Brian's Ophiactidae sp. #1 Breeding Log

[BrianPlankis]

Hey all,

I added around 6-8 of the Ophiactidae sp. #1 into my tank a few months ago after getting them from Andy. They took up position in the rocks and rarely move outside of their holes. Their arms go crazy when I feed the tank and I've seen them take my frozen mush, flake food and slowly sinking pellets.

I just noticed tonight that there are definitely more of them in the tank now. I counted 15 in the rocks. So this is the first confirmation they are breeding (or at least splitting) in my tank.

Brian

[BrianPlankis]

A couple pictures of them in the tank:

This is my "starfish rock" where the largest ones reside. The starfish on the far left has arms approaching 2" long. There are at least 6 in this image and I have at least 5 other rocks with them hanging out.

http://www.projectdibs.com/forums/images/ProjectDIBS/testphotos/StarfishRock1.jpg

A closeup of "the big one":
http://www.projectdibs.com/forums/images/ProjectDIBS/testphotos/20070717Oph1Closeup1.JPG

Brian

[jnarowe]

very nice Brian! :)

[Tomoko Schum]

Hi Brian,

I have two kinds of dark colored mini brittle stars breeding in my tank.

One kind is just like yours. This one came on live rocks and they have been in my tank for over 3 years. They don't multiply very fast.

The other kind is only about 1 inch to 1-1/2 inches TL, a tiny version of the larger variety. I got them from my reefer friend. These guys multiply really fast. They love to cling to rocks, halimeda and reef plugs on my frag tray.

Tomoko