Micro Stars Not So Micro Anymore

[dakota9]

When I got Back in the hobby, I bought some live rock that came with the new set-up I bought, and one really nice piece (loaded with hitch-hikers) from Mark.
When I first set the tank up and aquascaped it, I noticed tiny serpent stars in the rock, ranging from dime size to maybe quarter size. Flash forward 9 months and a tank upgrade, now they're some stars (most actually) that are silver dollar size or larger. I bought a Pistillapora (sp) frag from Tim last weekend, and was looking at it when I noticed legs coming from the bottom on all around the frag plug. I lifted the plug, and there was a serpent star attached that was over 2 inches end to end.


How big do Micro Stars get, and should I be watching out for my crabs and snails?

 

[dave green]

As cool as serpent stars are, I had to remove them all when fish started disappearing.

 

[tgray3]

I think it all depends on their personality. I have a Green Brittle in my tank that is about 10" in diameter. It refuses to come out or be trapped. I once got a hold of a leg and ended up pulling about an inch of an arm off it. I decided to leave it when i checked the tank one night and there was a PJ cardinal resting no more than an inch above it and there was 2 hermits crawling over it's legs. It doesn't bother anything, fish, inverts or coral and has been in there for 6 months. I give it a shrimp pellet twice a week and let it be. My kids love it.

 

[salt reefer]

serpent stars kill i thought it was the brittle stars that get turned into hunters the bigger they got. i got two 3 inch serpent stars 1 red and 1 harliqiun. they stay far to one side of my tank away from most fish.

 

[mockery]

By Mark I'm assuming you mean flying army? If that is the case I would not be supprised if his serpant stars were breading in his tank. He had atleast 3 that were 13in across. And what you saw might have just been babies! Just an idea.

 

[dakota9]

Mockery;420722 wrote: By Mark I'm assuming you mean flying army? If that is the case I would not be supprised if his serpant stars were breading in his tank. He had atleast 3 that were 13in across. And what you saw might have just been babies! Just an idea.

HHHHHmmmmmm, I'm going to check into this! If every small serpent star I have in the tank grows to adulthood, I have enough to give half the club members one each........ As cool as that might sound, I'm not interested in that many serpent stars, in fact, I don't particularly like them at all......

Why is it that RBTA's practically never hitch hike?