micro brittle stars

[kimismurf]

Does anyone have any of these Micro Brittle Stars?
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[crewdawg1981]

Sweetness... I've got em, but not nearly that many!

Mine all live in my cheato in the sump. Well... i'm sure they're in the display too, but I never see em there.

 

[raz0945]

Yes - I have them in several tanks. They are interesting, mine stay mostly in the rock. I do watch for them when I clean my pumps, i pull them out and put them back in the tank. My fish/invert do not seem to eat them.

 

[kimismurf]

If anyone can part with 2 or 3 i would love to have them. I live in NC so you would have to mail them though. My postal mail normally takes 2 days 3 at most. I can pay for shipping through papal.

 

[raz0945]

The chances of them making it alive are not good. The temp drop from tank to tank in 3 days(maybe USPS) might be as much as 35 degrees, I think they would die. The store I help acclimate fish and corals gets everything overnight and with heat packs during this time of year. Maybe someone close to you may have them. They do not stay out like the ones in that picture, they get in the rock work and put their tentacles out to feed. If you are ever in my area, let me know and we will look and see if we can find any you can take home with you.

 

[kimismurf]

Ok cool. The person whose these belong to says in their blog they only come out like this to spawn. Other than that she didnt know she had them. I have been looking for these around here but can't find them.

 

[redstang]

I've tried sourcing some too. I've seen tiny stars on the glass, but only two of them. They had very short stubby arms.

 

[crewdawg1981]

RedStang;699728 wrote: I've seen tiny stars on the glass, but only two of them. They had very short stubby arms.

Asternias

 

[rgunn1]

I have them, but I can only ever see their arms sticking out of live rock or some zoas. They are cool little things!

 

[kimismurf]

Crewdawg1981;699729 wrote: Asternias

They have these in all the live rock tanks at the store, they just suck on the glass. I tried to get one , they won't even sell them even though they got them free and they have over 50.

 

[crewdawg1981]

kimismurf;699961 wrote: They have these in all the live rock tanks at the store, they just suck on the glass. I tried to get one , they won't even sell them even though they got them free and they have over 50.

Probably because most people dont want them. Some Asternias are known to munch on zoas too.

I have some, but mine dont appear to be the bad kind as I've never seen them on any of my corals. If I ever do... I'll just get a harlequin shrimp.

 

[kimismurf]

Crewdawg1981;699981 wrote: Probably because most people dont want them. Some Asternias are known to munch on zoas too.

I have some, but mine dont appear to be the bad kind as I've never seen them on any of my corals. If I ever do... I'll just get a harlequin shrimp.

Yeah, they have the good kind at the store. They just come I on the live rock and suck on the glass. The people at the store said they don't mess with the corals. I think they just want to keep them so they will keep the glass clean. I noticed a few of them are splitting.

 

[irahmatulla]

Kimi, the kind that you posted, or at least true micro stars, are often found on the rock, or if you keep a crushed coral bottom, they keep it clean. If you really want some, order some GARF grunge. I am about to order some in the next week or two to kick start my sump. I do not like getting all my LF from the LFS, because they usually order from one distributor. This allows for only so much biodiversity. If you have any local reefers, or you get a chance to trip on down to ATL, ask a few members if you can trade a scoop of sand from well established tanks. If you buy some good rock from the tank at your LFS you saw them in, chances are you will get a few, and they will multiply. The stars that look like "half of a star" or small stubby ones, those are not so good. The long tentacle ones are good though.

 

[kimismurf]

I'll order a few pounds and check it out. I guess I'll put it behind the lr so I don't have a bunch of chunks out front.

 

[irahmatulla]

I want to say it is like 5 dollars a LB. Should not need much, just enough to seed.