Are these tiny starfish safe or bad?

[Jurg]

I've been seeing more and more of these tint starfish pop up recently and not sure if they are safe or bad.

Thoughts?

 

[db7080]

Some people say they eat coralline but I don't think they are bad. If you want you could always get a harlequin shrimp

 

[Jurg]

Some people say they eat coralline but I don't think they are bad. If you want you could always get a harlequin shrimp

I've been searching for harlequin locally for a few weeks. It seems no one can get them in.

 

[db7080]

I have always had them and they have never caused problems. Although I have never had an out break of them. I can usually find one or two at a time in my tank

 

[ahtatt]

I had them multiply exponentially in my tank. Way more than you would want to count. They ate all of the coraline they could find, and the slightly larger white ones ate my sponges, as well as some zoas. It took my Harliquin shrimp about a year to clear them out in my 75g.

 

[Jurg]

This is what I pulled out in about 5 minutes just looking around. As long as they won't bother my corals I'm fine, but I still might add the harlequin just to keep the numbers down.

 

[Eienna]

I was warned that the speckled ones have been known to eat corals.

 

[lawnman]

I have seen them eating on my zoas before.

 

[TJ's Reef]

I have had the Asterina Stars in my systems for the entire 30+ years and even when populations spike never had any real issues with them other than consuming most of nice purple coraline off LR and glass. For a natural population check my Wrasses have done a good job, Ornate Leopard currently and Radiant and Yellow Coris Wrasses in past. There are some similar or related species that get much larger ie: 1" to 1-1/4" and greyish white in color that maybe a little more of a threat.

Cheers, Todd

 

[MacKrell]

I vote for bad as well. They seem to have a taste for very expensive palys and zoas. At night watch with a flash light when your lights out, that's when I've seen them the most.

 

[resortez]

from my understanding, there are several varieties of these fellows. i have definitely seen the ones that eat coraline & the ones that eat zoanthids. i will say that the wrasses mentioned above will keep the population under control. good luck & happy reefing!

 

[luke33]

They are hit or miss IMO. Miss for me as they wiped out a ton of z&p's. And they weren't the cheap ones. I got a harlequin and it took them out in 3-4 mths. Just watch them.

 

[Intricateart]

I have heard that the white ones are fine, but the ones flecked with color eat zoas. No idea what the validity of those statements was, but thats the rumor.

 

[NanaReefer]

Definitely not a rumor! Research Starfish Hitchhikers (Astrenia Stars) Found Here with pictures!
www.chucksaddiction.com

 

[glb]

I always remove them when I see them. That way I don't have to worry if they're a good one or a bad one.

 

[cginter]

My z&p's have been disappearing nd I thought it was due to some fungus. But now after finding a few large asterina stars, I now believe these guys are the culprit. Would coralRx take care of these guys? Anyone know?

 

[NanaReefer]

You could try CoralRX, definitely wont hurt.

 

[Velodog2]

Will they get rid of my Texas Trash death palys for me?

 

[Reefing Madness]

Try the Hydrogen Peroxide Dip, that should take care of them.

 

[Reefing Madness]

Will they get rid of my Texas Trash death palys for me?

They are to hit and miss, to tough to call. If you can find someone with colored Asterinas, then I'd say yes.