Asterina starfish?

[saltyfilmfolks]

I dont think I have any, I got rid of them a while ago. I had thousands of them....I was noticing the grey ones eating coral while the others didnt seem to

Seemed sarcastic and demeaning. It's cool. I'll edit that post.

@shoelaceike the grey ones are the ones I've noticed munching away in my tank as well. I have the white and grey ones.

Its been proposed that, if there's nothing else to eat. they eat coral. so like crabs, not to be trusted.

 

[Leyth]

Well doesn't look like he ate it this time. I appreciate everyone's feedback. I probably should remove it to be safe, but I hate having to kill things in my tank for the greater good. I will gamble on it

 

[tj w]

OP, please keep us updated.

 

[mhaun]

I have many of the zoa eating variety. They have wiped out portions of colonies and tend to like the smaller polyp versions first. They eventually graduate to eating the larger ones. Mine will not touch my palys.

Mine occurred mostly in my wife's zoa farm tank. The tank is primarily zoas and palys with just a few lps.

I too have thousands in my main display tank. They seem happier in that tank with eating off of the glass and rock.

The only thing I can say that differs between the two tanks is that her zoa tank does not get fed very much due to its small size to keep nutrients down.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I have many of the zoa eating variety. They have wiped out portions of colonies and tend to like the smaller polyp versions first. They eventually graduate to eating the larger ones. Mine will not touch my palys.

Mine occurred mostly in my wife's zoa farm tank. The tank is primarily zoas and palys with just a few lps.

I too have thousands in my main display tank. They seem happier in that tank with eating off of the glass and rock.

The only thing I can say that differs between the two tanks is that her zoa tank does not get fed very much due to its small size to keep nutrients down.

would Love love pic of them.

 

[Leyth]

OP, please keep us updated.

Will do!

 

[mhaun]

would Love love pic of them.

Unfortunately for current pics I cannot help. The tank has been almost wiped clean and I had to put the remaining pieces of zoas in my grow out tank to recover. I only have a pic of the dead guys in a container as I pick them out as soon as I see them. I have been battling these guys for months. The final straw was her dragon eye colony. In a two day period they took out 5 heads. I notice the darker gray were worse. But white ones munched as well.

 

[cloak]

Until somebody can distinguish the good starfish from the bad ones without a doubt I'll continue to play it safe and remove what I find. There's just too many horror stories out there regarding these things not to IMO.

http://reefkeeping.com/joomla/index.php/current-issue/article/45-reefkeeping-101-

http://chucksaddiction.thefishestate.net/ (Info Links > Hitchhikers > Starfish)

http://www.zoaid.com/index.php?module=Gallery2&g2_itemId=1426

http://www.garf.org/Star/starfish.html

http://www.withinthesea.com/reef-aquarium/pests/asterina-anomala/

https://reefcorner.com/reef-database-index/hitchhiker-index/asterina-starfish/

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Unfortunately for current pics I cannot help. The tank has been almost wiped clean and I had to put the remaining pieces of zoas in my grow out tank to recover. I only have a pic of the dead guys in a container as I pick them out as soon as I see them. I have been battling these guys for months. The final straw was her dragon eye colony. In a two day period they took out 5 heads. I notice the darker gray were worse. But white ones munched as well.

thanks. yes bizzare. has to be opportunistic. I put a flexible hose on my canister filter and vacuumed them.

Until somebody can distinguish the good ones from the bad ones without a doubt I'll continue to play it safe and remove what I find. There's just too many horror stories out there regarding these things not to IMO.

http://reefkeeping.com/joomla/index.php/current-issue/article/45-reefkeeping-101-

http://chucksaddiction.thefishestate.net/ Info Links > Hitchhikers > Starfish)

http://www.zoaid.com/index.php?module=Gallery2&g2_itemId=1426

http://www.garf.org/Star/starfish.html

http://www.withinthesea.com/reef-aquarium/pests/asterina-anomala/

https://reefcorner.com/reef-database-index/hitchhiker-index/asterina-starfish/

yea mine do that. they leave tha zoas though. so odd.

 

[wpeterson]

Asterinas are mostly harmless clean up crew, but they have a bad reputation like bristle worms and other clean up crew/scavengers.

When the clean up crew is found at the scene of the crime, they're rarely the perpetrator but it doesn't mean they won't munch on a dead body. Less so for Asterinas, but I believe that's why bristle worms get a bad rap.

That being said, if you have a small ecosystem without food for any species they may be inclined to bad behavior.

