ASTERINA....Friend OR foe

meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
I use to be a LARGE fan of Asterina stars, BUT...a few weeks ago I found an asterina star in a zoa patch, and where it was, the zoa was missing....That is when I decided to begin removing them from my 225G..
Today I found one at the base of my toadstool leather, here is a pic after I knocked it off....I will let you decide for yourself.....after this I go with foe...
Attachment 241360
Attachment 241361

 
speg

speg

Active Member
I'm not saying you're crazy.. but I am sayin that a astreina eating a zoa would be quite a task for the lil guy...
 
hunt

hunt

Active Member
i dont get those things, in some peoples tanks they are little devels and love zoas and such, but in other tanks(like mine) they seem to stick with algea
maybe if there running low on other foods like algea, they will eat corals, but i find that hard to believe if there in a 225
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Originally Posted by Speg
http:///forum/post/3257165
I'm not saying you're crazy.. but I am sayin that a astreina eating a zoa would be quite a task for the lil guy...
LOL....so are you saying it CAN'T happen? Cause it did :)
Originally Posted by Hunt
http:///forum/post/3257166
i dont get those things, in some peoples tanks they are little devels and love zoas and such, but in other tanks(like mine) they seem to stick with algea
maybe if there running low on other foods like algea, they will eat corals, but i find that hard to believe if there in a 225
Did you see the picture???? Maybe corals are tastier than detrius and algae
 
speg

speg

Active Member
Originally Posted by meowzer
http:///forum/post/3257170
LOL....so are you saying it CAN'T happen? Cause it did :)
Did you see the picture???? Maybe corals are tastier than detrius and algae

I don't think that "can't happen" are good words in this hobby.
 
cranberry

cranberry

Active Member
I had a asterina that did just that to a zoa, Meowy. It stayed there, the polyp was in distress, it left that black ring and then walked away. The polyp came back a day later.... but I'm still not sure what it was doing.
I have pics SOMEWHERE, but I think they were blurry so I never posted them.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
That black ring (or silhouette of an asterina..lol) is on my toadstool leather....the zoa was just gone

I think at this point the asterinas in my 225G are refugium bound..(or trash) LOL
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Originally Posted by Cranberry
http:///forum/post/3257218
Ya, I was just saying the ring they left on your leather was the same ring they left on my zoa.
OH....I'm not worried about the leather recovering....I'm just glad I got the thing off before it ate a hole thru it
 
ibanez

ibanez

Member
I have never had any problem with them except I had one that was on a rock that I placed into my sump for a while. It was the only rock in the sump, and the rock was completely purple, after a couple weeks I noticed white tracks the size of the astrina that led right up to it, so I watched it and sure enough, it was eating the coralline off the rock. That is a capital offense in my tank. I hadn't noticed it doing that in the display.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top