Is this pest eating my Hammer corals?

Twosixpax

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
May 21, 2020
Messages
72
Reaction score
42
Location
Austin
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
A month ago I bought several branching hammer corals and for a few weeks they were doing very well, until about a week ago when they began to recede to the point there was very little flesh visible. Tonight I captured these images while checking the tank under red light - any help identifying them appreciated. The only thing other than fish and coral I've put into the tank intentionally are Berghia Nudibranchs several months ago to tackle an aptasia outbreak.

Thanks!

IMG_4504 (1).jpeg IMG_4505.jpeg IMG_4506.jpeg
 

Cheezle

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Mar 9, 2022
Messages
377
Reaction score
575
Location
Phoenix
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Probably. I know my asterinas have been eating my corals, SPS and LPS. The hammer in my picture is gone. Trash em if you can, I got a harlequin shrimp but haven't noticed a decline.. yet.
PXL_20230808_022617634.jpg
 

bluemon

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 20, 2017
Messages
392
Reaction score
411
Location
California
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
They are asterina stars, and my opinion is that they will not actively hunt healthy coral.

They get a bad rap around here, but 99 times out 100, they are only eating coral that are already dying.

And I've never caught mine eating anything but algae and microfauna even when I've had some dying coral.
 

Looking for the spotlight: Do your fish notice the lighting in your reef tank?

  • My fish seem to regularly respond to the lighting in my reef tank.

    Votes: 40 78.4%
  • My fish seem to occasionally respond to the lighting in my tank.

    Votes: 5 9.8%
  • My fish seem to rarely respond to the lighting in my tank.

    Votes: 3 5.9%
  • My fish seem to never respond to the lighting in my tank.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • I don’t pay enough attention to my fish to notice if they respond to the lighting.

    Votes: 2 3.9%
  • I don’t have any fish in my tank.

    Votes: 1 2.0%
  • Other.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
Back
Top