Mixed Reviews on Asterina Stars.

[duchessw/a9mm]

It's been alittle over 5 weeks now and I've been keeping my eye on this one Asterina Star that's in my tank. Now I've read and heard mixed reviews about these little guys but I just have one....well that I've noticed. But my question is should I be worried when there's more than one? Or are they harmless when it is just one?

 

[hunt]

well, i noticed one on my live rock when i first got the rock from the lfs, 2 years later, the population has gone up to about 5(that i can count outside of the liverock) there are probably more in the rock but they havnt really caused any problems in my tank. If you have a bunch of them and want to get rid of them, i would get a harliquin shrimp or pluck them out as you see them Not sure if there coral safe or not but im sure someone will chime in soon

 

[fishkid13]

Picture? My dads 75 tank had a few hitchhiker starfish, don't know name, and at first their was only a couple, over the next weeks the population tripled and started running out of their original food source, so in turn they started eating his polyps.

 

[hunt]

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/Echinoder...a_id_wwm_1.jpg If you have a problem with seastars get a harliquin shrimp, there main deit is starfish.

 

[reefkprz]

by and large asterina snails are generally harmless. often when people see them on a coral they think they are eating it when they are in fact eating encroaching algae off the coral or inbetween the polyps and the star is just crossing over the coral.
there are a couple species of asterina that are predatory on polyps. but these are a fairly rare occurance. and asterinas dont just go rogue and start chowing polyps, either they are the predatory species or they are not.

 

[pbnj]

A respectable site says they're all bad....
"Several people have argued that these starfish are harmless, but we have yet to find any that will not eat coral polyps. It is our recommendation that if you discover this type of starfish in your reef aquarium that you remove it as soon as possible. We have documented these type of starfish eating small polyp stony corals, Xenia , green stars, and several types of soft leather corals."

 

[wfd1008]

Originally Posted by pbnj
http:///forum/post/3234692
A respectable site says they're all bad....
"Several people have argued that these starfish are harmless, but we have yet to find any that will not eat coral polyps. It is our recommendation that if you discover this type of starfish in your reef aquarium that you remove it as soon as possible. We have documented these type of starfish eating small polyp stony corals, Xenia , green stars, and several types of soft leather corals."
Well, if that's the case, then my GSP, Xenia, and leathers must be multiplying and growing faster then they can eat them.

 

[duchessw/a9mm]

Well when I made this post earlier today like I said I had just seen the one. So I went ahead and plucked it off the rock by hand just to be on the safe side. But sure enough when I turned the light on a few hours later I saw another one.

So I went ahead and took his butt out aswell....and this whole time I just though it was one!

 

[jackri]

I have 100's in my 90g reef chalk full of corals. Never had a problem and nor do I worry about something beneficial in my tank.

 

[fishkid13]

Originally Posted by reefkprZ
http:///forum/post/3234634
there are a couple species of asterina that are predatory on polyps. but these are a fairly rare occurance. and asterinas dont just go rogue and start chowing polyps, either they are the predatory species or they are not.
If they were predatory to begin with, then why would they start eating them after a couple of months? Wouldn't they have just starved to death in that time?

 

[ryancw01]

Just like any hitchiker, their population will dramatically die off if you reduce your nutrient levels. I used to have a ton of them all over the glass and they never ate any of my coral. I did get a harlequin shrimp though to eat them all. He blazed through them in about 2 weeks and then I had to buy him chocolate stars for about a year and a half until he died. RIP. I miss that guy.

 

[stanlalee]

Originally Posted by pbnj
http:///forum/post/3234692
A respectable site says they're all bad....
"Several people have argued that these starfish are harmless, but we have yet to find any that will not eat coral polyps. It is our recommendation that if you discover this type of starfish in your reef aquarium that you remove it as soon as possible. We have documented these type of starfish eating small polyp stony corals, Xenia , green stars, and several types of soft leather corals."
well that makes the site not so respectable (which ever it is including this one). I've had various populations from seeing one occasionally like once every few weeks to seeing at least a few everyday (that would be now). I have seen countless tanks with 20x my population and they cause absolutely no harm at all. I dont bother them. 90% of the time they are harmless. I know they dont eat ANY of my corals at all. I look at my corals about 37 times a day including early morning before the lights come on when I can always spot at least one asterinas. I havent even seen one near a coral much less eating one. when I frag or have a sps coral piece too small to be worth saving I have a pile in my sump where they get thrown and I know there are some rocks there where multiple astrenias camp out all the time. they are more than welcome to tear into those (still live when I put them there) and I have some zoo polyps in there too. have yet to find any even near this pile or live zoas. I turn the lights on all times of morning sometimes to see what critters are down there and the asterinas in my tank just dont have any interest.
I really WISH I knew what they ate so I could explode their population. I really want harlequin shrimp but I dont want to buy stars to feed. the more I see the happier it makes me but I still dont feel like I'll ever have enough to support these shrimp for any length of time.