How long does it take a Brittle Star to Grow?

[minfinger]

When baby's are born in a tank, how long does it take them to reach 3"+?

[tleilaxu]

? sorry ? how small are they & how many do you have? they must be adorable. Oh yeah and what color are they? just curious I love mine and have considered getting him/her a mate but I have no idea what sex it is.

[Anemone]

More than likely the "babies" you're seeing are a common hitchhiking species that are full grown at about 1 1/2" in diameter (1/4" body diameter).

I am not aware of any reported successful spawnings of the larger brittle star species in hobbyist tanks.

FWIW,
Kevin

[Sylock]

Anemone is probably right here. I've got tons of mini-brittle stars in my tank. They are white and look exactly like my yellow/black star ... except white ;) . They are a welcomed addition to most reefers tanks.

[minfinger]

I don't think they were hitchhikers, they were in another guys tank that's been up and runnign for a while. He added to Black Brittle Stars, big ones. And then he said all of a sudden, these little white ones were all over the tank. Everytime he picked up a rock, a dozen would drop off the bottom of it. At the time i saw them, they were white and maybe 1" to 1.5" wide.

Mike

[Creade]

Someone just posted a serpent spawning pic which turned into discussion on tank raised stars somewhere this past weekend. I'll see if i can find it...

Creade

[tleilaxu]

I feel kind of stupid :(

From the statement *When baby's are born in a tank*

I assumed that brittle stars spawn (like fish) without really remembering (sorry I am really tired today & had a terrible headache all day.....yeah that's it yeah :D ) that brittle stars are related to starfish. Starfish spawn from a dismembered (at their will) limb. I have not researched them much (as for spawning) so perhaps they do have another way to reproduce that I am not aware of :p

Then that only leaves the question of which color is yours:confused: ;) :D

[kmk2307]

minifinger,
I also agree with Anemone here. I think the addition black brittle starfish are inconsequential with regard to the small ophiuroids he has been seeing in his tank. www.ipsf.com sells small, white, miniature starfish which can reproduce by splitting (on purpose) that are probably what you and your friend are seeing in your tank.

Kevin

[minfinger]

Originally posted by tleilaxu
Then that only leaves the question of which color is yours:confused: ;) :D
It's not the color, it's the size that matters:eek1: :eek2: :eek1:

They little ones that I received from him on the rock were white. As they only come out at night and my sand is white, I have yet to see the survived the transition/trip. But his were Black brittle stars, the parents?? I did get a good look at them and they were very large stars. But like I said, his tank was covered in 100s of them.

I've seen pics of the minature stars, that are the harder looking normal, not brittle star like, ones. Understand?? And they looked like little bitty brittle stars.

Mike
Founder
www.charlestonreefers.org

[tleilaxu]

Ok sorry for the confussion my head is not working great today ;) the more tired I get it seems to work less.

I wouldn't worry to much, I had a hitchhiker too. Mine came in on the l.r. 3 days after my tank was up. He survived the cycling, I did place little pieces of shrimp where I knew he was to try and help his chances. I just looked in my *marine reef aqua.* book and it doesn't show what you are describing, I do have another book around let me dig it up and see if I can find something.

[minfinger]

I sware, little brittle stars....I iwsh I had a pictures of them. Does anyone know of any examples on the Net?

[minfinger]

This is what I'm tlaking about, similiar to this.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=949457

[teevee]

confirming that they are probably hitch-hikers. my buddy has no large brittle stars yet has many very smalls ones in all his live rock.

[Rebels23]

That is exactly what I am seeing!!!! I dropped a black looking brittle star in my main tank by mistake and now I have all these little white tiny stars that look like brittle babies, but white. Anyone knoe if it is because the star is spawning. Never had these until I dropped the brittle in there, and my tank has been running for months.

Rebels23

[minfinger]

Rebel,

I'm not sure...You'd have to find someone that knows a lot about spawning stars, it's difficult to say. Did you put any new corals or rock in your tank prior to the Black star?