Billions and Billions of Stars
Printed From: Utah Reefs
Category: Specialized Discussion
Forum Name: Invertebrates
Forum Description: This is the place to ask questions about invertebrates.
URL: http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9876
Printed Date: December 11 2024 at 5:54pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 12.03 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Billions and Billions of Stars
Posted By: jfinch
Subject: Billions and Billions of Stars
Date Posted: January 07 2006 at 5:31pm
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In the last few months the mini brittle star population in my tank has exploded. I might have thousands in my tank. At night, they come out and there isn't a square cm of area without a star. This is how many I gathered from a golf ball size hunk of cheato from my refugia (I know I didn't get all the stars out of the cheato, but I got most). 32oz cup lid for size comparison:
And this is a close up (I like the striped legs!):
I have no idea where the came from and I don't know why they have chosen now to start breeding/splitting... ------------- Jon https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6y_EzjI_ljbIwf2n5uNzTw" rel="nofollow - What I've been doing... |
Replies:
Posted By: ron84062
Date Posted: January 07 2006 at 5:49pm
| would you like to sell a few? |
Posted By: StevenTyler
Date Posted: January 07 2006 at 5:58pm
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would you like to trade? ------------- Tyler 65Gallon reef 65gallon aggressive (selling) |
Posted By: RockStarFish
Date Posted: January 07 2006 at 6:31pm
| I would like to buy one or two also |
Posted By: Bob Kripfgans
Date Posted: January 07 2006 at 6:51pm
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Very cool! John...I would like a few if possible. ------------- WMAS is da place! Save the Banggai's! Tooele,Ut. |
Posted By: ltanner
Date Posted: January 07 2006 at 6:59pm
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I'd be interested in a couple as well.
------------- Laura Orem 29 gal reef |
Posted By: chrisslc
Date Posted: January 07 2006 at 7:06pm
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Sounds like jon will have to hold a star gazing party one night, but instead of telescopes everyone brings tongs ------------- Murray, Utah just north of the park. "It's all the same to the clam" -Shel Silverstein |
.Posted By: jfinch
Date Posted: January 07 2006 at 7:19pm
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Tell you what... anyone who stops by my house can have a hunk of cheato for free and you'll end up with about that many stars. ------------- Jon https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6y_EzjI_ljbIwf2n5uNzTw" rel="nofollow - What I've been doing... |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: January 07 2006 at 9:49pm
 You could say that the stars are the limit at Jon's house. Does he seem starry eyed? When you wish upon a star....------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member 
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Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: January 07 2006 at 9:52pm
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Could this have anything to do with The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy ? ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
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Posted By: ron84062
Date Posted: January 07 2006 at 10:01pm
| when is the best time to come over. I'm in pleasant grove. will you be around tomorrow[sunday]? |
Posted By: RockStarFish
Date Posted: January 07 2006 at 10:46pm
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lol I was whaiting for some puns |
Posted By: tileman
Date Posted: January 07 2006 at 10:50pm
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I've been plucking a few of those out of my filters lately. And I have no idea where they came from also. ------------- 335G Reef TOTM. http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2015/2/aquarium ReefKeepers TOTM Feb. 2012 http://reefkeeping.com/joomla/index....k-of-the-month & |
Posted By: peiji
Date Posted: January 08 2006 at 11:26am
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Do you have any that grow to a decent size? Or, are they all tiny? ------------- Jared Page Highland, UT Graphic Designer |
Posted By: jfinch
Date Posted: January 08 2006 at 11:47am
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Do you have any that grow to a decent size? Or, are they all tiny? I have three large brittle stars that I've had for a couple years (diameter of a dinner plate), but I haven't seen a small one larger then about a silver dollar. I'd say the average size is closer to between a nickel and quarter though. ------------- Jon https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6y_EzjI_ljbIwf2n5uNzTw" rel="nofollow - What I've been doing... |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: January 08 2006 at 11:55am
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Those small ones are a different type than we buy. They don't ever get any larger than a quarter. ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
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Posted By: jfinch
Date Posted: January 08 2006 at 12:45pm
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Yeah I agree with Mark. I think silver dollar - quarter size is full grown for these guys. ------------- Jon https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6y_EzjI_ljbIwf2n5uNzTw" rel="nofollow - What I've been doing... |
Posted By: peiji
Date Posted: January 08 2006 at 1:18pm
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Interesting. If they are so small, do they have any value in a reef tank. Don't
get me wrong, I think they're cool and I want some regardless. ------------- Jared Page Highland, UT Graphic Designer |
Posted By: faviasteve
Date Posted: January 08 2006 at 2:33pm
