Asterina starfish disappearing?

[littlehermit0]

I recently had a loooot of these stars and they were good cleaners, but they just disappeared!?? Like just gone, invisible, to check this I put two in my empty QT and same thing, invisible, I'm sure nothing ate them my hermit crab are way to small

 

[Bj’s Reef]

I’m following to see what I can learn.

 

[Waters]

Asterinas will sometimes come and go based on available nutrients. If there is nothing for them to eat, they will die off.

 

[littlehermit0]

Asterinas will sometimes come and go based on available nutrients. If there is nothing for them to eat, they will die off.

When there was 0 food, they were everywhere but now there's a ton of nutrients of them and they are just gone, they even survived my tank cycling

 

[Waters]

When there was 0 food, they were everywhere but now there's a ton of nutrients of them and they are just gone, they even survived my tank cycling

Was there 0 food because it was all eaten by your horde of starfish, which in turned caused your starfish to die off....which then caused your food to replenish?

 

[littlehermit0]

Was there 0 food because it was all eaten by your horde of starfish, which in turned caused your starfish to die off....which then caused your food to replenish?

Phosphates were at 1 ppm and algae exploded, the starfish were still there and then disappeared

 

[Waters]

Phosphates were at 1 ppm and algae exploded, the starfish were still there and then disappeared

They eat much more than algae.....detritus is a large part of their diet.

 

[littlehermit0]

They eat much more than algae.....detritus is a large part of their diet.

Yeah there's a ton of decaying food and poop

 

[exnisstech]

As stated they self populate. I've gone from hundreds convering the glass to none visible. I have 4 tanks running and they come and go in all of the tanks at some point. I'm not a fan and remove them from the glass with a net. I don't see them as a danger but I do not consider them a useful cleaner. They do a very good job scratching glass when one gets between the glass and algae scraper.

 

[Katrina71]

I'd bet you still have them in your rocks

 

[ca1ore]

Asterina stars certainly will wax/wane based on available food but having them disappear completely seems odd. Even a predator will require some time to go through a sizable population.

 

[littlehermit0]

I'd bet you still have them in your rocks

Their camouflage is crazy but I still can't really see them

 

[exnisstech]

Their camouflage is crazy but I still can't really see them

Mine tend to be active when lights are out. In the morning is when I do my glass scraping with the net.