Melanurus wrasse and shrimp

[Kevin Duprey]

In regards to the asterina stars I have are they considered the type to die off or shrink in population or will they just continue to spread and grow unless addressed.

My experience is that unless they have a predator, they will multiply nearly uncontrollably. I suppose they would eventually run out of algae / detritus to eat and that would limit their population, but I never seemed to reach that equilibrium. At it's peak, there were nights when my front glass would have 2-3 / sq in. when I shined a flashlight after lights out. There were similar numbers crawling all over the rocks. I manually pulled a bunch out, but the numbers would be right back after a few weeks. That's when I got the Harlequin. Two months later, I struggled to find any at night, and the Harlequin doubled in size...

 

[Phycodurus]

ditto on throwing the whole starfish in the harlequin tank ... i just get the starfish medium sized to minimize the mess.

i tried cutting up a sand-sifting star once ... a bit gruesome ... the exterior is a lot harder than i expected ... scissors are worthless, dulled the edge off my best knife, snapped two hacksaw blades, couldn’t find the machete ... finally finished the job with the trusty light saber!

kidding aside, removing the arms just increases the likelihood of the poor starfish just wasting away IMO.

 

[Fishnut]

In regards to the asterina stars I have are they considered the type to die off or shrink in population or will they just continue to spread and grow unless addressed.

I had one get in my tank on a coral frag, within a year there was 100 in the tank. I finally got tired of seeing them all over the glass and had to manually remove them.

 

[|sCRIBe|]

I added the harlequin a few days ago and so far so good. The melanurus knows it’s there but passes by. The harlequin also seems to puff up as a defense so I think that help too. Just hope this shrimp survives and eats these stars.

 

[trexodore]

I added the harlequin a few days ago and so far so good. The melanurus knows it’s there but passes by. The harlequin also seems to puff up as a defense so I think that help too. Just hope this shrimp survives and eats these stars.

What ended up happening to the harlequin?