thousands of tiny starfish in my livesand

[moksha]

Is this normal? I know live sand is alive with beneficial bacteria, but also with all these starfish? It is way cool because if any food hits the bottom, they start on it immediately, so I dont need to worry about any decay.
I just brought it up since I started noticing more and more of them, can anyone say if they are harmful? I can't see the harm so far.

 

[mark-24]

Well, what do they look like, there are many different species of sea stars. While the majority of them are pretty good, some of the larger ones have been known to eat corals. But changes are that they are some type of brittle star, extremely good in reef tanks. Do they have a center 'disk' and 5 tentacles? You also said that as soon as the food hit the floor, they went over there, which means they are pretty quick another sign they're brittle stars.
-Mark

 

[chocostar]

I could almost garuntee you that they are brittles! You are very lucky and should be excited. I had the same luck tonight with a piece of soft coral (on live rock) that was LOADED with brittles. I put them all into a hospital tank so that I could keep them safe until they grew a little bigger.

 

[moksha]

Thanks guys,
Yes, they do have the center disc and 5 tentacles, so I am thinking they are brittles as well. I've noticed them growing as well, which is pretty cool, a few weeks ago they were all very tiny, now some are getting bigger discs. I saw large brittles in the store, and they look like mini-versions. Since my tank is mostly FOWLR and a clean-up crew, I should be OK?
Should I try feeding them more? They are almost like my clean-up crew, they get the food before my hermits can.
I wonder how fast they grow?
Thanks for the responses, I didn't really know if that was the "live" in livesand.

 

[silent bob]

if they're white they're bad, get rid of them if so, they destroy tanks quickley, if they're not white they probaly brittle stars

 

[green mariner]

Silent Bob, Why do you say they are bad?
They actually are very good, many of us have bought them to help with exactly what moksha
described, they are also excellent detriviours!!

 

[silent bob]

they eat corals!, my friend found out.