Starfish ID

[Cstar_BC]

Hey guys .

Are these serpent banded starfish ?

good or bad ?

 

[Auquanut]

They look like micro brittle stars. How big are they? If they came as hitchhikers, I would not worry about them at all. They're a great addition to the CUC and their population will rise or fall depending on the available "leftovers" in the tank.

 

[vsolovyev]

You will see these guys sticking their arms out for the leftover food falling down in your tank, over time they will multiply. Cool addition to your tank!

 

[Cstar_BC]

They look like micro brittle stars. How big are they? If they came as hitchhikers, I would not worry about them at all. They're a great addition to the CUC and their population will rise or fall depending on the available "leftovers" in the tank.

Tiny . Biggest is about 1” wide with legs

 

[homer1475]

Micro brittle stars as already suggested. Great part of your CUC and stay right about that size.

 

[...]

They are awesome CUC...

 

[Scottmac]

Cool! I am waiting for a stock of them to come into a store I use so I can add them to my tank. I currently have 1 or two but hardly ever see them except an occasional arm poking out of a rock crevice. Any idea of life span in a tank?

 

[Cstar_BC]

Cool! I am waiting for a stock of them to come into a store I use so I can add them to my tank. I currently have 1 or two but hardly ever see them except an occasional arm poking out of a rock crevice. Any idea of life span in a tank?

I would assume they would live forever with the right food source

 

[KenO]

I would assume they would live forever with the right food source

They are part of your CUC. They will eat leftovers in the tank. No need to feed them anything special. Their numbers will rise and fall with the amount of leftover food for them. Once you have them you should have them from that point forward.

 

[...]

I have one, unsure if he is micro or not, he has grown a little and is about 6" leg to leg.

 

[KenO]

Besides all of the micro brittle stars. I have a large one been with me for 4+ years.

 

[...]

H

Besides all of the micro brittle stars. I have a large one been with me for 4+ years.

He looks awesome and looks like aquatic horror movie icon! Can they reproduce asexually with fission or something though, we get literally no serpent stars and brittle stars are hitchhikers.

 

[Phildago]

I'd estimate having well over 1000 in my 60 gallon system.

 

[KenO]

H

He looks awesome and looks like aquatic horror movie icon! Can they reproduce asexually with fission or something though, we get literally no serpent stars and brittle stars are hitchhikers.

I’ve had the big guy long enough that if it was going to reproduce somehow it would have done it by now. The brittle stars multiply like rabbits.

 

[PTXReef]

Besides all of the micro brittle stars. I have a large one been with me for 4+ years.

That's huge ! Really cool! I got a teeny tiny one hitchhike into my tank on a piece of coral, hopefully it can get to that size one day ;Smuggrin