Brittle stars....good or bad?

deano123 · Nov 10, 2015 9:55:14 pm

Found a couple of brittle stars that have hitchhiked on some live rock I got.
Are they a good thing or a bad thing?
They don't seem to do much other than stick their legs out from the rocks?

Mike · Nov 10, 2015 10:19:12 pm

They're good clean up crew. They multiply and self regulate in numbers based on food supply.

deano123 · Nov 10, 2015 11:11:08 pm

Thanks Mike. Do they ever come out from within the rocks....to feed maybe?

Marty · Nov 10, 2015 11:28:38 pm

Yeah you may occasionally see them I've seen mine out and about

deano123 · Nov 10, 2015 11:41:20 pm

Thanks Marty

Mike · Nov 10, 2015 11:56:48 pm

They'll come out to find food if they can smell it nearby, but generally they wave their arms around and catch bits of drifting food, it doesn't have to be substantial to be worth catching for a brittle star. A bit of white dust doesn't need much nourishment.

Marty · Nov 11, 2015 12:00:51 am

I often see mine waving out the rocks catching any little morsels they can.

deano123 · Nov 11, 2015 11:35:17 am

Glad they're not a menace. Weird looking things. They must move about when the lights go out at night cause one day they're in a crevice on one rock and the following day they're in other rocks at the opposite end of the tank

Mike · Nov 11, 2015 11:56:32 am

Yeah if you come down in the middle of the night and shine your phone torch on the tank you'll see them. You'll probably have much more than you think. Mine used to be pretty freaky as there were loads at one point, looked like the rocks were hairy, but then the next day they'd almost all be hidden out of view.

deano123 · Nov 11, 2015 12:27:55 pm

Thanks Mike I'll try that with the phone torch. Thought I only had 2 of them but the Mrs spotted another one last night in amongst a mushroom so I thought I'd best check they're not about to destroy all my corals

Brittle stars....good or bad?

Brittle stars....good or bad?

Brittle stars....good or bad?

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