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I think they have as much or more value in a reef tank than the full sized ones. Being small, they can go in all the small holes and crevices to eat hidden detritus. Being small, if a few die, they don't pollute the aquarium. And being small and breeding, the young ones might be a good food souce for small predatory fish... maybe a hawkfish. ------------- Steve Burton Logan, Utah |
Posted By: seti007
Date Posted: January 08 2006 at 9:58pm
| Jon, what would you suspect is causing the population explosion. I have a few in my tank but never in plague proportions. Do u feed the corals after dark? |
Posted By: Mike Savage
Date Posted: January 08 2006 at 10:54pm
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Would these be safe for corals and fish? -------------  |
Posted By: jfinch
Date Posted: January 08 2006 at 11:26pm
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Jon, what would you suspect is causing the population explosion. I have a few in my tank but never in plague proportions. Do u feed the corals after dark? I really have no idea. I don't feed after dark and I hardly feed during the day. Would these be safe for corals and fish? The fish won't eat them (when I drop them back into the tank they suck 'em into their mouth but spit 'em back out). And at night they crawl all over the corals. I don't think they hurt anything. ------------- Jon https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6y_EzjI_ljbIwf2n5uNzTw" rel="nofollow - What I've been doing... |
Posted By: Rocky
Date Posted: January 09 2006 at 7:34pm
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Jon I would sure like to get a large handfull of these guys, are you going to be home this weekend? Rocky ------------- Rocky Phillips Hill AFB, Utah Currently Tankless :( |
Posted By: jfinch
Date Posted: January 09 2006 at 7:35pm
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I'll be home all weekend. ------------- Jon https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6y_EzjI_ljbIwf2n5uNzTw" rel="nofollow - What I've been doing... |
Posted By: Rocky
Date Posted: January 09 2006 at 7:48pm
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That would be great, been wanting to do more reef touring any ways. ------------- Rocky Phillips Hill AFB, Utah Currently Tankless :( |
Posted By: Suzy
Date Posted: January 09 2006 at 8:30pm
I don't think this is plague proportions! Detritus eaters will only establish a level at which there are nutrients, right? Once the nutrients are gone.... I think they are a sign your tank is strong! Maybe we should trade for my plain white ones? ------------- http://www.suzysreef.com - SuzysReef.com http://z4.invisionfree.com/UtahBreeder/index.php?showtopic=11&st=0&#last - Using Macroalgae for Aquascaping |
seti007 wrote:Posted By: jfinch
Date Posted: April 20 2007 at 11:49am
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Resurrecting an old thread...
(see other pictures at beginning of this thread)
Anyone have any other thoughts about these guys? I've still got thousands but I can't figure out what they're eating. Do you really think they're just detritus eaters? Do they feed on pods or pod larva? It's kind of strange to me that this population didn't peak and then decline.
Here's a picture of my little 10 gallon here at work. They sit within the coral and in holes in the live rock with their legs hanging out in the breeze.
 ------------- Jon https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6y_EzjI_ljbIwf2n5uNzTw" rel="nofollow - What I've been doing... |
Posted By: Mark Peterson
Date Posted: April 20 2007 at 1:18pm
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Amie and I have seen a tank with millions of tiny stars. It's the tank where we collect Clownfish larvae for raising. It's awesome to look at the "fuzzy" rocks in the dim light while collecting larvae. I believe they are sweeping the water for food. ------------- Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks: www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
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Posted By: dlaclo
Date Posted: April 20 2007 at 2:06pm
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if you still want to get rid of a few i love to take some off your hands ------------- Some of the world's greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible. |
Posted By: jfinch
Date Posted: April 20 2007 at 5:49pm
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They're still all over and free to anyone who want's em. ------------- Jon https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6y_EzjI_ljbIwf2n5uNzTw" rel="nofollow - What I've been doing... |
Posted By: Mike Savage
Date Posted: April 20 2007 at 6:21pm
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I got some from Jon about a year ago and put them in my 120 and never saw them again.
Mike ------------- |
Posted By: Corey Price
Date Posted: April 20 2007 at 6:31pm
| I have thousands, I'm sure, due to the bubble algae problem. I think they breed in the valonia. |
Posted By: camarolover
Date Posted: April 20 2007 at 11:24pm
| I got some from Jon @ a year ago and now I have the thousands of stars. The numbers seems to rise or fall depending on how much I over feed {I spot feed some when I feed my sun coral} I havn't seen any harmful problems with these little guys. Thanks again Jon! |
Posted By: Mike Savage
Date Posted: April 20 2007 at 11:47pm
You may be right. Jon has a lot of valonia too. I don't have any.
Mike ------------- |
Posted By: dlaclo
Date Posted: April 20 2007 at 11:59pm
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well in a week or 2 when my cycle is done i woulsd love to come pick some up ------------- Some of the world's greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible. |
Posted By: dlaclo
Date Posted: April 21 2007 at 8:33am
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They are Striped Micro Brittle Stars (Ophiactis spp.). If you notice, at least 2 of the stars in your photo have 6 arms. This is because they often reproduce by asexual fission.
