is there anything that eats red brittle stars

[melonheadorion]

I have an insane amount of MINI red brittle stars in my tank, which i have left as is for a long time, and i know for the most part, when they are small, they are relatively harmless, and most people want them. however, the amount of these in my tank, is just insane. i just pulled 1 filter sock to change it out, and there were hundreds just within that. obviously at night, you can imagine how many are within the tank itself (65 gal).
im looking to get the numbers down. ive read that larger brittle stars will eat smaller ones, so aside from doing that, which im not interested in doing, is there another predator that will eat them?

 

[kchristensen8064]

I have an insane amount of red brittle stars in my tank, which i have left as is for a long time, and i know for the most part, when they are small, they are relatively harmless, and most people want them. however, the amount of these in my tank, is just insane. i just pulled 1 filter sock to change it out, and there were hundreds just within that. obviously at night, you can imagine how many are within the tank itself (65 gal).
im looking to get the numbers down. ive read that larger brittle stars will eat smaller ones, so aside from doing that, which im not interested in doing, is there another predator that will eat them?

If I pay for priority shipping would you be will to ship me some? What sizes are most of them?

 

[melonheadorion]

If I pay for priority shipping would you be will to ship me some? What sizes are most of them?

the ones that were in my filter sock were fairly new. they might be around 1/4 inch. most of what i see within my tank are maybe the size of a quarter. and that is full diameter sizes, not the body size

 

[Tamberav]

Are you talking about the mini ones?

 

[twentyleagues]

If I pay for priority shipping would you be will to ship me some? What sizes are most of them?

Same! I will take as many as you can send me.

 

[melonheadorion]

Are you talking about the mini ones?

Yes.

 

[melonheadorion]

The ones in the sock are the younger ones, it seems. the one on the orange lid, is the average size of whats in my tank

 

[Tamberav]

The ones in the sock are the younger ones, it seems. the one on the orange lid, is the average size of whats in my tank

People will generally buy those. That is a money maker

Do you have any wrasses? Some of those might.

I am sure some crabs do but probably not fully reef safe. Like maybe an arrow crab.

 

[kchristensen8064]

the ones that were in my filter sock were fairly new. they might be around 1/4 inch. most of what i see within my tank are maybe the size of a quarter. and that is full diameter sizes, not the body size

I'd be interested in a bunch if you are willing to ship? I understand if you don't want to go through the trouble.

 

[melonheadorion]

I'd be interested in a bunch if you are willing to ship? I understand if you don't want to go through the trouble.

if you want to pay for shipping and whatnot, ill send as much as i can. as an example, if i were to go to my tank right now, i could probably get 6-12 to ship immediately, with almost no effort of trying to catch them.. they like to hang out in my return section of my sump, and are super easy to suck out. i just need something to send them in. not sure how to ship, if they are going to require anything more than just throwing in a padded box, or if they will need to have something to keep them at a cooler temp

 

[Makara23]

I have at least 100 just in my sump as well. I have 3 that are around 10" long and live under the rocks. They're not actually red. When they grow to adult size, they more like stripes of light grey and dark grey.

They're good for your tank! Why are you trying to get rid of them if they don't harm or get in the way of anything? I'd rather have these guys over bristle worms.

The reason you have so many is because you have a lot of waste, which is all they eat (excess food and detritus). If you have less waste, their population will self-regulate. I don't run filter socks or skimmer because I have a low nitrate problem. My only form of nutrient export is harvesting macroalgae and monthly 15% water change.

 

[Northern Flicker]

You should sell them, they are awesome! I'd love to find these at an LFS.

If you really must, a Harlequin shrimp will eat them. It will eat all of them, and every other starfish too.

 

[bobnicaragua]

I have a lot in my current tank , but my last tank was absolutely infested. They’re good to have.

I have a 6 line wrasse, but I don’t know if it eats the micro brittle stars or not.

 

[melonheadorion]

@Makara23 the thing is that i dont really want to get rid of them. ive had hundreds that have been visible for the last year in the display, as well as the sump. i find today that one of my filter socks is just packed with them, so its not that i want to get rid of them, but just make it so that htey arent infesting my filtration to the point that, instead of just washing a sock, now i have to make sure that any of these arent left in the sock, to where they are going to leech back into the system as nitrate/phos. based on what i see, i would say i have in the thousands of them.
i just have a feeling that simply washing the sock isnt going to get all of the dead off of it, and that there will still be some on it.

 

[Makara23]

How's that any different than the other gunk you socks collects? If you don't change your socks at least weekly, the other stuff trapped in socks will also leach back as nutrient. If anything, these stars will leach LESS because they'll stay alive for a while, and even if they die, they're slightly calcified so they have less organic matter than the other stuff your sock collects.