6 legged startfish ID (pics)

[chrismunn]

i found 3 of these little guys roamin' in my new tank. right now thier about 1/4" in lenght. pretty small. should i be worried, or does that depend on what i plan on keeping?

 

[plateboy3293]

Asterina stars harmless

 

[Eklikewhoa]

I have never had any problems with them either but some "claim" they eat zoas and sps....

 

[chrismunn]

well i wont be keeping sps in the tank that thier in, but i will be keeping zoas. should i get rid of them?

also, how big do they get?

 

[Grunt]

Asterinas stay small. Maybe up to the size of a penny. There has been debate whether or not the starfish actually preys on coral or if they are opportunistically feeding on damaged tissue, etc. I've personally not lost any zoas to asterinas.

This may or may not help..
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-06/ac/feature/index.php

Cheers,

 

[chrismunn]

i read that one, thanks grunt. im bankin' on the fact that this is a small tank with crappy filtration. there should be plenty of detritus to feed on so im hoping they wont get all coral hungry. that is if this article holds any truth? it makes sense to me so we'll see how it all turns out? should they decide tomunch coral then it shouldnt be a big deal to take the tank apart. its only 14g and the rock work will be pegged together so i should be ale to remove the entire rock structure as one piece, then disasembal it.

thanks for the help fellas