Astarina Starfish eating corals-- advice ?

[bcheriyan]

I have recently noticing a lots of small Astarina Starfish, most of them are on the glass , but some are feeding on my corals , I got one harliqune shrimp; looks like it's not helping much, what else can I do to get rid of these ? All my water parameters looks good, expect my calcium droped to 360 from 480.. May be becasue of the incresed number of starfish not sure ?? The other option is spent time and pick these up one by one?

Please advice

 

[EddieJ]

I have recently noticing a lots of small Astarina Starfish, most of them are on the glass , but some are feeding on my corals , I got one harliqune shrimp; looks like it's not helping much, what else can I do to get rid of these ? All my water parameters looks good, expect my calcium droped to 360 from 480.. May be becasue of the incresed number of starfish not sure ?? The other option is spent time and pick these up one by one?

Please advice

The shrimp will get them, just give him time. That is all he eats unless you are feeding him starfish as well. One harley can definitely clean your tank up. I am not aware of Astrenia stars actually eating corals, they might bother them a bit but not eat them. Well, I have heard of stars eating/bothering Zoas. The batch I had did do a number on the coralline algae in my tank.

 

[bcheriyan]

Thx ... Will wait and watch if any starfish is getting on my remaining corals ...

 

[OneReef]

The harlequin will wipe them out in no time . Be patient. I went through the same thing.

 

[Johnyman]

Asterian star dont eat coral but if a coral bleach in a small zone of the coral they go there and eat all the algae that fix in that area, thats why they are near the corals but i´ve never seen a asterina in coral tissue, only on zones that bleached some time ago and there is only algae now.

 

[Johnyman]

Asterina star dont eat coral but if a coral bleach in a small zone of the coral they go there and eat all the algae that fix in that area, thats why they are near the corals but i´ve never seen a asterina in coral tissue, only on zones that bleached some time ago and there is only algae now.

 

[bcheriyan]

Asterina star dont eat coral but if a coral bleach in a small zone of the coral they go there and eat all the algae that fix in that area, thats why they are near the corals but i´ve never seen a asterina in coral tissue, only on zones that bleached some time ago and there is only algae now.

It is intresting that Johnyman say that Asterian star dont feed on corals .. I looks to me like that ,, Let me take a picture and post it .. Also I am not sure if I have the correct starfish .. Also I will try observer closely and see if they are feeding vs cleanning ...

 

[smsreefer]

There are several dozen different types of Asterina and some WILL eat your coral.
Give the Harlequin time ,it should take care of them .

 

[Johnyman]

In my case i have 100% that the asterinas don´t eat my corals, if there are many types of asterinas i dont know??? maybe thats the reason why yours eat and mine don´t.

 

[bcheriyan]

can you ID these some on the glass and the other picture on clam. they are even irritating my clams ? Please take a look..

 

[29reef]

The starfish are there because you have an abundance of food for them, your corals aren't happy because your calcium, and likely magnesium/ alkalinity have fallen below ideal levels. The shrimp will eat the starfish for you, but once they are gone your likely to have a new problem with algae. I suggest trying to eliminate the cause(s) for the overabundance of food(algae) and also getting the water quality in better shape.

Just from reading your fish list, unless it's changed and you've got a huge skimmer or refugium; then your problem likely lies in the amount of bioload on the aquarium.

 

[bcheriyan]

The starfish are there because you have an abundance of food for them, your corals aren't happy because your calcium, and likely magnesium/ alkalinity have fallen below ideal levels. The shrimp will eat the starfish for you, but once they are gone your likely to have a new problem with algae. I suggest trying to eliminate the cause(s) for the overabundance of food(algae) and also getting the water quality in better shape.

Just from reading your fish list, unless it's changed and you've got a huge skimmer or refugium; then your problem likely lies in the amount of bioload on the aquarium.

29reef may have a point about overfeeding and the bioload .. Which I will reduce and see ... But water quality was very good apart from the calcium which I manage to raise to 420 and PO4 and NO3 where undetectable .. May be because of carbon dozing and Good skimmer but willkeep an eye on reduced feeding ..

 

[smsreefer]

Here is a link on Asterina's.
It's long,but it also states that some eat all types of coral.
Now, I'm not saying that yours are coral predators, the changes in your tank parameters are a possible cause.
Just be aware that of the 30+ different types, some are coral predators.
I have had both the good and bad types over the years.

http://reefkeeping.com/joomla/index.php/current-issue/article/45-reefkeeping-101-

 

[OneReef]

Someone once told me the white asterinas are ok, but the green back ones might eat. I had the greenish back ones and they were eating my zoas. I added a harlequin and in a few weeks, he wiped out a hundred of them. Not sure if the color thing is right, but I did witness them eating my zoas.

 

[bcheriyan]

Thank you all will keep monitoring ..

 

[khenderson52]

asterina

asterina

I have a 300 gallon reef tank with a 75 gallon refugium and 150 gallon sump. The tank has been running for 2 years and has good water quality. In the last few months Asteria has covered about 25% of my rockwork. A zoa that I had from the beginning was consumed. How many Harlequin shrimp should I add to my tank?

 

[Arkayology]

I have a 300 gallon reef tank with a 75 gallon refugium and 150 gallon sump. The tank has been running for 2 years and has good water quality. In the last few months Asteria has covered about 25% of my rockwork. A zoa that I had from the beginning was consumed. How many Harlequin shrimp should I add to my tank?

I would get a pair and see how they do.

 

[RichardinMa]

I have Asterinas in all of my tanks and have never had a problem with them bothering any of my corals. The only time I ever see them on a coral is on a patch that was already damaged from something else. If your calcium dropped that much then I would suspect that your alk dropped even more. Alk swings frequently result in spotty tissue loss. I was out of town for a week and my dosing was not done on one tank- I thought it would not be too bad as I don't have to add much. When I got home there were little white patches on all of my birds nests and branching montis. That was exactly the type of thing I had happen in the past when my alk dropped too low.

Perhaps there are coral-eating Asterinas but I think the vast majority of those are mis-identified issues causing the problem. Asterinas have always been more of a clean-up crew for dead/diseased tissues in my tanks. When they show up on areas already damaged it is easy to asume they were the culprits.

 

[bcheriyan]

I got a pair Harlequin on 02/07 today I see almost all have Asterinas have disappered and both the the Harlequin looks healthy still have many stars left. I am planning to keep it for another two to three weeks and then I need to make a decision on to keep it or return it to LFS. What are the long term feeding options for Harlequin , I heard to buy Chocolate Chip Star and slice and freez feed a peice. Long term how often u have to feed the Harlequin shrimp?