Astrenia Stars!!! Graaa

[FiReBReTHa]

:waaaht::waaaht::waaaht::waaaht:


Caught two in two days... that both ate one of my newzoas.

Never had problems before and now with this new batch theyare eating them!

Any suggestions for my 24g??

 

[dbarker]

I catch mine and place them in the tank with the Choclate Chip star and my mantis shrimp. Harlequin shrimp is another alternative. Good Luck!

 

[Ladipyg]

Happens with Asterinas sometimes...you never know until they start eating your zoas if they are the zoa eating type. I find the brownish tan ones with an uneven number of arms...usually arranged with 3 smaller and 2 larger ones to be the biggest culprit. My harlequin shrimp took care of my problem but now I must keep it supplied with chocolate chip stars so it doesn't starve to death! But oh my...did it mow down the Asterinas. You can watch the tank and hand pick out as many as you can...if you do get a shrimp you must be prepared to supply stars for it to eat or pass it on when your problem is done.

 

[laskopyre]

+1 on the shrimp. They will demolish asterina, but you have to continue to get them stars.

 

[Spiderwoman]

A pair of Harlequins cleaned up my nano and now they are cleaning up a 75g tank. Awesome little shrimp but you need to cater to their diet. They will not eat anything else than fleshy legged starfish.

 

[reefboy]

never had a problem with them I think they are blamed for a already dieding coral and they just are cleaning up the dieing flesh just my 2 cents been working with them for years and have never seen them just start attacking corals at least the ones in my systems and many others I maintain I know theres a acro eating varity but have yet to aquire them.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

I have pulled them off of healthy palys before. Right off the stalk of an open paly and bite marks underneath. They def eat palys and zoas if they are the bad kind.

 

[reefboy]

well Im glad I got the non eating kind lol but could they possibly be cleaning algae off and just left some scrape marks? as I've seen mine on zoa/palys then gone the next day with coral fine.

 

[ZOABOY]

Been looking for them.

 

[Acroholic]

I have a Harlequin in my 100 gallon chalice tank, and I feed him with asterinas from my 210.
Dave

 

[FiReBReTHa]

I have pulled them off of healthy palys before. Right off the stalk of an open paly and bite marks underneath. They def eat palys and zoas if they are the bad kind.

yup. hooligans! i need a grasper or something to grab the ones i see when i cant get wet. they must be eliminated! i must create a nano min submarine to go after them.

 

[Sikryd]

You would think they would die from paly poisioning if they did actually eat a healthy one.

I am in the arena that they are eating algae or dead tissue.
There aren't any stars that I know of that eat coral. In the home aquarium...
jmho

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

I have successfully kept very healthy palys and zoas for years and I can tell you with 100% certainty that when these stars of which I am speaking attach to a healthy polyp and left there to eat will kill the polyp/frag/colony.

 

[flricordia]

My first experience with them was not long ago when I noticed one of my Armageddons withering. I found a star eating it from the other side. I have a Harlequin now and I pull any I see too.

 

[Ladipyg]

There are just so many different types of Asterina stars that to say that they ALL eat or don't eat palys, zoas would be very misleading. I'm sure there are those of us out there (myself included) that has been unfortunate enough to get some of the stars that eat zoas and palys and many who have Asterinas that have never touched a single thing. You'd probably have to be a starfish biologist to tell them apart anyhow. Either way my harlequin shrimp made short work of them...for sheer eating ability these little guys are unbelievable. I keep a whole lot of chocolate chip stars in my fuge and take the occasional arm to keep my shrimp fed. Sounds cruel but I knew finding food for it was my responsibility when I got the shrimp in the first place.

 

[Saltysteele]

I'm with ya, Rev. I've got several palys that are flourishing in my tank, but started getting various polyps closing and acting funky (within in a day's time). upon further inspection, found stars on them. the ones with a bluish-tinted top, and like nina said, with the 3 longer legs, 2 shorter

i have NO doubt about it, and am positive i had some z&p-eating stars. That is, until I got my Harly. She got down to business real quick

 

[flricordia]

Here is one I had found that was eating my zoas while back.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Thats what they look like!

 

[reefboy]

good to know will definatly keep my eye's on the lookout.

 

[GrouperGenius]

+1 on Harlequins. My 75 was FULL of stars. At any time you could easily find 30-50 on the glass and rock. Now I don't see any. I started a "pay it forward" thing down here and so far it cleaned up mine, a buddy's 150, and now in a 210. When it's done in there, he'll send it on to someone else who needs it.