Wjcastiglione Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 so this little white starfish, no bigger than a dime - appeared on some rock in my tank today - do I need to worry about this guy? or just let him cruise around. is he reef safe? Link to comment
Wjcastiglione Posted January 20, 2015 Author Share Posted January 20, 2015 unfortunately, the route he's choosing is very hard to picture Here - this is the best picture I can get. I have circled and pointed to him. Link to comment
Fnard Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 asterina star. should be ok, never had a problem, but you can keep an eye on em. Link to comment
Partially Submerged Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 There are different species. A very small percentage eats corals, but it's unlikely you have those if you haven't noticed any damages. Most of them are just neat little critters that like t eat the microfilm off of you glass. Link to comment
ajmckay Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 +1 asterina star. As mentioned a small % of them eat corals, but they can also munch on coralline algae as well. They reproduce pretty quick so if you notice them grazing on coralline then you might want to evict them - unless you're cool with that. Eventually I had enough that I was consistently sucking 40-50 of these guys out with a turkey baster about every month or so. Link to comment
KurtS Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Definately asterina, I have a few myself and have had no issues with them at all. Mine are the light colored variety but from what I read the darker colored variety can be coral munchers. Link to comment
Wjcastiglione Posted January 20, 2015 Author Share Posted January 20, 2015 well, recently I've been fighting this damage with this zoo rock - think he could be the culprit? Link to comment
Partially Submerged Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Probably not, but an easy way to find out is check the rock after lights out. If you see a bunch of those stars munching away on them, it's time to rent a harlequin shrimp. Link to comment
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