Asterina eating a zoo polyp
- Thread starter renogaw
- Start date
ophiura
Active Member
It is well known that there are predatory Asterina's, but it is rare compared to those that that are harmless. the HYPE regarding Asterina's is uncalled for, but obviouslyyou sshould keep an eye on things. However, do note that they WILL eat dead or dying corals, before you may realize it. So it could be a case where the zoas ARE dying or stressed and this animal is eating it. I would be interested in close up pics.
I once thought I had a zoa eating Asterina, but when my LPS also started dying, it was clear there were other things going on. And it is unusual to have problems with only a few colonies if you have many colonies.
Sometimes what you see is not always what is reality.
But it is entirely possible to get a problematic form, it is just not even remotely true that they are ALL problems.
I once thought I had a zoa eating Asterina, but when my LPS also started dying, it was clear there were other things going on. And it is unusual to have problems with only a few colonies if you have many colonies.
Sometimes what you see is not always what is reality.
But it is entirely possible to get a problematic form, it is just not even remotely true that they are ALL problems.
J
jrthomas40
Guest
are these the itty bitty 6 arm stars?
ophiura
Active Member
Originally Posted by renogaw
that polyp is completely open right now. i've been told on other forums that they have caught asterinas doing the same thing
now... i guess i gotta decide if i'm going to just pick them off as i see em, or get a harlequin shrimp.
My guess is that people are propagating and trading a lot of zoas, and this would in turn propagate and spread problematic asterina.
However, I know full well that many opinions are biased and jumping to the easy explanation (eg my green brittlestar killed my triggerfish).
that polyp is completely open right now. i've been told on other forums that they have caught asterinas doing the same thing
now... i guess i gotta decide if i'm going to just pick them off as i see em, or get a harlequin shrimp.My guess is that people are propagating and trading a lot of zoas, and this would in turn propagate and spread problematic asterina.
However, I know full well that many opinions are biased and jumping to the easy explanation (eg my green brittlestar killed my triggerfish).
renogaw
Active Member
i have it in my fuge somewhere if you want me to send it to you for testing i flushed the other two i found on polyps this morning though, because i don't want somehow to get this population growing.
quick question for you, how on earth did these stars survive being dipped for 20 minutes in freshwater/furan-2 medication treatment? shouldn't they have died?
i flushed the other two i found on polyps this morning though, because i don't want somehow to get this population growing.quick question for you, how on earth did these stars survive being dipped for 20 minutes in freshwater/furan-2 medication treatment? shouldn't they have died?
renogaw
Active Member
I thought i was having issues with zoapox, which the treatment has been (quite accidentally) been found out to do this.
so no, i don't do it NORMALLY, but have done it this week to try to deal with the pox.
the last thing i traded was some pink zoos (other than a green colt, but it came unmounted). before that i never saw as many asterinas as i have now.
so no, i don't do it NORMALLY, but have done it this week to try to deal with the pox.
the last thing i traded was some pink zoos (other than a green colt, but it came unmounted). before that i never saw as many asterinas as i have now.
renogaw
Active Member
no extra algae that i can see. to be honest, i've been .. slacking... on feeding. i generally feed once in morning, once at night, but have been down to 1 per day.
here's the thread that started this whold QT'ing of my zoos:
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/298165/zoo-eating-snail
you can see the little white dot on the body of the zoo. that made everyone think it was zoo pox, but when the treatment didn't work, and when i found that asterina, people started saying otherwise. (this is on a different forum btw)
here's the thread that started this whold QT'ing of my zoos:
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/298165/zoo-eating-snail
you can see the little white dot on the body of the zoo. that made everyone think it was zoo pox, but when the treatment didn't work, and when i found that asterina, people started saying otherwise. (this is on a different forum btw)
ophiura
Active Member
The problem is that it can still be a chicken and egg scenario, and what is obvious may not always be what is the cause. I had a guy swearing he had asterina eating Monitpora (again on another forum) and only after watching it much longer, did he find the nudis.
We know they will be attracted to dying things...so there is the outside possibility that there is still something else wrong with the zoas and they are attracted to it. So let me put it this way, don't put all your eggs in one basket.
It is definitely possible that your zoa trading has traded a problematic asterina. But it is not likely that all of your Asterina are problems. Again, I thought EXACTLY the same thing and pulled many Asterina out of my tank because I saw them on struggling zoanthids. But then my LPS headed south, and my assessment at this point is that I have such extreme chemical warfare going on that it is not a nice place. I have a small tank literally overwhelmed by 2 sinularia and loads of anthelia.
It is definitely possible, I don't want to talk that point down. But I also don't want to start an unwarranted panic, because I assume you have gone quite a long time with Asterina in your tank...with no problems whatsoever.
Did you change at all your flow, water change frequency, skimming, etc?
We know they will be attracted to dying things...so there is the outside possibility that there is still something else wrong with the zoas and they are attracted to it. So let me put it this way, don't put all your eggs in one basket.
It is definitely possible that your zoa trading has traded a problematic asterina. But it is not likely that all of your Asterina are problems. Again, I thought EXACTLY the same thing and pulled many Asterina out of my tank because I saw them on struggling zoanthids. But then my LPS headed south, and my assessment at this point is that I have such extreme chemical warfare going on that it is not a nice place. I have a small tank literally overwhelmed by 2 sinularia and loads of anthelia.
It is definitely possible, I don't want to talk that point down. But I also don't want to start an unwarranted panic, because I assume you have gone quite a long time with Asterina in your tank...with no problems whatsoever.
Did you change at all your flow, water change frequency, skimming, etc?
renogaw
Active Member
i sorta slacked on water changes, but have gotten back to the weekly 10%
and i can understand that asterinas will go after dying things, but that colony wasn't even infected with what i thought was pox, yet there it is, on the head of it. the polyp is fully open now btw, so it wasn't dying.
i dunno, i've been putting all the asterinas i find into my sump. if these sores heal up then i'll know the possibility was the stars. if they don't heal up, then i'll know it's probably ont them.
and i can understand that asterinas will go after dying things, but that colony wasn't even infected with what i thought was pox, yet there it is, on the head of it. the polyp is fully open now btw, so it wasn't dying.
i dunno, i've been putting all the asterinas i find into my sump. if these sores heal up then i'll know the possibility was the stars. if they don't heal up, then i'll know it's probably ont them.