've got some...not near enough...and what I have has never caused me concern.:thinking:

 

[dogstar]

Are you talking about tinny like the head no bigger than this >O ,I got tons of them in my sand. My twinspot wrasse would tail whip the sand to kick them out and then go pick off a few as they float back down. That was a cool fish. But I dont think I ever saw any on the rocks.

 

[dragonboy]

I'm talking about the tiny white stars that can't get any bigger than a thumb tack. But I'll post a pic showing coralline with white spots where those star have left their trail.

 

[ophiura]

Brittlestars or seastars????
I think you mean Asterina stars, which are not brittlestars, but seastars.
Yes, they have been known to eat coralline (brittlestars do not).
In most cases, coralline grows back quickly, especially considering the rate at which a seastar can consume it.
There are not too many ways to get rid of them effectively...some people may buy them (since I am assuming most have quickly growing coralline).
You could just remove them by hand. I am not a fan of adding specialist feeders (such as harlequin shrimp) to remove such things.
Do you see coralline growth in general in your tank? If not, you may wish to address the causes of that.

 

[dragonboy]

Plenty of coralline growth and you can tell its cause my the stars cause of the spots it left behind by the stars. I'm just gonna remove them by hand.

 

[coastie55g]

i think i have the same little guys in my tank.. all of mine the one foot is more developed then the others. kinda kool look and they are usually bleach white..

 

[ophiura]

Why remove them if you have plenty of coralline growth? They are a normal part of the ecosystem and add diversity to the tank. I am just not sure why you would fight a potentially losing battle (they are tough to completely erradicate) when the animal really isn't doing much harm?

 

[dragonboy]

Here is what the star's done to my rock.

 

[ophiura]

It won't regrow? By all means remove it if you want. Some definitely overstay their welcome. I'll believe ya. I'd take them if you were close by.
Also wouold like to clarify, are these seastars or brittlestars. I am not sure how the brittlestars could do this. The seastars excrete digestive juices and so probably would be more likely culprits. Brittlestars do not do this.

 

[dragonboy]

They are the Asterina stars the white mini furry looking one. The populations of them got bigger when I had only one before now there are like 40 to 50 of them. Well the coralline can regrow is just that once there are so many of them they can eat up most of the coralline and leave the rock white. These guys can reproduce pretty fast.