is this guy safe? (pics)

[loopy101]

howdy folks! couple weeks ago i noticed this white thing looked like a piece of substrate on some of my new zoos. well i saw it again tonight and it was on the move so i sucked him up with a baster. turns out to be a little tiny star fish only about a quater inch in diamiter. i was hoping some one in here could help me i d him and tell me if he is safe to be crawling around my corals?? and help would be great thanks!!! and sorry about the picts i tried my best with this camera.. but we will see how they turned out i cropped the pictures and tried to make them as big as i could without distorting the pict...
and thanks again!!!

 

[michael1972]

there is links on here that say now that they eat coral i have never seen them on my corals but i do grab them out of my tank and put them in to my sump.

 

[coral keeper]

Its a Asterina Star. Its reef safe. Mine crawl all over my corals too. They are just walking over the corals, that's all. They eat Coraline algae.

 

[groupergenius]

They are a type of Asterina Starfish. Jury is out on safe or not for me. I have several in my zoa-softie tank and I'm starting to remove them.
Reason being...I have had them in my softie tank and my SPS tank. I see more and more of them in my soft tank. Making me (personally) believe that they are feeding on the zoas or other soft corals. I hardly see them at all in my SPS tank anymore.

 

[scopus tang]

Originally Posted by GrouperGenius
http:///forum/post/2666082
They are a type of Asterina Starfish. Jury is out on safe or not for me. I have several in my zoa-softie tank and I'm starting to remove them.
Reason being...I have had them in my softie tank and my SPS tank. I see more and more of them in my soft tank. Making me (personally) believe that they are feeding on the zoas or other soft corals. I hardly see them at all in my SPS tank anymore.
Ditto that. A guy here had them for quite awhile without any problems, but they kept reproducing. When the pop. go high enough they began to consume zoas. Now he's trying like mad to get rid of all of them.

 

[loopy101]

thanks guys! this is kinda bitter sweet to me cuz i luv finding new critters in my tank to me its have the fun of having a salt water tank! but i wish some of the critters i find i could feel comfortable leaving in the DT!!! It makes sence that when the pop gets to high that they would start eating on the soft corals and i think this is a case of better safe then sorry!!! so i thank you all again!!!

 

[murdaface]

Ya reef safe. i have them all over my tank...

 

[gweezpie]

I had a ton of them in a mixed tank and they always just came out at night on the glass in 8 years I have never seen them harm anything.

 

[paintballer768]

I doubt he'll harm anything. But just keep in mind that Im sure theres a ton of different starfish species that we just group as Asterina. As things look on here, seems most are fine, and a smaller percentage are not.

 

[spanko]

Quote
Asterina Starfish
Class: Asteroidea
Order: Spinulosida
Asterina starfish, or more commonly known as Fiji starfish are generally dime sized or smaller with a large body, irregular arm length, and an irregular number of arms. They tend to hide among corals and in the crevices of the live rock during the day and can sometimes be seen clinging to the corners of the tank. This type of starfish has been shown to eat coralline algae and some corals; specifically acropora, xenia, green star polyps, zoanthids, and several types of soft leather corals. These starfish divide across the main body with two or three legs of varying lengths and multiply rapidly. Remove these starfish if they start to bother your corals.

 

[aquaknight]

Take this advice with a big grain of salt, but from what I've gathered, the lighter colored ones are generally reef safe, but any ones gray or dark in color, are the coral munchers. This could be because the darker ones are more mature and therefore have a wider appetite?

 

[jellyman1213]

I have always had them in my tanks and have never noticed them be destructive. I have at time thinned them out just because there were so many.