identification

[b3h0ldrc]

found these guys on a few pieces of LR I bought and just noticed one on the frag rock the mushroom is on. just want to know if it should be moved/removed away from the mushroom. any one have any idea what these guys are. good or bad just want to know as there is about 3 of them from what I've been able to spot. thanks for your time and any input.

 

[ReeferBean]

Those are asterina starfish. Some people don't like them, but I don't mind them unless they grow to huge numbers and become a little unsightly. The eat algae, some say zoas as well but I don't think so. Usually just trying to eat the algae of dying corals.

Oh and that purple stuff is cyanobacteria if you were wondering about that as well.

 

[b3h0ldrc]

thanks reeferbean. I'll just let them be and if I find them to be somewhat of a nuisance to the corals then out they'll go. appreciate the help bro.

 

[huuta]

asterina starfish.some say good,some say bad.they reproduce fast.i would just remove them if u can.My tank is overrun with them and i do believe that they are eating my z and p.I try to manually remove as much as i can

 

[jedidad]

Even if they don't eat z's and p's they do eat coraline algae. I had a problem with them and they left all kinds of white spots all over my coraline algae so they had to go. Harlequin shrimp took care of a major outbreak for me in no tiime.

 

[Coral Bay]

I have them they are ok. But they can multiply quick. So when my wife gets bored she go over to the tank and robe them with a net. Nerver seen them. Bother corals though.

 

[Isoprene]

They are in my tank as well, i manually remove then whenever i find them. They DEF eat my zoas, im 100% sure, Ive had one colony thrive and almost die 2x now because of them. I actually pulled them off the exact spots the ate, it almost killed the colony. They target that colony only, nothing else. Not sure about Coraline, but now im curious to see any white spots. I say GET EM OUT!

 

[b3h0ldrc]

its kind of funny the more negative responses appear when the little guys start moving around, now its like playing where's waldo. guess im going to be picking them off as I see them. I only have frags of a mix of corals right now, so they could possible be a greater threat to me as opposed to people who have well established colonies of zoas and palys. Literally only have like 10 heads of 2 different colored zoas (just started!) I might look into harlequin shrimps as well, I do like natural processes taking care of such nuisances more so than anything else. thanks everyone