[LuckyLuc]

I am fairly new to reef tanks and watched an amazing event this evening. I purchased my first toadstool leather and placed it in my aquarium. I scraped a small patch of green algae off the back glass. About 1 hour later 75 to 100 brittle starfish came out from the live rock. They were everywhere and tended to head toward various coral or shells. 4 of the largest stood up like a barstool, with all of the legs down and the body up in the center. They would release a white milky substance every minute or so. After about 15-30 minutes they all went back into the live rock but the water was a bit cloudy.

Is this the brittle star version of a salmon run. Was it a coincidence or did something trigger this amazing event?

Luc

[SECRETREEF]

That had to be very nice to see!

Dont know what it is but I think they were spawning.

Did the water clear up afterwards?

[gandorf2000]

you have that many brittle stars in a 55 gal tank? did you know you had them? what is the average size?

[LuckyLuc]

Here are some pictures. Sorry about the quaity. The fuzziest one has about 8-10 little stars mobbing a tiny shroom.

[LuckyLuc]

I would guess the largest are 4-5" tip to tip but alot are 2-2.5 inches. I always see alot of legs coming out of the live rock during feeding and have seen a few smaller ones out in the open when I run a red light after dark to check things out. But I just couldn't believe it when they all came out in daylight on cue as though a fire alarm had gone off.

[Grym]

Sounds like spawning to me. You must have had the right tank conditions and lighting. I know corals spawn with the moon on one night of the year in the gulf of Mexico. Good job!