Need help id starfish

johnsamm7 · Jul 2, 2016

So I saw this little guy in my tank this afternoon when I came home from work anyone have any ideas what type of starfish this could be

Nihilus · Jul 2, 2016

Asterina star. Some people consider them to be harmless, but I don't trust them. As soon as one shows up it get's removed ASAP.

jsker · Jul 2, 2016

@Nihilus dead on ID.

FLAdaboy · Jul 2, 2016

+1 asterina. Get a harlequin shrimp if they bother you.

johnsamm7 · Jul 2, 2016

What do they do that is bad bad traits and what not

Nihilus · Jul 2, 2016

Check these out.

http://chucksaddiction.thefishestate.net/ (Info Links > Hitchhikers > Starfish)

http://reefkeeping.com/joomla/index.php/current-issue/article/45-reefkeeping-101-

http://www.garf.org/Star/starfish.html

http://www.withinthesea.com/reef-aquarium/pests/asterina-anomala/

HTH.

johnsamm7 · Jul 2, 2016

Dang hats crazy I gotta get hat thing out of there I went back down to remove it and the sucker had vanished

FLAdaboy · Jul 2, 2016

Suckers...... They spread like crazy. When one piece breaks off, it will multiply. I rotate tanks with two harlequin shrimp. I let them spread then toss the shrimp in there to take care of them. There are a couple different types of asterina so not all are "bad" I guess.

johnsamm7 · Jul 2, 2016

I thought it was pretty cool for a minute now I know it's true nature as soon as I see it its outta the tabk

DRoth335 · Jul 3, 2016

Harmless part of the clean up crew IMHO. We have always had 100's in our tanks with no issues. I think they are part of the biodiversity that make tanks so cool.

smh254 · Jul 3, 2016

DRoth335 said:
Harmless part of the clean up crew IMHO. We have always had 100's in our tanks with no issues. I think they are part of the biodiversity that make tanks so cool.

I would have to agree. I have lots I'm my tank and have never caused any problems. My Zoas will close up when they go on them but they open right back up once they have moved on.

Kershaw · Jul 3, 2016

smh254 said:
I would have to agree. I have lots I'm my tank and have never caused any problems. My Zoas will close up when they go on them but they open right back up once they have moved on.

I agree. Also. I had a 180gal tank with thousands and the worst part was knocking them off the glass every day. Never seen them hurt anything.

4FordFamily · Jul 3, 2016

I've had them for the better part of a decade and honestly they get out of control when the water quality diminishes, and when phosphates and nitrates are down they seem to thin out a lot. I have a few still, but most of them are gone. When out of control I would pick some out when my hand was in doing other things but otherwise I left them alone and they didn't seem to bother anything.

johnsamm7 · Jul 3, 2016

Cool sounds good I removed one yesterday and saw a second in there the one is still in there now but yea il deff keep everyone's experiences in mind thank you

Lindserfish · Jul 3, 2016

You can add harlequin shrimp to get rid of them. However, starfish are the only thing these shrimp eat so you would need a healthy stock of them or return the shrimp at your lfs when they're all gone.

Aquaman024 · Jul 4, 2016

If you get a harlequin shrimp, make sure you have a plan to keep the shrimp alive after it eats all the stars. Some people keep chocolate chip stars secluded and cut a leg off at a time to feed to the shrimp every couple days.

SBlisters · Nov 14, 2016

Nihilus said:
Check these out.

http://chucksaddiction.thefishestate.net/ (Info Links > Hitchhikers > Starfish)

http://reefkeeping.com/joomla/index.php/current-issue/article/45-reefkeeping-101-

http://www.garf.org/Star/starfish.html

http://www.withinthesea.com/reef-aquarium/pests/asterina-anomala/

HTH.

This was really helpful. One of these starfish appeared in my tank and has been on my branching frogspawn.