Bare bottom, how about starfish bottom?

andrewkw · Jul 19, 2017

IMG_0582 by Andrew, on Flickr

If I can get the population a little higher I'll have a nice white bottom that is also self cleaning

Asterina starfish get a bad rap, while I'm sure there are some varieties that eat coral, obviously the 1000s I have are not harming my coral or I would notice. I do have a few snails but these guys are my main cleanup crew. The reproduce much better than snails and can get pretty much everywhere and do a nice job of keeping all 5 sides of my tank clean.

brandon429 · Jul 19, 2017

not only do I like them my lfs charged me 2.00 per asterina. in our picos they look scaled and awesome and I wish I had nine. over the years and peroxide blastings mine went away.

do you still have your pico setup

andrewkw · Jul 19, 2017

brandon429 said:
not only do I like them my lfs charged me 2.00 per asterina. in our picos they look scaled and awesome and I wish I had nine. over the years and peroxide blastings mine went away.

do you still have your pico setup

Sadly I don't have the pico anymore. I took it down last year. The tank itself was just in terrible shape and it got too difficult to clean the acrylic + I had so many other tanks running and was nearing a long distance move. By far the most successful tank I've kept but now I'm down to just a 112 mixed reef and a 90 fowlr.

brandon429 · Jul 19, 2017

that one above is sharp I like the nps, no bad algae and super clean looks and the stars! you could harlequin that bad boy into compliance if ever needed but I like em

that largest mass of tentacles in the center, the cream colored ones look like elegance coral?

andrewkw · Jul 19, 2017

I just shot a video of the tank the other day if you want to check it out
It was a harsh move and I lost so much livestock but most of what I have in the tank I've had long term. All the live rock is way older than my pico and the clownfish I've had since 2006.

Maddlesrain · Jul 19, 2017

I agree, the Asterinas (if you have a non-coral munching variety) are an invaluable addition to your reef tank. The ones I have can even get nice grey and red pattering on them as they mature and are pretty attractive looking.