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Asterina; comp. 3/1/19 Asterina plague 9/1/13 Asterina starfish eating wrasse
or other fish? 11/24/10
Overtaking Asterina starfish
06/01/2010 re Astrea sp starfish, control
and Ophiuroids as well -- 11/27/09 Asterinas and Triggers
11/21/09 Grizzly Bear Needed To Control
Dogs, Ursids 4 sale! 11/21/09 Asterina Starfish Infestation 8/18/08 I have a 125 gal tank that is 1 year old. For the last 6 months I've noticed the starfish on my glass. First one or two and now I have 15-20 at any given time. I hesitated removing them because everything I read said they were not a problem. <Generally not> Unfortunately, they are consuming my coralline algae faster than it grows; much of my live rock is pure white. I'm convinced that these critters are responsible, I can see the shape of the stars outlined on the rock and sea shells. I've begun to pull those on my glass out of the tank, in the last two weeks I've removed probably two hundred! My Zoas are not looking very well but my xenia, Kenya tree, Montipora, mushroom anemones and stony corals are all well. I have a Yellow Tang, Hippo Tang, splendid Dottyback, tomato clown and an flame Hawkfish. If I get a harlequin shrimp I plan on removing the Hawkfish to my QT tank. My question is, can I beat them by simply removing them from the tank or will they reproduce faster than I can remove them? <Mmm, might be a close race...> I bring the starfish to my local fish store. <Ah, good> Thanks for any help. John <Often these Seastar repro. wars fix themselves... I would take a philosophical bent here. Bob Fenner> Asterina Seastar Populations, control -- 03/20/08 How to control these creatures? They multiply so quick. They eat the purple algae; make the tank look weird and ugly because of white spot. Thanks. Vinh <<I have seen postings where it was reported Harlequin Shrimp (Hymenocera sp.) will eat/reduce populations 'but be aware; once the Seastars are gone the shrimp will starve. Regards, EricR>> Re: Asterina Seastar Populations, & Gnathophylliid f' - 03/21/08 Thanks Eric. <<Welcome Vinh>> Do Harlequin shrimp is reef safe, and peaceful with other inverters? Thanks, Vinh <<Depends on your definition of 'reef safe' I suppose 'but other than Echinoderms, your other inverts should be spared from the shrimp's diet.
Tiny Little Starfish Hello all, or rather, whoever ! I had moved my 55 gallon tank a month ago and everything is pretty much broken down. Various fish are in different tanks all through the house, all inhabitants are doing great in their little vacation homes. My concern is this: The main tank which just has a lot of my live rock and live sand in it is infested with tiny little whitish, bluish starfish. I have had a few of these guys from the beginning but never so many like now. The tank has about 40lbs of live rock in it, about 4 inches of live sand, lots of brittle stars, macroalgae, etc., but no fish. I have read some things on these little guys, and I know they supposedly eat coral, don't have any of that, so it doesn't really matter (but will in the future), but I just don't want them in there and refuse to kill them. Is there some fish or such I can get to eat them? Do you know of any damage they may cause? <Without a picture, I can offer you a few good guesses. First, I bet the starfish are harmless. They allegedly eat coral, but you have none and they still reproduce and thrive, so I think they are probably eating something else. Secondly, they are reproducing without fish in the tank. Again, it makes me think they are eating something that the fish would normally eat and compete against them/starve then down in population or whatever fish you have may eat some of the starfish. I would not worry about them at this point, but do try to make a positive identification. Take a look in Julian Sprung's book "The Invert Guide" and Dr. Shimek's "Key to Identification" found on his webpage.> Also, I made my own protein skimmer (countercurrent flow, airstone driven). Since the filter system is broken down right now, I was thinking about changing it to Venturi driven. Is this more trouble than it's worth? <Generally less maintenance than CC air driven models, but far more difficult to DIY.> Do these things really run better than with airstones? <Very debatable. If you are getting good production now, I would be inclined to keep the current unit.> I sure go through a lot of airstones and thought it might even be more cost efficient over time. Whatcha think? <Airstones are pretty cheap. It would probably take years to recover and money saved in airstones versus the pump and Venturi valve to run the new DIY skimmer. Upon rereading, I am not sure you wish to DIY. If not, I would look through the FAQ's on skimmer selection for various recommendations for various size tanks and applications.