Asterina Star reproduction?

[littlefoxx]

So I’ve apparently been finding some new creatures in my reef this week lol. This one I’m pretty sure is an Asterina star!

I’ve always wanted a nano with harlequin shrimp. I found this little one and moved it to my nano that I’ve dedicated to rock flower nets for the most part.

My question is how long will this little guy take to reproduce and create a good supply of them to add a harlequin shrimp? I know most people hate these things but I think they are kinda cute! Do they pose a threat to rock flowers? Most of what I read says they go after SPS or zoas and other soft corals if they start to eat coral. Also what do I feed these things to keep them alive so I can get a population for a shrimp???

 

[Lavey29]

They only populate based on the available food environment in the tank. I have them here and there in my tank and just let them do their thing.

 

[I never finish anythi]

Long term I don't think it would work .

 

[littlefoxx]

Long term I don't think it would work .

Why not? Like they just won’t produce enough for the shrimp?

 

[bluemon]

Why not? Like they just won’t produce enough for the shrimp?

Yup. You'll have to resort to buying chocolate chip starfish and feeding them

 

[i cant think]

So I’ve apparently been finding some new creatures in my reef this week lol. This one I’m pretty sure is an Asterina star!

I’ve always wanted a nano with harlequin shrimp. I found this little one and moved it to my nano that I’ve dedicated to rock flower nets for the most part.

My question is how long will this little guy take to reproduce and create a good supply of them to add a harlequin shrimp? I know most people hate these things but I think they are kinda cute! Do they pose a threat to rock flowers? Most of what I read says they go after SPS or zoas and other soft corals if they start to eat coral. Also what do I feed these things to keep them alive so I can get a population for a shrimp???

This is only 1/2 of my Aquilonastra (‘Asterina’) population;

This has built up over the last 4 years and not been touched by anything but maybe the occasional nip from a fish.

 

[I never finish anythi]

This is only 1/2 of my Aquilonastra (‘Asterina’) population;

This has built up over the last 4 years and not been touched by anything but maybe the occasional nip from a fish.

Wow you should be fine

 

[littlefoxx]

This is only 1/2 of my Aquilonastra (‘Asterina’) population;

This has built up over the last 4 years and not been touched by anything but maybe the occasional nip from a fish.

Oh wow okay so they don’t reproduce as much as people make it seem then? Lots of people at the LFS make it seem like they pop up over night in hundreds! Yeah I’ll for sure hold off then on the shrimp

 

[ca1ore]

As to whether asterina are damaging to corals …… problem is we apply the term to a broad range of small stars. Some may well be predatory, but in my experience most are not. I have personally never had any issues.

 

[i cant think]

As to whether asterina are damaging to corals …… problem is we apply the term to a broad range of small stars. Some may well be predatory, but in my experience most are not. I have personally never had any issues.

Never say never… I thought the same just a few months ago and now I’ve lost 4 year old corals because of them. Once their population gets into a good amount of numbers I find that’s when they predate on coral. They don’t in low numbers of maybe 100-200 but once you’re into the 2000s corals tend to begin dying and often you’ll think its the fish until you see the stars climbing over the coral that are looking ill.

 

[ca1ore]

I have had some pretty big tanks with significant populations of ’asterina’. Don’t confuse correlation with causation. Massive populations means your nutrients are probably out of whack ….. that seems the more likely reason for coral decline. But, as I noted, there may well be small stars that we call asterina that are problematic; I just never had any of those.

 

[Cheezle]

I added my harlequin this past Thursday and feel like I should have added it sooner. I got all the evidence I needed when I saw these 2 massive stars eating the rest of the meaty boy they had already damaged. Corals or heads I had for over a year doing great just suddenly dying? It wasn't parameter issues. It was these cheeky breekys.

The starfish will be eaten alive and it will be justice for the corals that suffered the same fate.

