formerly icyuodd/icyoud2 Posted July 30, 2005 Share Posted July 30, 2005 just picked up a couple corals from a local reefer. his tank is crawling with 1/4"-1" starfish. most only have 2,3,4, legs (the other legs look eaten) anyway, wondered if somebody could id this. do they get out of hand real quick? would having 100 or so of these in my tank be a problem? (incase they breed in my tank also) Link to comment
lgreen Posted July 30, 2005 Share Posted July 30, 2005 i think those are those little coraline stars. most people suck those out i believe, but i don't remember exactly what the reason was for taking them out. Link to comment
formerly icyuodd/icyoud2 Posted July 30, 2005 Author Share Posted July 30, 2005 just a guess, but i imagen with a name like coraline stars. they eat coraline algee. might be a reason thier taken out of the tank. thanks i green, you've put my search in motion once again. ill let ya know what i find out. Link to comment
Carinya Posted July 31, 2005 Share Posted July 31, 2005 try asternia star...i think that might be it. Link to comment
formerly icyuodd/icyoud2 Posted July 31, 2005 Author Share Posted July 31, 2005 thanks carinya Link to comment
minimalist Posted July 31, 2005 Share Posted July 31, 2005 *Asterina. And that's what it is. Some can eat coral. Most don't. If you see 'em on your corals, you know what to do. Link to comment
FragMaster Posted July 31, 2005 Share Posted July 31, 2005 NO NO NO and NO. I have an entire reef full and tey do not eat corals nor edo they eat coraline algae. They do eat algae and detrious but the bad algae like diatom and red slime, hair, stuff like that. The coral eating stars have two leggs that are MUCH longer than any others. They stick out and look like vampire teeth. Here is a picture of mine ( the harmless kind which you have) and here is a picture of the harmfull coraleating species which you dont have. ( click the link to see the pic) http://www.garf.org/32/27/STARFISH/stars582266.jpg :) Link to comment
formerly icyuodd/icyoud2 Posted July 31, 2005 Author Share Posted July 31, 2005 i thought it kinda strange that such an advanced reefer would leave, 100s of bad little stars all over his huge collection of corals. thanks for setting me straight. Link to comment
FragMaster Posted August 1, 2005 Share Posted August 1, 2005 No problem. I do hope you folowed the links I gave you though so you know which to watch out for in the future. Link to comment
yoshiod9 Posted August 1, 2005 Share Posted August 1, 2005 personally, i don't trust any asterina sp. i mean, stars regenerate legs, so any star could look like the link posted. i would just rather err on the side of caution and take them all out. better than losing corals, i think. Link to comment
minimalist Posted August 2, 2005 Share Posted August 2, 2005 I agree. Those "coral eating starfish" look a whole lot like the asterina starfish that you posted. Seems as though they could be mixed up quite easily. A side note: Yoshi, your stuff has been shipped. Link to comment
Caesar777 Posted August 2, 2005 Share Posted August 2, 2005 They're all the same thing; there aren't "coral-eating mini-stars" or "coralline-eating mini-stars". Asterina are opportunistic, and will eat pretty much anything. They have varying tastes--they can eat coralline, fish food, or live corals. Seems to be whatever they feel like eating, or have a personal taste for. Personally, I've seen the stars in my tank eat lots of detritus and I've also seen them kill PPE's right in front of me, so I quickly remove all the little buggers. Cute, but not while they're eating my f*n' corals! Link to comment
FragMaster Posted August 3, 2005 Share Posted August 3, 2005 WRONG. Go to Garf and ask Leroy. Now who dosent "Know" what they are talking about bu tposting it anyway. Link to comment
qualudethunder Posted August 3, 2005 Share Posted August 3, 2005 I have them in my tank and they Definatley eat my coraline. I can actually see the shape of them in white when they move occasionally. they are the same as the one in the first pic. Link to comment
Daemonfly Posted August 4, 2005 Share Posted August 4, 2005 Asterinid Stars One, or perhaps more, species of small sea stars in the family Asterinidae is the only sea star that can be said to thrive in some reef aquaria at the present time. The species is indeterminate; its geographical origin is uncertain, and there are numerous similar described species. These are small brown, tan or grey animals, generally not more than about half an inch (13 mm) in diameter. Flattened from top to bottom, their three to seven rays and central disk merge into one another. They reproduce asexually by fission and if there is sufficient food almost all the stars in a population will be regenerating rays or other body parts. They are substrate feeders and move around with their stomachs extruded over the substrate digesting who knows what. It is a pity that these animals are so drab. In some systems, they are quite prolific and even if they don't thrive, they appear to be able to survive in most others. Occasionally, some populations of these asterinids have been reported by aquarists to eat either soft corals or stony corals. These coral-eating forms, perhaps different species, seem to be quite uncommon, constituting less than five percent of the various populations. http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-12/rs/index.htm Link to comment
yoshiod9 Posted August 4, 2005 Share Posted August 4, 2005 five percent is still a chance i'm not willing to take. Link to comment
FragMaster Posted August 4, 2005 Share Posted August 4, 2005 BOOOO YAAAaaa!!! THank you Daemonfly. It must be a pretty frigg'n small %5 because I swear to god they have not eaten anything in my tanks in over 4 years of being in there. Either that or we are talking about two totaly different species? Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.