 

[Ocelaris]

I'll add my opinion to the "safe" category. I had one, now I have hundreds; never bothered any zoas or anything, but they do tend to crawl up to some corals, never seen them actually on top of any though. I have seen them go up to the edge of the SPS, but I assume they're just cleaning as their mouth is in the middle and they kind of have to straddle the edges to get the algae. I see their addition as a blessing in disguise, but I am in the "wait and see" category, and it's never been an issue, so I'll just continue to enjoy the free cleaning service. They're quite effective compared to the snails and hermits, so just because they're free, don't assume they're trouble!

 

[Mike_J]

I cannot speak for anyone else, but my experiences with asterina stars that differ from others are NOT based on assumption but rather fact. I've in fact, watched some asterina stars eat zoa polyps in my tank and on more than one occasion.

I have to say, I've enjoyed my time on R2R for the most part, but never until this thread have I felt judged or read comments that were so condescending in manner. I always try to be mindful of how my comments will be perceived when responding to threads, perhaps some of you need to consider the same. Simply amazing.

(Sincere apologies to the original poster for my rant on your thread.)

 

[BiggieJohn]

there has been NO documented evidence. only anecdotal. Lionfishlair here, the expert, has been doing it for quite sometime.

well, add my ancedote, because I have asterina starfish that love eating zoas

 

[Ocelaris]

Mike_J, I can see how you may feel slighted, and apologies if my posts were construed as such. Thank you for posting your findings, despite the challenges. I think everyone people chiming up about their direct experiences, I think the idea is to keep the snowball effect where everyone starts killing asterina starfish if it's not necessary. At least that's my hope that everyone doesn't go out and buy a harlequin shrimp which ends up dying. I just think the rational idea would be for people to know that sometimes they do damage, sometimes they don't, and that nuanced view sometimes is missed, so hopefully you know your contribution is valued.

 

[Elementalj]

I cannot speak for anyone else, but my experiences with asterina stars that differs from others are NOT based on assumption but rather fact. I've in fact, watched some asterina stars eat zoa polyps in my tank and on more than one occasion.

I have to say, I've enjoyed my time on R2R for the most part, but never until this thread have I felt judged or read comments that were so condescending in manner. I always try to be mindful of how my comments will be perceived when responding to threads, perhaps some of you need to consider the same. Simply amazing.

(Sincere apologies to the original poster for my rant on your thread.)

[emoji106][emoji122][emoji122][emoji122][emoji41]

 

[gobeach]

My asterina's mostly eat my coraline algae, but have been found on the base of some of my softies. I siphon them out when I'm doing water changes if the population gets too high - seems to keep them in check.

 

[Elementalj]

Mike_J, I can see how you may feel slighted, and apologies if my posts were construed as such. Thank you for posting your findings, despite the challenges. I think everyone people chiming up about their direct experiences, I think the idea is to keep the snowball effect where everyone starts killing asterina starfish if it's not necessary. At least that's my hope that everyone doesn't go out and buy a harlequin shrimp which ends up dying. I just think the rational idea would be for people to know that sometimes they do damage, sometimes they don't, and that nuanced view sometimes is missed, so hopefully you know your contribution is valued.

I think it poses an interesting question with regards to any species. Like us, some of the same species are aggressive and some are not. Do we group the more aggressive of us into a whole and condemn the whole?

I myself agree with Mike, as in I've seen them eating zoas, but I'm not willing to condemn the entire grouping without further analysis. I however will say that some of us should be mindful of the things we say and do now more than ever. Remember we are here because of a shared interest and that commonality is what needs to keep us civil even in the face of adversity.

Agreeing to disagree is as childish sounding today as when I first heard it. So my recommendation is to disagree and be done with it. Lest you let your sociopath show.

 

[bevo5]

I had a bunch until I tossed a harlequin shrimp in there. I had a biocube 29 and could easily pull 10 stars (small) out a day. Got the shrimp and within a few weeks the numbers were greatly reduced. I actually ended up taking the shrimp back to the store because I was afraid he wasn't getting enough to eat anymore.

I've got some in my 200g now and they are much larger..probably quarter to half inch across in some cases. I can't put a shrimp in this tank because some fish in there keeps eating my cleaner shrimp....so no more shrimp.

I just try to take out the biggest guys when I can. I've adopted a 'wait and see' approach to these guys. If it gets out of hand I'll probably figure out the shrimp eating fish and trade him out for a harlequin.

TLDR: a harlequin shrimp will get rid of them.

 

[cginter]

I don't like them personally. And I have only seen them on my zoas. They were the darker ones, and yes they destroyed the colony if I let them have at it.

That being said.... did the starfish kill it? Or did it start to fest on a already weakened/starting to die coral? Dunno.

But if I see on of them jerks on my zoas and they closed up.... it's dead.

 

[MermaidTail]

That's a gorgeous frag of my favorite coral! Where'd it come from?