help please -im new

[suicidecharlie]

i had my tank for about a month now and i see these little white things thats has 5 long arms and a pentagon looking center. I had a chocolate chip starfish and these tiny things started munching away at it. they are too small to take pictures but they look like small starfish but with long arms. and they are fast moving. very hard to catch.

[Loverotties]

Welcome to TRT! Sounds like a brittle star!

[suicidecharlie]

are these bad to have? the little starfish things?

[tellycoleman]

i have hundreds of them in my tank.
they never ate anything like that
they look like tiny white bristle star fish
I think they are waste eaters

[aquawolf]

They look like baby brittle stars. Are you sure they are eating the Chocolate Chip Star. Is the CC Star disintegrating? It is very easy to tell when a starfish is dying as they begin to rapidly disintegrate. If it is already dying then the brittle stars may just be getting a free meal from the decaying tissue. I do not think they would hunt down and kill a healthy CC star though.

[suicidecharlie]

are they ok to have in the tank?

[Jnicho]

Originally Posted by suicidecharlie

are they ok to have in the tank?

Yes...they are generally considered good as they help consume waste that would otherwise foul the tank.

[ChrisPrusha]

No worries, Charlie.

[tdwyatt]

Excellent hitch hikers to have in your system. I have several spp. of them in the tanks, and usually try to acquire any new variants that how up in the hobby.

[sinbad]

yup got loads in my tank too man.It's all good their cool to watch crusie the sand,but their pretty cryptic as soon as u put a fish or motile invert in the tank though!