too many serpants

[reefstar]

do i have too many serpant starfish?, my tank is in its cycle and i was looking at my lr that i added and there were at LEAST 10 serpant starfish crawling around my rocks, all babies about half an inch long. so i was woundering about how big they get and if i have too many?

 

[reefkprz]

those are not babies persay (some may be young) but they are in fact mini brittles, let me guess tghey are all white?

 

[reefstar]

nope, they have very small black bodies and long legs that are black and white

 

[reefkprz]

OK you got me then, maybe Ophuria knows, they may still be mini brittle stars but I have oonly seen white ones so I cant say.

 

[reefstar]

ok, i found a site that comapred serpants with brittle stars and i think there black brittle stars, so are those good to have?

 

[fedel castro]

ohh yeeaaa, i have several thousands of them, i also donated them too others,lol.

 

[reefreak29]

there still mini brittles just another species

 

[ophiura]

Originally Posted by ReefStar
ok, i found a site that comapred serpants with brittle stars and i think there black brittle stars, so are those good to have?

There is NO comparison whatsoever as they are the same animals. Anyone who says otherwise, and makes behavioral distinctions in particular, is wrong. This is a distinction made in the hobby only, based on arm spines, and has no biological significance.
Unless you have Florida LR, where you may get larger species as hitch hikers, you almost certainly have mini-brittlestars. These are very common hitch hikers, probably an Ophiactis or Ophiocomella, and will not get larger. They are fine to have, and will likely reproduce.
There are probably dozens of species that could be called "black brittlestars" and I would not trust 99% of any hobbyist site trying to identify them.