friend or foe?

[Angelfish1]

unidentified, seven arm starfish. It arrived in a Hammerhead coral frag. Is it going to be ok in my reef tank? What does it eat?

 

[Rijodan]

asterina starfish, ive never had a problem with em, but they multiple fast. pretty sure they eat alagae detritus but ive never had em hurt coral/fish

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

Asterina star, 90% of the time they're harmless though there are some instances of them eating coral

 

[littlefoxx]

Not going to lie I thought that was a part of your nail polish for a second and I was like oh thats super cool wish I could get that realistic of a starfish on my nails lol. I like these guys, I find them cute. Some hate them, they multiply like crazy apparently

 

[vetteguy53081]

unidentified, seven arm starfish. It arrived in a Hammerhead coral frag. Is it going to be ok in my reef tank? What does it eat?

These are not to be trusted and multiply like mice. Ive had them take down zoa colonies.

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

These are not to be trusted and multiply like mice. Ive had them take down zoa colonies.

I think I remember reading a ReefBuilders article where it stated that astarena stars that camouflage and match the color of the host coral are the ones that will prey of coral

 

[AydenLincoln]

All I will say is if you don’t know what something is don’t put it on your bare hand or nail!

 

[SPR1968]

Get rid asap, they multiply like crazy, can eat/damage coral (I have them in my S650 and also a harlequin shrimp to eat them).

Oh and wash your hand! lol

 

[kevgib67]

I remove as many as possible every time I do a water change. I hate them. My daughter loves them and points them out to her friends.

 

[Fish Fan]

Interesting. I’ve had these little stars in my tanks in the past, and always thought they were reef-safe detritivores. Are there different species where some are less reef-safe than others? Or is it just a matter of they will eat coral if there‘s no other food source?

 

[Rijodan]

its likely a handful of species that are similar with same common name. they do multiply quickly. a club member loves to come collect em outta peoples tank for his harlequinn shrimp