Is this asterina starfish? Should I remove it?
- Thread starter aquartist
- Start date
- Tagged users None
Pancake
Community Member
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2019
- Messages
- 67
- Reaction score
- 144
- What state or country do you live in
- California
Good Job! There was a time when I thought they were ok to have, but honestly I’ve confirmed that they 100% eat Zoas and other corals. Some say it’s certain species, but I don’t think so. I think it’s hard to tell if you don’t have many, but once they start to get out of control, you will quickly find evidence that they are harmful to corals. They don’t really have an upside so it’s just best to rid them…… if you can muhahahahaha!
Nemo&Friends
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jul 4, 2021
- Messages
- 706
- Reaction score
- 782
- Location
- Charlotte,
- What state or country do you live in
- North Carolina
From a few I got probably over 300. They did not do any damages, and mainly just ate the algae on the glass and rocks. However as they became too numerous and unsightly, I bought an harlequin shrimp. I kept the shrimp in a different smaller aquarium, and fed it about 3 stars a day. It took several month, and I recently returned the shrimp to the LFS as I did not want it to starve. I still have about a dozen of these stars. I will "rent" again a harlequin shrimp if needed. I enjoyed watching the shrimp, and it grew quite a bit while I was keeping it. I do not think the star do any damages, but they reproduce quite a lot.
EricR
2500 Club Member
Latching on to this thread since I just found my first ever asterina star in my tank,,, at least pretty sure that's what it is. (pics below)
Most likely sources are:
-- Added 5 zoas 3 days ago from local R2R member (still on rack on side of tank) and found this guy on the glass, right above the frag rack. *I did 10 minute dip in Coral Rx before introduction but guess this thing survived it.
-- Also just put 2 Mexican turbo snails in about an hour before finding the asterina star but seems very unlikely since I had the snails in observational QT for 45 days,,, brushed and inspected the shells,,, and placed them on rock structure pretty far away from where I found the starfish but I guess anything is possible.
Pics -- starfish is about 4-5 mm wingspan:
Bad iPhone pic of digital microscope view:
*looks pretty cool and I feel bad just tossing it but not willing to deal with massive infestation
Most likely sources are:
-- Added 5 zoas 3 days ago from local R2R member (still on rack on side of tank) and found this guy on the glass, right above the frag rack. *I did 10 minute dip in Coral Rx before introduction but guess this thing survived it.
-- Also just put 2 Mexican turbo snails in about an hour before finding the asterina star but seems very unlikely since I had the snails in observational QT for 45 days,,, brushed and inspected the shells,,, and placed them on rock structure pretty far away from where I found the starfish but I guess anything is possible.
Pics -- starfish is about 4-5 mm wingspan:
Bad iPhone pic of digital microscope view:
*looks pretty cool and I feel bad just tossing it but not willing to deal with massive infestation
EricR
2500 Club Member
I vote yes on asterina (aquilonastra) -- seems like they pop-up with all kinds of irregular shapes and number of legs (since they can reproduce by dropping off legs, or so I think).
minus9
5000 Club Member
- Joined
- Feb 13, 2017
- Messages
- 5,660
- Reaction score
- 6,632
- Location
- Los Angeles (SFV)
- What state or country do you live in
- California
Aquilonastra (formely known as asterina) for all above. These guys are in all of my tanks and not a single one has done anything but eat algae (which I like). I have sps, zoas, tridacna clams, LPS, etc....the list goes on. None of the hundreds of aquilonastras have ever eaten anything besides algae (all kinds). Yes, they can reproduce to great numbers, but there are natural ways of controlling their numbers, but those numbers increase because they have lots of food (algae) to consume.
My question to those that believe or witnessed them eating coral or polyps, where the corals/animals healthy? I'm sure there are a few species that we don't want and are true asterinas (which are much larger) that eat corals, but I've never witnessed them myself. I'm not say this hasn't happened, but maybe if people can start identifying these particular stars, then maybe we can put together a list of species that pose a risk?
My question to those that believe or witnessed them eating coral or polyps, where the corals/animals healthy? I'm sure there are a few species that we don't want and are true asterinas (which are much larger) that eat corals, but I've never witnessed them myself. I'm not say this hasn't happened, but maybe if people can start identifying these particular stars, then maybe we can put together a list of species that pose a risk?
Koh23
Valuable Member
- Joined
- May 23, 2021
- Messages
- 1,306
- Reaction score
- 1,052
- Location
- Croatia
- What state or country do you live in
- Other International
On one hand - throw everything, its pest, its a problem, its a....
On other hand - help, my tank is crashing, my fish died...
There a small and limited number of pests that can end up in our tanks, rest is microfauna - sign of healty and stable tank.
On other hand - help, my tank is crashing, my fish died...
There a small and limited number of pests that can end up in our tanks, rest is microfauna - sign of healty and stable tank.
