Admonition Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 I've had my system established for two years and I noticed a month ago there was a tiny microscopic star fish on my glass. I subsequently forgot about him and found a full sized one today! I am assuming it came as a hitch hiker on a frag or something, but I want to make sure it's not a 'bad' critter. Please help me identify this star fish? He's a pale/flesh color with darker brown color in the center. His body seems to have ridges all along it's front. Link to comment
tjwaggoner Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 Asterina starfish. I pick a few off my glass occasionally and toss them. I honestly don't know if they are a nuisance but obviously don't want a tank full of them. I don't think they are harmful to anything but can't say 100%. Link to comment
Jsheffield85 Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 Can reproduce like crazy, can turn into an eye sore quick. My buddy had them explode in his 60, dropped in a harliquin and it wiped em out fairly quick, Link to comment
amphipod Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 If he's asterina, he's perfectly safe, no damage should come. If anything they can decimate algae. If no coral damage is noticed he isn't a coral feeding asterina. Let him live. Link to comment
Admonition Posted December 29, 2014 Author Share Posted December 29, 2014 So far I've only noticed him. If he begins to multiple quickly I'll go ahead and remove them. And thank you for the replies, I haven't noticed any coral damage so hopefully he's safe as I kinda like him lol Link to comment
amphipod Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 Even in abundance they are not damaging. Its surprising how many can actually live in one aquarium. Link to comment
gypsyzNthievz Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 Some say they are safe to keep only if they have a white underside(mainly around its mouth). I personally remove them because they feed on coralline algae. Link to comment
hypostatic Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 This guy is probably fine. There's like a ton of unsubscribed asterina species out there, and most that you'll find eat algae. If you start to see a bunch of them on your glass with orange circles in the middle, those are the guys you actually WANT, since they eat that annoying film algae that grows on your glass: The orange things are their distended stomachs Link to comment
spazizz Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 Eating coralline algae would be a plus for me. Link to comment
Admonition Posted December 29, 2014 Author Share Posted December 29, 2014 I don't want it eating my coralline algae, but I've never kept a starfish and my wife likes him. His underside is white like that above picture, but no orange stomach. I'll keep an eye out for any changes though Link to comment
CronicReefer Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 I have about 4 or 5 in my tank and if they eat corraline algae I have not noticed any of mine missing. I think they are great for their size since they can squeeze into little crevices that hermits and crabs can't reach. Link to comment
Admonition Posted January 13, 2015 Author Share Posted January 13, 2015 If he's asterina, he's perfectly safe, no damage should come. If anything they can decimate algae. If no coral damage is noticed he isn't a coral feeding asterina. Let him live. Guess he's a coral eating one lol. I found him wrapped tightly around a branch of my birdsnest this morning. Link to comment
CronicReefer Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 Guess he's a coral eating one lol. I found him wrapped tightly around a branch of my birdsnest this morning. That sucks, not very common to get one of those, burn with fire and life will be fine. Link to comment
Maniu Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 Darker in color asterina is supposedly more pesky. And it is advised to remove them if possible. Link to comment
amphipod Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 We need to study asterina more, funny coral killing asterina only makeup 5% of the genus. Link to comment
Admonition Posted January 13, 2015 Author Share Posted January 13, 2015 We need to study asterina more, funny coral killing asterina only makeup 5% of the genus. It would be just my luck lol Link to comment
amphipod Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 Maybe one day you'll get one of the 95% lol Link to comment
hypostatic Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 was it just on top of the coral, or was it EATING the coral? any signs of damage? Link to comment
Admonition Posted January 14, 2015 Author Share Posted January 14, 2015 It was tightly wrapped all around the branch. I had to use force to remove it. And the branch was bone white (polyps not extended). The coral stayed looking like that up to when I left for work around 5 hours later. What should I be looking for aside from obvious damage? I've never had anything eat my coral before. Link to comment
ew_fish Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 I remove them ALL! I thought they were "cool" when I started and lost tons of zoas due to the dark grey ones. These guys are safe till they have nothing to feed on then they turn to sps to suck out the algea from them. (so I have read) Link to comment
hypostatic Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 It was tightly wrapped all around the branch. I had to use force to remove it. And the branch was bone white (polyps not extended). The coral stayed looking like that up to when I left for work around 5 hours later. What should I be looking for aside from obvious damage? I've never had anything eat my coral before. So at this point you need to do 2 things: keep an eye out for more starfish, and keep an eye on the rest of your branches. If you see any more damage to your SPS it's indicative that you have some more stars around. If you can't find them, maybe look into renting some harlequin shrimp Link to comment
Admonition Posted January 14, 2015 Author Share Posted January 14, 2015 Okay thank you. I found a second small one today. Looks just like the bigger one I removed except it has six legs instead of five. Also, the branch on my birdsnest that was attacked is pure skeleton, the polyps are gone on that section of the branch Will the coral recover that section or is it 'dead' there? Link to comment
amphipod Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 corals many times re colonize skeleton portions, as long as some polyps are alive. i'd suggest you go to the tank at dark night and with a flashlight find and remove every one, keep at it until all are removed. Link to comment
Admonition Posted January 15, 2015 Author Share Posted January 15, 2015 Heres a crummy picture of what I mean Link to comment
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