Help these serpeant stars! -DP

Dwarf Puffers

Dwarf Puffers

Registered user
Dec 11, 2006
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NS, Canada
Well, I picked up almost 4 pounds of LR for 7.50$ yesterday and stuck em in a 10g. First I only saw a large polyp, but after flipping a rock, I have noticed two common serpeant stars, one about 1.25" wide from arm to arm, the other, half that.

They are both alive and climbing. The tank is only about 2/3 of the way filled, and now I'm thinking I should deffinately fill it, filter it, and heat it. I only got the rock hoping to keep it in a 10g before getting a 25g+ and converting it to a sump (YAY!!), so I wasnt prepared for these little hitchhikers. I REALLY want to save them, not only because I love brittle stars but also that I know they would be 15-20$ each at the place I got the rock. Please help!!

By the way, WEWT I'm taking the salty plunge...
 
WEWT. New one on me.

They will needs some sort of water movement, temperature, and salinity control and the occasional food input. Overall, though, it sounds like you have your plan together. All you really need is a cheap filter and an extra powerhead. Spot feed them once or twice per week until you fully upgrade. Add topoff water regularly and do the occasional water change. That should be fine.
 
Thanks =) I found two more, that brings it up to 4 brittle stars, all alive
 
sorry for being a freshie, but how does a 1.25" brittle star hide in only 4# of live rock? Are the holes in the rock that big? Or is the star like an octopus and can squeeze into the tiniest holes?
 
Most of the time you will only see an arm or two. I have tons of them, so I will sometimes see them in my macro algae or wandering around. The coolest thing is that sometimes there will literally be hundreds of arms sticking out of all kinds of holes in the live rock. If you see them up close, they are basically all arms with a very small body, so they can fit into a very small space.
 
Last edited:
The Zigman said:
sorry for being a freshie, but how does a 1.25" brittle star hide in only 4# of live rock? Are the holes in the rock that big? Or is the star like an octopus and can squeeze into the tiniest holes?
Click to expand...

both.
 
heya ,
These little guys are great for your tank. You will not see them much as they move around in the dark. Basically they are night time scavengers . Feed your tank and they will multiply expoentially !!!
Enjoy your SW TANK AND BE SURE TO KEEP YOUR SALT WITHIN PARAMETERS !! aLONG WITH THE REST.
,, rAY
 
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