> Thanks for all the advice, and have a good weekend, Jana <You are welcome. -Steven Pro> Nuisance sea stars (Asterina) Hi, and thanks for your last reply on the length that I can keep mixed Kalk. I am now becoming concerned with the eradication of the dreaded tiny starfish that can get up to the size of a dime that I have had in small numbers in my tank for approximately one year. <I assume that they have not eaten anything desirable, but that they have simply grown to a nuisance population?> I continually find them everywhere and have removed upwards of 200 from my tank over the same time period. The starfish have only been on one side of the tank but are now migrating to the other and I am worried about my SPS corals on that side of the tank. <my friend... at these numbers, if the species hasn't eaten a coral yet, they are not going to. Most aquarists never have a single problem with this species... only a few honestly do. They are just a plague... not much of a predator> I have a 180 gallon. Will the Harlequin shrimp take care of these if I can find one or two? <Yowza! This is an obligate feeder. It may eat the stars... but what happens when the stars are eradicated? Are you willing and prepared to buy live starfish monthly if not weekly to keep the shrimp (s) alive? I would never recommend that you simply put a Harlequin in this display for this purpose alone of even primarily. Harlequin shrimp need specialized and direct care> Would I need to keep two or more for the shrimp to feel at home? I don't think I have any fish that would hurt the shrimp. I do have emerald crabs which have never hurt anything that I have so far. < "so far" being the operative phrase in that sentence... wait until they grow to sandwich size and the cat goes missing> Would I need to remove my sand sifting starfish or wouldn't the harlequins bother them? <the Harlequins will likely bother your other sea stars> Any other ideas for ridding my tank of the pest starfish? <dedicated ,manual extraction if they must go... else they are truly excellent algae eaters from the glass (and rocks). You will notice once they are gone> Thanks again, Jeff <kindly, Anthony> A Profusion of Stars (9/15/04) Hi Mr. Fenner, <Steve Allen helping out tonight.> I have used your web site for years to help answer many of my aquatic questions. Thank you. <A pleasure to have a role here. Bob and all who have contributed over the years have done us all a great service.> In many of your Q&A you refer to many links for people to follow. As a result, the first thing I did was go to as many issues to see if my question had been covered! - It has, but only in part. From what I've gathered I'm 97% sure there tiny Asterina starfish. <Make that even more so, these pix are clearly a form of Asterina.> This wouldn't be bad except they are eating my coralline algae at aggressive proportions! <Hmm. They generally eat other algae and I have not heard this complaint before.> As many as 35 might get plucked from a 6 inch in diameter live rock. I estimate roughly 250+ in the tank. <That is quite a lot. I wonder what aspect of your tank conditions favors this. Overfeeding? Inadequate detritus removal? Hard to say. Mine has only a few dozen.> They multiply so fast when they break their appendages, and are hard to see on the rock at times. The easiest thing to do would be to toss in a Trigger and let him go at it. Unfortunately, this system is a 5 year old 55gal reef and has an established group of "peaceful" fish, inverts (coral banded, hermits, bristles) and corals (candy canes, mushrooms, bubbles, colt, hammer, cabbage, polyps) What can I do! I have been manually plucking off the starfish with tweezers. The article from your site (colored in green below) is the nearest reference to my question I found. Attached are 3 low-res jpgs of my uninvited guests. <Asterina, to be sure.> You have my permission to use these images and our correspondence (edited) if this will help. Please help!!! Thank you. Clayton <I have to concur with Anthony's opinion on these. There are those who swear these stars will eat corals, but some very respected invertebrate experts in the hobby beg to differ. A Harlequin shrimp will need to be fed manually once it wipes out the Asterina. Someone at GARF was crowing about keeping them alive for 8 months. I am not impressed--18 months and I might start to be. It doesn't sound like you can use the kinds of large aggressive fish that might eat them. That leaves manual plucking with tweezers, which the sites I checked recommend. I'd suggest that if you do try this, you take the time to pluck out every last one that you can get at. Good luck.> Tweezing Stars (9/16/04) Thanks Steve Allen. <You're welcome.> I was afraid tweezers or the Harlequin were my only options. <Regrettably so, the first of these being the only truly viable choice.> I will double check my "tank waste" levels. I would think they would want to be where the detritus is and not on my coralline however. <Go figure. Maybe they have developed a taste for it.