maximum size: up too 6"but usually much smaller
best suited for tanks: 50 gal or larger but will do fine in smaller tanks
food :detritus
this is the info i found last night on these starts ------------- Some of the world's greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible. |
Posted By: Mike Savage
Date Posted: April 21 2007 at 9:12am
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Of the hundreds or thousands that I remember seeing none of them had a body over 3/16 of an inch or arms longer than 3/4 inch. It's been quite a while though so maybe it's just my memory. Mike ------------- |
Posted By: dlaclo
Date Posted: April 21 2007 at 9:27am
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i have never seen them myself but that is the info i gathered via the internet and my book on inverts info could be wrong but i looked at like 6 different sites and 1 book size could have been for in natural reef enviroment and not aquarium sory none of the info i got said either or i will look into it ------------- Some of the world's greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible. |
Posted By: camarolover
Date Posted: April 21 2007 at 6:23pm
| I don't have any or ever had any bubble algae problems. This little guys are in my live rock and I have seen very few out. Most of the times all I see are three to four arms waving in the flow, I have seen a few out but these where all black whereas the ones in the rock are striped, white with black stripes. |
Posted By: Will Spencer
Date Posted: April 24 2007 at 4:17pm
| I also have thousands of them. At any given time time can spot hundreds of little legs sticking out of crevices in the rock and from under coral. They are pretty cool IMO. |
Posted By: Jake Pehrson
Date Posted: April 24 2007 at 4:34pm
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I think they are awesome. Detritus eaters IMO. I'll take some Jon if it's not too much trouble. ------------- Jake Pehrson Murray http://coralplanet.com" rel="nofollow - coralplanet.com http://utahbeeranch.com" rel="nofollow - :) |
Posted By: dlaclo
Date Posted: April 24 2007 at 6:11pm
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can i get some of these at the next meeting? ------------- Some of the world's greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible. |
Posted By: jfinch
Date Posted: April 24 2007 at 6:15pm
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If I get a chance to go home before the meeting, I'll bring some. ------------- Jon https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6y_EzjI_ljbIwf2n5uNzTw" rel="nofollow - What I've been doing... |
Posted By: dlaclo
Date Posted: April 24 2007 at 6:16pm
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sweet thanks ------------- Some of the world's greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible. |
Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: April 24 2007 at 6:56pm
Last time I was there at that tank, the rocks looked like they were alive. Every inch of rock in the tank was completely covered with the little guys. They hate them - I don't know why, you can't see them at all during the day. They would like to get rid of them but I think it would be detrimental to their tank because I think they are the only cleanup crew they have.
 |
Posted By: dlaclo
Date Posted: April 24 2007 at 7:30pm
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i cant wait till i get some ------------- Some of the world's greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible. |
Posted By: Will Spencer
Date Posted: April 24 2007 at 9:54pm
| If I can harvest a fair number I'll donate some to the club. Look for them on the $5 table. |
Posted By: dlaclo
Date Posted: April 24 2007 at 10:19pm
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ho wmany for $5??? ------------- Some of the world's greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible. |
Posted By: Will Spencer
Date Posted: April 25 2007 at 11:25am
| We'll have to see what I can collect. |
Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: April 25 2007 at 3:41pm
| I can donate a bunch of these as well. Will, let me know how many to put in a bag and I'll separate them before I bring them. |
Posted By: dlaclo
Date Posted: April 25 2007 at 6:04pm
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yeah let me know how many i will get for $5 ------------- Some of the world's greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible. |
Posted By: Will Spencer
Date Posted: April 25 2007 at 11:43pm
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I honestly don't know how many I can come up with, but I thought an even dozen would be a good bag of them. |
Posted By: dlaclo
Date Posted: April 26 2007 at 1:08am
nice    ------------- Some of the world's greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible. |
Posted By: Guests
Date Posted: April 26 2007 at 6:08pm
Sounds good. I'll shoot for at least 12. As you can see, mine come in clumps of 10-20. I don't want to be pulling them apart and counting them. If I can see at least 12 bodies, I'll throw the clump in a bag.
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Posted By: TriggerHappy
Date Posted: May 01 2007 at 10:51pm
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I think that these are them...baby bristle worms....I have ordered from IPSF in the past...Jon, have you? Maybe some hitchhikers? http://www.ipsf.com/reefworms.html - http://www.ipsf.com/reefworms.htm I have a bunch too and I like, 'em! ------------- 210 gallon Mixed Reef |
Posted By: Mike Savage
Date Posted: May 01 2007 at 11:15pm
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These are Brittle Stars not bristle worms. Mike ------------- |
Posted By: Adam Blundell
Date Posted: May 02 2007 at 9:06am
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Do you guys all know how to make your sea star population explode in your tank? Want me to tell you?
Adam ------------- Come to a meeting, they�re fun! |
Posted By: TriggerHappy
Date Posted: May 02 2007 at 12:31pm
My bad...wrong page.  http://www.ipsf.com/ministars.html - http://www.ipsf.com/ministars.html ------------- 210 gallon Mixed Reef |
Posted By: Mike Savage
Date Posted: May 02 2007 at 6:08pm
Get rid of the Harlequin Shrimp maybe?
 ------------- |
Posted By: Adam Blundell
Date Posted: May 02 2007 at 8:04pm
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Nope. Try again. (hint- it works for all seastars... as far as I know)
Adam ------------- Come to a meeting, they�re fun! |
Posted By: dlaclo
Date Posted: May 02 2007 at 8:25pm
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im interested? How? ------------- Some of the world's greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible. |
Posted By: Adam Blundell
Date Posted: May 02 2007 at 10:21pm
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You motivate them.
Adam ------------- Come to a meeting, they�re fun! |