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You should really not speak before you think due to your ignorance, i have a 5.5 gallon that he is in, youre real smart telling a newer person to the hobby to keep something that can possibly infest my tank and eat my corals. I'm not doing it because im spoon fed, im doing it for the benefit of my other pets that i have in that tank.Remove it due to your ignorance and the misinformation you are spoon fed diversity in your system is more beneficial than you are led to believe i would submit a photo but my system is not the cookie cutter system most people want to have not the beautiful acropora super perfect tank and I am very happy with that but I do have growing coral and invertebrates!
Gets expensive unless you have a sump/arm factory lolIf it gets prolific buy a harlequin shrimp, but beware, when they run out it will have to be fed starfish
I also have an arm factory that feeds my nano lolI have a sump lol
The quote I referred to in my quote above:ISpeakForTheSeas said:
With regards to whether or not they eat corals, it might be a species specific thing, it might be a you have way too many starfish so they're out of other food options thing, or it might be they're eating the slime coat/mucus on the coral rather than the coral itself (see below).
Timfish said:
It's an Aquilonastra spp. starfish and is a great scavenger. I see them with anywhere from 4 to 12 legs. The whole discusion around them seems to me excellent examples of misidentification, mistaken behaviour and assumed causality based just on heresay without looking at the research. Asterina spp starfish are preditary but only reproduce sexually and are shortlived so while it's possible some might get into a tank even if it did happen it's not going to be around long. Aquilonastra are one of the uncommon species that reproduce fissiparous or by splitting so are easy to identify by the different sized legs regrown after splitting. They perform an important function not only feeding off algae films but also feeding off microbial films including those on corals (at least ones that don't sting). FYI the mucus coating on corals ages and corals have to periodicely shed it to renew it and maintian healthy microbial processes (Ref 1, Ref 2). If Aquilonastra are feeding on zoas or softies I'll argue they are either benign or even beneficial as they may be reducing the unhealthy older mucus which can be full of unhealthy microbes which the animal is trying to get rid of and are far more likely to be the actual problem.
Here's an example, this Toadstool is doing one of it's periodic sheddings. The Aquilonastra have been in this system for years but only climb onto the Toadstool when it's shedding. In the first picture you can see the old mucus film, Aquilonastra starfish and areas they have cleaned off. The second picture shows the Toadstool a week later.
Technically they are not in the Asterina genus, they are in Aquilonastra.Yes it's an Asterina but the fact it's on the glass suggests it's one of the 95% of Asterina species that eats film algae and is therefore free CUC. As with any animal their population size is controlled by the available food supply so if you see a tank overrun with these little guys is due to the abundance of algae, nothing else. Control the algae and you'll control the Asterina population. I personally quite like them and have never had an issue with them taking over or eating any soft coral polyps.
They will not infest your tank or eat your corals. Their population can get large if you overfeed and have nutrient spikes that cause algae blooms. Despite people always claiming that they eat corals, in my decades in the hobby I’ve never seen it, and I’ve never seen anyone produce any actual evidence that they do. This person actually gave you good advice. People new to the hobby are, for some reason, taught to be paranoid about hitchhikers, which leads to less healthy, less diverse, less interesting, sterile tanks. The vast majority (like 99%) of hitchhikers are manageable, and like 90% are harmless if not beneficial. It’s your tank, so do what you want, but these are not the threat people claim they are.You should really not speak before you think due to your ignorance, i have a 5.5 gallon that he is in, youre real smart telling a newer person to the hobby to keep something that can possibly infest my tank and eat my corals. I'm not doing it because im spoon fed, im doing it for the benefit of my other pets that i have in that tank.
Shut your mouth, be respectful and helpful. If you have nothing nice to say shut itRemove it due to your ignorance and the misinformation you are spoon fed diversity in your system is more beneficial than you are led to believe i would submit a photo but my system is not the cookie cutter system most people want to have not the beautiful acropora super perfect tank and I am very happy with that but I do have growing coral and invertebrates!