Newbie needing help :)

RealtyBoss · May 13, 2016

Hi guys! Bought some live rock for my new tank. 150 gal, saltwater about 2 weeks in. 2 trash fish to help, reverse osmosis system and everything else to get started. Today my new light came in and when I turned the lights on- wow. Baby star fish everywhere and so far 3 baby octopuses. I found one of my new hermits body pulled from its shell and half eaten but thought another one had done it. After reading I'm thinking it was these guys? They hitchhiked here. Don't know how many there are but at least 3. I got a video of one. The starfish - small. One 6 symmetrical legs and normal coloring. Other is gelatinous looking with 7 legs, 2 of those 7 are long and thick and it's completely white. Are these safe for my new coral and fish? Thanks!

Reeferfourlife · May 13, 2016

I have them in my tank. They don't bother my corals or fish. Normally they stay on glass.

ironman31 · May 13, 2016

Starfish will eat your corals

helen ann · May 13, 2016

EDIT: ???

nicknl · May 13, 2016

Never heard or see that the little starfish eat the corals. I know a lot of tanks with many of them and a lot of colorful corals. But I agree that when you see them you better remove them. They can grow to a great population in a short time

james983 · May 13, 2016

They are Asterina Stars and are harmless as are the tiny octopuses. Enjoy the diversity of your tank as they are both a helpful part of your CUC.

Reeferdood · May 13, 2016

Well.....
Asterina stars are cute and all but they will devour certain corals and they reproduce like rabbits. 2 ways to remove them,
remove the rock and manually pick them off or get a harlequin shrimp. it is a bummer that a lot of live rock comes with hitchhikers that are pests, very frustrating for newb's to get started off on the right track this way.
Good luck and welcome to the wonderful world of reef keeping!

jt17 · May 13, 2016

I have asterinea stars in my tank and I can confirm they can eat zoas and I have seen them grazing on acropora as well. I wish I would have removed them immediately when I first discovered them. Now I'm in the market for a harlequin shrimp.
Octopus are very intelligent and prone to escaping. If they stick around they could become predators of small fish.

Macdaddynick1 · May 13, 2016

there are several different types of these stars, some do eat acros and Zoa, some are harmless

Diesel · May 13, 2016

Let me be the first one that will WELCOME the @RealtyBoss on R2R.

Asterinea stars come in different types and some can harm corals as mentioned.
I can give you a detailed story about them but this link from my good friend Nicole will tell you everything you need to know about them.

https://reefbuilders.com/2016/03/30...duction-to-this-common-reef-aquarium-critter/

The Octos can be another problem but in most cases they won't survive, some how they are hard to keep in captivity

Do you have a FTS (full tank shot) of your tank?

Freakyyfort · May 13, 2016

My stars live in a separate tank. They just clean the tank nothing for them to bother with just rock and sand. Now an Octopus would be awesome but I've read won't last long. I agree with diesel let's see a fts

oodan · May 13, 2016

Here is my 2 cents every one is different are you a clean freek a natural up keep person well hitch hikers are going to be in 50% of any bag or rock you get from any local fish store it's a gamble you play with dice like every time live rock is the #1 on that list growing your own rock is best to get a perfect clean tank takes a lil more work but the end is 100% clean a 10 gal tank to place any and everything in for a few days is almost a must to have to put everything into and watch it nothing fancy just water and a bubbler to give it oxygen and you could of cought these things the star fish suck I kill them left and right they multiply like crazy and yes they will eat Zoas there is dark ones these are the ones I have freaked out on and went on a killing spree after seeing a half Zoa I say give them to the porcelain God and the octo is up to you it will eat fish if it lives just my input hope all works out keep the salt in your blood no matter what the dr. Says

themcnertney · May 13, 2016

Do you have a sump? If you find them, put them in there. I think they can be beneficial to an aquarium.

Reeferdood · May 13, 2016

Ok,
I'll add a few more tidbits to my earlier post... This is from experience not opinion...
A friend of mine had a perfectly mature system that was started using artificial rock and he had no hitchhikers whatsoever, until.... One day he wanted to add a refugium with rubble rock and algae.. One day he noticed one asterina star and left it....
Now he has thousands in his main display...
Bottom line is if the sump, refugium are tied with your main display you will eventually get them... They are not a desirable thing to have in a reef tank whatsoever..

Tautog · May 13, 2016

Those little stars can grow fast! Buy a harlequin shrimp, one is enough. Your sea star problem will disappear. After their gone, buy a couple of chocolate chip sea stars for your sump. Don't put them in DT- display tank. I had same issue, and now I feed my shrimp a leg from the CC sea star every week to 10 days. Keep this shrimp because new rock or corals may have the stars also.

Davesgt · May 13, 2016

Welcome to R2R! Those starfish seem to be fast reproducers, as far as being harmful some say it depends on color of them. They say white are usually ok and brown can eat corals. I have no true experience with them, this is just what I hear.

jsker · May 13, 2016

Let me be the second to Welcome you to R2R, I had them, and they went away, I have them again and an I will most-likely get a harlequin shrimp and clean them up. I need to start rent a harlequin shrimp.

Virtualbasil · May 13, 2016

Wait ... 3 baby octopus ?

glb · May 13, 2016

Welcome! I'd take the starfish out. Some eat corals and some don't so better safe than sorry. As far as the octopuses, if they survive you'll need a tight lid on the tank so they don't escape. Also, you can keep the fish safer during cycling by throwing in some beneficial bacteria, like BioSpira or Dr. Tim's One and Only. Better yet, you can cycle the tank without fish by adding another source of ammonia, like pure ammonia, fish food, or a shrimp. That way the fish won't be stressed. Good luck!

WetWhistle · May 13, 2016

There has been a lot of confusion on these little guys for a long time now for as long as I have been in this hobby. Let me clear some things up based on my decades of experience.

The vast majority are opportunistic scavengers and/or herbivores that eat coralline or other types of algae as well as uneaten food. Out of all the Asterina sp. varieties only around 5% are coral eating species. So it really depends on what SP you have if it is going to be a coral eater or not. I have had these guys for decades now and I have never and I mean never had an issue with them. I have hundreds of them so if they were going to be a problem at this density they would already have caused an issue. I have the light color ones like in the pic. I have seen the dark color ones cause issues in another persons tank. So people need to be careful about labeling all of the Asterina sp as coral eaters because they are not. Most are harmless and an excellent cleanup grew. With that being said it is always wise to watch them to make sure you don't have one of the bad sp.