Asterina starfish?

[uunclebudd]

Can someone please identify?

 

[Crabs McJones]

Yes

 

[Üter]

second YES

 

[Paul B]

Yes, I have 60,000 of them. I like them.

 

[hadams356]

Yes, I have 60,000 of them. I like them.

If you would like to sell some I'd be interested

 

[Clowning_Around72]

Yes, I have 60,000 of them. I like them.

Out of curiosity, is it a colony of one species or a mix of them. I have never seen tanks with mixes of different asterina

 

[Paul B]

I have no idea. But some are larger, some are brownish and some are black.

 

[Reeferbadness]

i get a couple on my glass every once in a while in. my 200g mixed reef tank.... just take them out when i see them. So far (2+ years) no population explosion (fingers crossed)

 

[vetteguy53081]

Can someone please identify?

Fir me a nuisance. They break of a leg and regenerate and multiply like mice ending up in intakes and overflows, eat zoas and surfaces with film algae

 

[uunclebudd]

i get a couple on my glass every once in a while in. my 200g mixed reef tank.... just take them out when i see them. So far (2+ years) no population explosion (fingers crossed)

Have you had experience with them eating corals? I’ve found two so far. I relocated to the sump last night.

 

[bluemon]

Fir me a nuisance. They break of a leg and regenerate and multiply like mice ending up in intakes and overflows, eat zoas and surfaces with film algae

Mine even eats SPS…

my harlequin shrimp seems to work a bit slowly

 

[Reeferbadness]

Have you had experience with them eating corals? I’ve found two so far. I relocated to the sump last night.

I've only seen them on the front glass - no evidence of any coral damage or even a large outbreak - just 1 or 2 every week or so.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Mine even eats SPS…

my harlequin shrimp seems to work a bit slowly

They’re very slow

 

[bluemon]

Mine even eats SPS…

my harlequin shrimp seems to work a bit slowly

They’re very slow

I’ve read of accounts where people introduced one and wiped out all the asterinas in a couple weeks so they had to rehome it.

I guess my tank is too big and the infestation a bit too much

 

[exnisstech]

Have you had experience with them eating corals? I’ve found two so far. I relocated to the sump last night.

I've seen them killing zoas and caught one eating flesh off an acro. I treat them all as enemies regardless of color.

Mine even eats SPS…

my harlequin shrimp seems to work a bit slowly

My Harly has been in the tank since October and I'm still seeing some on the glass so there still work to be done. Tank is 65g TV

 

[bluemon]

I've seen them killing zoas and caught one eating flesh off an acro. I treat them all as enemies regardless of color.

My Harly has been in the tank since October and I'm still seeing some on the glass so there still work to be done. Tank is 65g TV

yea mine is a 125G and I've caught an asterina that decimated a new frag that was knocked off the rock last week, and caught on on another healthy frag this morning...

I didn't mind it working a bit slowly as I like to keep it around, but if it gets to eating SPS, that's not ideal.

At least it only attacked the cheaper frags

 

[Bluegrass Reefer]

I bought a Harlquin Shrimp about 18-24 months ago because the Astrea population had gotten out of control in my 110. After just a couple of months I wasn't finding any more stars so I rehomed him. Unfortunately, there were still enough of the stars in my sump rubble that the population has started to make a comeback. Wish I had moved the Harliquin to the sump instead of rehoming.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I’ve read of accounts where people introduced one and wiped out all the asterinas in a couple weeks so they had to rehome it.

I guess my tank is too big and the infestation a bit too much

In a 669g and current 400g, its took many weeks for a trio to end them . With what you read, it will depend on tank size, amount of asterinas and number of shrimp