Asterina starfish or something bad?

nightmarepl

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Few weeks ago i found s tiny star fish on my rocks i removed it and killed it thinking it’s some bad hitch hiker today i found two more pretty close to each other are they things bad? If so how do i kill them
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Crabs McJones

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Is it bad?
Yes and no. They're generally harmless, but if you have to many access nutrients in your tank they can multiply extremely quickly and become overwhelming.
 

mta_morrow

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My experience is with white ones. Yours is more brown to my eyes.

The white ones I had didn’t bother anything in my tank. They ate a lot of coralline which I like so that the rock can have more porosity exposed.

I have only read that the brown ones have been caught munching on zoas.
 
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nightmarepl

nightmarepl

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My experience is with white ones. Yours is more brown to my eyes.

The white ones I had didn’t bother anything in my tank. They ate a lot of coralline which I like so that the rock can have more porosity exposed.

I have only read that the brown ones have been caught munching on zoas.

Dark picture they’re white but have this tiny orange spot?
 

Crabs McJones

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So probably a good idea to take them out and kill em?
I pull them when I see them during maintenence. I have a bunch but they dont bother anything to my knowledge :)
 

mta_morrow

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I don’t like removing things that are harmless or beneficial.

I don’t know of anyone who can tell for sure.

Just keep an eye on them and your corals is what I would recommend.
 

mta_morrow

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Harlequin shrimp will do the job, but once the asterinas are gone you will have to return it or supplement feeding it with other starfish. That’s all they eat.
 
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nightmarepl

nightmarepl

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Harlequin shrimp will do the job, but once the asterinas are gone you will have to return it or supplement feeding it with other starfish. That’s all they eat.

They wouldn’t mess with my other stock right usually friendly?
 

4FordFamily

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Asterina. I remove mine as I see them bits at a time as convenient but they’ve never hurt anything in my tanks. They’re unsightly but seem to thrive in dirtier water.
 

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Just my experience..

Those things are evil. They multiply like absolutely crazy and irritate corals. Harlequin didn't succeed in getting every single star, so it was a constant battle getting rid of them. Other than my blue hippo picking one up every now and then to toss it around, nothing else touched them. I had an incident last year where I unfortunately had to hypo my whole tank, that's the only way I killed them all.

Depends on what genus you have. I'm sure others aren't as bad my mine were great like yours.
 

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