Bitricker Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 just appeared on my glass this morning... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 How big is it? Looks like an asterina star to me. About 1/4" in size? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kilmca Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 Looks like an asterina starfish to me. I've got lots of them and haven't seen them bother a coral yet. There are some that eat corals so i've been told. I got a harlequin shrimp a couple weeks ago to reduce the numbers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bitricker Posted November 20, 2009 Author Share Posted November 20, 2009 yea probably about 1/4"... no coral for it to eat at this point so that's not a big worry for now. I'll do some reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 I also have a bunch of them. Some question whether they eat corals or not but I have never had any problem with them. IMO it's a sign of a healthy tank. BTW, you have at least a couple of them and probably more. They propogate by splitting and the one in the pic is one of the pieces after splitting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 i agree with rick, definitely an asterina star, ive got a ton of them in my tank and have never once seen them go after coral Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePremiumAquarium Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 I haven't seen any of the many that I have ever bugging healthy coral. I wouldn't worry about it unless it becomes a problem. Of course you could always add a harlequin shrimp if you are worried about them once you are ready. Garrett Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted November 21, 2009 Share Posted November 21, 2009 Looks like an asterina starfish to me. I've got lots of them and haven't seen them bother a coral yet. There are some that eat corals so i've been told. I got a harlequin shrimp a couple weeks ago to reduce the numbers. I would have to agree with everything above....I actually snag some from my tank and drop in the sump and vise versa....depending on where I need the additional assistance in clean up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael7979 Posted November 21, 2009 Share Posted November 21, 2009 Here read the top half of this: http://reefkeeping.com/joomla/index.php/current-issue/article/45-reefkeeping-101- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bucky1168 Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 I had a bunch of those stars. They mutiply very fast to where I had to control them. Never saw them bother coral but it looked like they were possibly eating coraline algae. It was just turning white and dissapearing where they were at. I got a harlequin shrimp and he took care of the problem. I have only a couple here and there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoss Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 I have personally observed these eating film algae off the glass, and I believe they eat coraline as well. I think the misconception about them "eating" coral is because they will sit on sps and cause it to recede in spots. Also, there are tons of different species of asterina stars, so some may in fact be coral eaters while others only eat algae. Personally I like them and have never had problems with them, but then again I don't have any sps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowpunk Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 I had tons at one time. I used to pick them off the glass and feed them to my lobo coral, and it loved them. I reduced the numbers pretty far down my doing that every week for a few months. I think my melanarus wrasse got the rest since he eats anything he can fit in his mouth... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
talkalot82 Posted December 7, 2009 Share Posted December 7, 2009 I have tons of them in my tank and I have never seen them on any of my corals. They just seem to stay on my glass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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