> Time to tweeze. <You will have your hand & arm in the tank for a long time doing this. I strongly advise wearing a long-armed aquarium glove to protect your skin. It will take some practice to be able to use tweezers while wearing one. Go to www.drsfostersmith.com and search on "gloves" in the fish section for examples.> Thank you for your response. Clayton <Good luck to you. Steve Allen.> (Asterina anxieties) Hi I'm wondering if you guys could help me out real fast. I have a small 7 gallon reef tank and this evening I noticed a very very small white star fish like creature in the tank. Looking further I have found a ton more hiding in the rocks and inside the green algae. Are these bad? What will chow down on them? I just now placed an emerald crab inside the tank to control more of the algae and was hoping he would dine on them as well. Any help you guys could give me would be great. I would also like to thank you for the countless articles of help I have already read for help in the past, Thank again, Brian S. <Mmm, not likely a problem with these little stars. You can read about others experiences with Asterina on WetWebMedia.com. I would use the Google search tool on the homepage and the genus name. Bob Fenner>
Asterina Star Invasion - 04/30/06 Hi Bob / Crew, <<Hello Matt...Eric Russell here tonight>> I have been reading through the FAQ's etc and I have determined that my 180 gal (semi) reef has a plague of Asterina stars. <<Likely not as much a problem as you perceive>> They are varying in size from dots to 1/2" specimens, and I have hundreds of them. <<Like many of the organisms in our tanks, these too are self-limiting based on available food stuffs>> On any given morning I could have between 150 and 250 of them on the front glass alone. <<Is a bunch...but probably not anything to worry about>> They are everywhere - and to be honest are quite unsightly stuck to the front glass all the time. <<Getting in the way of viewing your tank eh?>> My tank is not exactly a full blown reef - it has half a dozen mushroom (Sarcophyton) corals ranging in size from 12-14" to 2", some 'Shrooms and star polyps, and a mature finger leather coral (about 12"). <<Is still a "reef" my friend>> Reading previous FAQ's, I see that the only real options for removal are a tweezers (but they'll just divide and come back within a couple of weeks) or a Harlequin shrimp (that would run the risk of starvation once the stars are gone). <<Take a look at your feeding practices...these stars are eating "something">> I was thinking / hoping that seeing as I have so many of these little guys that it might be enough to sustain a single harlequin shrimp long term. Would this be a realistic hope? <<I'm skeptical>> Failing this, is there any fish that could be reliably used for removing them? Seeing as my tank contains only hardy, nasty tasting corals, I was hoping there might be a fishy alternative - like maybe a Maculosus or Navarchus angel or the like....... <<Not that I'm aware of mate. I think your best bet is to adopt a judicious feeding plan and let them go by way of attrition>> Thanks guys <<and gals>>. Regards, Matt <<Things could be worse my friend...I wouldn't fret the stars, they will likely wane on their own. Regards, Eric Russell>> Asterina eating a polyp 12/20/06 Hello Crew, <Hey Nick, JustinN with you today> Thanks for the awesome website! <Thanks for the kind words!> I was wondering if you could help me with a couple questions I couldn't find an answer to. <I can certainly try, can't I? *grin*> I have numerous little white starfish which I believe to be Asterina. <Likely so, very common> I have had them for well over a year with no problems. A few days ago I noticed that some of the polyps on one of my Zoanthid colonies were not looking very good, shriveled and discolored. Last night I looked at the colony and noticed one of the Asterina engulfing one of the polyps. <Scavenging, as they do...> Do you believe that this starfish was only eating the polyp because it was dead or dying? -or- Do you think it just attacked the polyp because it was hungry. (although I've never seen this happen for over a year since I've had the starfish population) <I think you answered your own question here *grin* You witnessed the degrading of the polyps before the incident happened, and as you stated, you are well over a year incident free. I personally believe these intriguing (and invariably free!) reef denizens have gained a bad rap in the Zoanthid fanatic circles. I've not seen anything beyond circumstantial at best information on this behavior from Asterina stars.> Worried, I peeled the starfish off and removed him from the tank. But now I wonder what would have happened if I had left him.... Do you think he just would have beneficially eaten the decaying part of the colony or would he have eaten the health polyps as well. <My thought is the former, not the latter.> So if I see this again should I just let the starfish do his work? <Yes, if you witness this again, I would just let it happen, is part of the biota balance.