How to catch Micro Brittle Starfish

[psott]

Any advice on how to catch Micro Brittle Starfish>?
My older tank had lots and I want to move some to me new tank.
I can see arms stick out everywhere but they are rarely out and I don't want to hurt them.
I tried to suck one up with a turkey baster earlier but it had a good grip and wouldn't move!

Thanks guys!

 

[DeniseAndy]

Pull some rock out at night and they will be out on it. Or dig up some sand. you will probably find some. I usually find some when moving things around. If you have a sump, look there too.

 

[TnFishwater98]

Pull some rock out at night and they will be out on it. Or dig up some sand. you will probably find some. I usually find some when moving things around. If you have a sump, look there too.

I wouldnt dig up the sand, I catch them on the glass , behind power heads, or anything else stuck to the glass.

 

[psott]

All my rock is covered in coral so I don't really want to move any, was hoping for some sort of creative trap idea.

 

[muzikalmatt]

As @DeniseAndy said, check your sump and/or mechanical filtration. When I had a huge population in my AIO tank, I would always find a handful in the filter floss when I changed it.

Other places you can check is under your glass scraper or underneath corals on the sandbed. They're much easier to capture if they aren't latched onto the rockwork.

 

[TnFishwater98]

All my rock is covered in coral so I don't really want to move any, was hoping for some sort of creative trap idea.

If you have shells in your tank out a large shell up against the glass. You can look in to see what’s on the shell. You could put seaweed pellets or something to attract them. Once you see them on the shell take the shell out.

 

[homer1475]

I always have a ton on my frag plugs in the rack. Easy peasy to grab a plug and pluck a couple off.

 

[TnFishwater98]

Yep, if you got a frag rack they love hanging on the bottom of the plugs

 

[psott]

Good call on the frag plugs, I see a couple on those now, I'll just grab them as they go chill there. Thanks guys.

 

[TnFishwater98]

Good call on the frag plugs, I see a couple on those now, I'll just grab them as they go chill there. Thanks guys.

You can also put a power head in a bucket of tank water and I bet you have a few on the power head. Spin the water really fast or take power head out of water for a bit. Then put back in bucket. They start getting nervous and will come out

 

[homer1475]

You can also put a power head in a bucket of tank water and I bet you have a few on the power head. Spin the water really fast or take power head out of water for a bit. Then put back in bucket. They start getting nervous and will come out

Yup everytime my nero3 stops(it's very close to the sandbed and as such sucks in sand from time to time), I pull it, and it's loaded with them.