Anyone know how I can kill some micro brittle stars without screwing up my whole frag system? Their number are absurd and they are starting to smother corals. Seriously, it's insane how many there are. When I say they are smothering corals I should be more specific and say they are starting to smother some of my montipora colonies and anyone who knows me knows that I'm a monti fan-boy. Here's the deal, over the last few months I've noticed some dead spots in the corners of my encrusting montis. Corners in this instance are anywhere the frag has a tight angular bend, think the spot where a round frag disk meets a larger frag disk for grow out. I thought initially it was detritus accumulation (seen that before) and move the colonies to higher flow areas. But night after night, I've seen an increasing number of micro brittle hanging out in those exact same spots and as their number grow, so do the dead spots. In my opinion, I think there is still a small amount of detritus collecting there and the micro brittles come out at night to eat it. Last night was the final straw, I really took a good look around the tank and the amount of micro brittle stars I have is really creepy.
Side note, if anyone wants to get some micro brittle stars, come on and get some. I've got tons. I've never known them to damage coral and it's possible what I'm seeing is just coincidence but it's just too much. The colonies that are effected are growing and doing well, it's just in those spots visited by the starfish every night, over and over again, that are slowly receding.
Side note, if anyone wants to get some micro brittle stars, come on and get some. I've got tons. I've never known them to damage coral and it's possible what I'm seeing is just coincidence but it's just too much. The colonies that are effected are growing and doing well, it's just in those spots visited by the starfish every night, over and over again, that are slowly receding.