 

[littlefoxx]

I added my harlequin this past Thursday and feel like I should have added it sooner. I got all the evidence I needed when I saw these 2 massive stars eating the rest of the meaty boy they had already damaged. Corals or heads I had for over a year doing great just suddenly dying? It wasn't parameter issues. It was these cheeky breekys.

The starfish will be eaten alive and it will be justice for the corals that suffered the same fate.

They look pretty guilty in that picture haha

 

[i cant think]

I added my harlequin this past Thursday and feel like I should have added it sooner. I got all the evidence I needed when I saw these 2 massive stars eating the rest of the meaty boy they had already damaged. Corals or heads I had for over a year doing great just suddenly dying? It wasn't parameter issues. It was these cheeky breekys.

The starfish will be eaten alive and it will be justice for the corals that suffered the same fate.

This is exactly what I had happen.

I have had corals thrive for the last 4 years just randomly begin to decline overnight. It started with a colony of Duncan that had over 20-30 heads. Slowly one by one heads went missing on it and asterina stars were all over the base. Then the same happened with a single torch head and a Frammer head.

I have had some pretty big tanks with significant populations of ’asterina’. Don’t confuse correlation with causation. Massive populations means your nutrients are probably out of whack ….. that seems the more likely reason for coral decline. But, as I noted, there may well be small stars that we call asterina that are problematic; I just never had any of those.

Massive populations means there’s a surplus of their food, these guys eat a variety of things from algae to sponges. And now coral. I would agree with nutrients out of whack however the thing is these corals that have just declined over night were years old and thriving before my star population increased.

Just a few months ago, my Duncan looked like this;
This is the start of the rebellion.

Today it’s sat as part of my skeleton collection…

If it was nutrients this whole colony would be retracted and gone, not just 2-3 (sometimes 4-5) heads vanishing every week.

So to the OP;
I would think twice before deciding on Asterina Stars. They can be harmless but at the same time they can decimate a reef tank.

 

[Daddio64]

I see in asterina it goes in the garbage immediately. Let them get out of hand on a setup, never again! One sight I pluck and pitch!

 

[bluemon]

I think there's multiple factors of why people attribute coral deaths to "asterina" stars.

First is misidentification. Everyone calls small starfish that aren't brittle stars the same "asterina". Chances are, there are many different species that rang for detritivores to omnivores and maybe in extremely rare cases, obligate coralivores. In most cases, I'm sure they land somewhere in the middle where they prefer algae and meat but in extreme cases, might have to resort to coral (and a weak one at that) to survive.

A second factor is population control. In well established tanks, there should not be too many asternias (definitely not like the one pictured above). In my 10 year old tank, if I took a full tank shot, I could get like 10 asterinas counted. Definitely not 100s like the above. This has to be attributed to a lack of biodiversity (like other microorganisms that are more benign and compete with starfish for food), and/or a surplus of nutrients available in terms of alage and leftover food.

This doesn't show up in parameters because the algae that grow and the food that's leftover to rot is taken over by this immense population of aterina stars. But what happens if that population goes a bit beyond the capacity that your tank can handle?

It has to resort to finding other food, and often times, it'll be either eating coral (a last ditch effort) or dying. They are animals, they aren't going to die without trying to survive.


There aren't many micro stars that outright hunt coral from the get go. I think a lot of it is scapegoating these asternias for other imbalances in the tank

 

[Slocke]

I hate the little £%#¥&. There fine when you have plenty of algae but if that runs out they go for the corals.

 

[dadnjesse]

I used to pick them out but that gets old. Mine eat the Coraline algae off the back of my tank.

 

[littlefoxx]

Does anyone know if they try to eat rock flowers? Ive got the little guy in my nano and thats what its mostly going to be with only stock as two clownfish. Also does anyone know if mine is a bad kind of star? Its strange because its only got 4 legs

 

[jmichaelh7]

The reality is Asterina stars are very similiar to Aiptasia - An annoying pest that duplicates unless you make effort to minimize. They can almost be present indefinitely unless you start from dry rock and run quarantine / dips from the beginning.