> One other quick question, I am giving some Chaetomorpha macroalgae to my brother for his refugium. I have a population of flatworms in my tank that I don't mind, but my brother might. I was curious if it would be ok to freshwater dip this algae to remove the worms.... I could just swish it in saltwater, but I'm afraid that it might not remove them all. <Why not just take the safety route and use both methods? Rinse in some saltwater first, then do a short freshwater dip before rerinsing in saltwater and bagging for your brother.> Thank you so much in advance for your help. Everyone have a happy Holiday! -Nick <Happy holidays to you and yours as well, Nick. Hope this helps you! -JustinN> Asterina Starfish compatibility 11/24/06 Hello, <Hello and a happy Thanksgiving to you, Rosemary! JustinN with you today.> I very much enjoyed reading the information you had posted on your web sight about Star Fishes. I am looking for information about a specific breed I did not see mentioned on your web sight. I was told it is called "Asterina Mini Star" I will email you the listing off eBay so you might see what they look like. <Mmm, not necessary, am very familiar with this species> I am interested in learning anything you know about this species. I especially wanted to know if they are coral safe? I currently have a pair of Erectus sea horses and a Bluestriped pipe fish in a 15 gallon tank. I wanted to make sure this is a peaceful type. According to the sellers listing this type is suppose to remain small so I thought it might be perfect for my tank. I would greatly appreciate to learn what you know about them. I would be extremely grateful for any help you could give me! Thank you so much for your time! Best Wishes Rosemary <While some people like to point fingers and blame Asterina stars for such things as polyps not extending, and of consuming Zoanthids, myself and many other reefers in my area have many of these in our tanks and have never seen any deleterious effects. These starfish have little to no affect on the overall bioload, and are excellent detritivores. The main reason that they seem to get accused of as much ill as they do, is because they do reproduce like weeds. If your tank is nutrient rich enough, they can grow to plague proportions, although it is typically easy to keep in check with manual extraction. Do you have any live rock in your aquarium? If so, you may already have some Asterina stars and not know it yet! Have a browse through our existing Asterina starfish FAQ's and decide for yourself if they sound right for you: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/asterinafaqs.htm Hope this helps you! -JustinN> Hitchhiker...friendly or evil? Asterina Stars -- 12/30/07 Hello, <Hello, Brenda here!> I purchased my first batch of live rock yesterday for my brand new saltwater aquarium! Yippee!! <Congratulations on a very exciting adventure!> When I got it at the store, the guy helped me pick out a really good piece with a little mushroom on it and a small white starfish which I thought was pretty cool. When I got it all home and put them in, I found another, and this morning I found another! They're asymmetrical, tiny creamy colored things. I've done some research and found out that they are either carnivorous enemies that must be irradiated before they populate the entire tank and eat all of your coral, or cute, harmless algae eaters. I'd like to keep them because I like them, but if they're going to cause a problem I'd like to get rid of them earlier rather than later. Do you have any idea which one they are or how to tell? <It sounds like you have Asterina Stars.> Have you encountered this at all? <I have Asterina Stars in all of my reef tanks. I have never encountered a problem with them. I find them to be beneficial. Some have stated that they have witnessed these stars eating coral. This is rare in healthy coral. Asterina Stars are often found eating already dead tissue and are falsely accused. I would not be concerned, and would add them to my tank. More information found here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/asterinafaqs.htm > Thanks! <You're welcome and good luck to you! Brenda> Re: Asterina Stars -- 12/30/07 Good to hear! I have an 8g nano tank, hopefully will become a reef tank, and already I have three nice sized whitish ones and like 10 TINY bluish ones (about a cm long). <Yikes! I would remove the blue ones. My previous recommendation was for the white and tan Asterina Stars that you stated you had. I have read of instances where any pink, purple or blue Asterina stars are known to eat coral.> How quickly will they overrun my tank? <This is hard to say and will depend on available food. An 8 gallon tank is rather small, so it may happen within a few months.> When should I start plucking? <This is a personal choice. I never remove the white/tan ones. Many people do not like to have them on the glass.> Thanks so much! Tori <You're welcome! Brenda> |
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