My reef has been suffering from long term STN for the past year and a half, at least. My acropora will be healthy, encrust, then they begin to STN for several weeks, recover a bit, encrust, then begin the process again until the colony is dead.
I consider myself to be very experienced and have carefully examined every possible cause for the STN.
Yesterday morning I was inspecting the tank with a flashlight before I left for work. I had remounted a green slimer frag because the entire body of it had STN'd. It was beginning to encrust very nicely but I noticed a starfish a few cm away from the tissue. When I got home from work that evening I noticed a small chunk of flesh missing from the coral. That's proof enough for me to say these starfish are eating my acropora.
In the past I have noticed starfish on my acropora but always assumed they were eating flesh that was already STN'ing. Now I have proof that the coral was perfectly healthy beforehand and the starfish was not attracted to already dying tissue.
So, manual removal or harlequin shrimp?
I consider myself to be very experienced and have carefully examined every possible cause for the STN.
Yesterday morning I was inspecting the tank with a flashlight before I left for work. I had remounted a green slimer frag because the entire body of it had STN'd. It was beginning to encrust very nicely but I noticed a starfish a few cm away from the tissue. When I got home from work that evening I noticed a small chunk of flesh missing from the coral. That's proof enough for me to say these starfish are eating my acropora.
In the past I have noticed starfish on my acropora but always assumed they were eating flesh that was already STN'ing. Now I have proof that the coral was perfectly healthy beforehand and the starfish was not attracted to already dying tissue.
So, manual removal or harlequin shrimp?