Snails, Starfish and babies, oh my!

[falynharris]

Ok, So..... we have an over run of baby starfish and baby snails. I have no idea how many starfish there are but I have counted at least 20, and snails.... well, I stopped counting after 65. We have a 200 gallon tank.... Not to mention we already have 1 big starfish and about 10 big snails.
So, what do I do with all the babies, or will they die out from lack of food????? Or is it ok to leave them, or should I start picking them out....
We are clueless.

 

[seattle]

They will feed under your live rock.and the snails will all probley graze on algae and stuff also.

 

[floatingfish]

i just wish that i could live next to anyone with an overstock problem. i would love to take anything off of someones hands.

but seriously that is going to turn into a lot of mouths to feed. for a 200 gallon the snails should be fine but twenty stars might end up a problem. what type of star is it, maybe that can help? some grow alot faster than others.

 

[falynharris]

The star is a 6 legged red one. It came with the tank when we got it (used) and we are not for sure what kind of star it is. We haven't been able to find much info on it.

 

[ophiura]

Probably it is Asterina. Do a search on the boards. They are not "babies" they are full grown.
Overabundance is usually tied to a lot of nutrients in the system.

 

[floatingfish]

i dont think they would be asterina starfish, becuase he said he had one large star fish. i pretty sure they "babies" look identicle to his original. i have never seen 6-legged red asterina. that would be cool if they were, then he should be fine.

 

[ophiura]

It is very very rare for large seastars to reproduce in captivity. Exceedingly rare - and the larvae would have a hard time suriving. With only one seastar - it makes it unlikely, IMO.
It is not impossible, but the far more likely answer off hand is that it is the common hitch hiker star...which commonly have 6, 7 or 8 arms and are highly variable in color.
But a picture would be very helpful

 

[falynharris]

This is not my star, but I found this pic online and it looks JUST like my star, and all the "Babies" are 6 legged and are white though.... and then the snails are narsisus snails (?).
So what do I do about them...

 

[reefreak29]

like oph.said there asterina stars .look up collonista for the snails

 

[ophiura]

That is Echinaster luzonicus, which will likely reproduce by dropping arms and regenerating

 

[falynharris]

So what do I do with the baby stars and snails?

 

[ophiura]

Leave them. The stars are not babies. They are full grown. They reproduce to levels that can be supported by the available nutrients in the tank.

 

[puffer32]

I get both in my tank and neither snails or stars ever get bigger. And disappear on and off.

 

[tkbuschs7]

I have a chocolate chip star that has been inactive for about a month and a half. It doesn't move but still had some curl to its arms every now and then. I have snails and crabs in the tank also to help clean and recently learned that the star fish will eat the snails. If I have to replace the star is it OK to put it in the tank with the snails? Any suggestions on the current star fish? :notsure: :help: