Asterina Star Fish

[serendiptyroses]

Hello!
I have a chance to purchase some "Asterina Mini Star" fishes.
I was wondering if anyone knows anything about them?
I have a 15 gallon with a pair of erectis sea horses and a female bluestripped pipefish (I will soon be adding a male). I needed to know if this species is coral safe? Does it need a sand substraight? Mine is coral! More importantly will it co-exsist with
my sea horses and pipefish peacefully? This species is suppose
to stay very small. That's about all I know about them. If anyone has ever owed any or has any information about them? Please
let me know. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you so much!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO EVERYONE!
Serendiptyroses

 

[dc]

I have them in all of my tanks. They are harmless

 

[saltycreefer]

DC do you have any sps? Ive seen asterinas on recession lines on acros. I dont know if they were eating the acros or the dead tissue. Any Ideas?

 

[dippin61]

make sure they are the white ones, and not hte ones with kind of a blue tint to them

 

[greenbean36191]

[welcome]

Most of them are reef safe. There are some that will eat corals, but there is no way to look at them and tell the difference between them. They are safe with fish and don't really care about substrate type. They only get about the size of a dime, but they reproduce by splitting and they do it very often. You'll almost never find one with symmetrical legs.

 

[Riona]

Uh oh. I've got a couple of the ones with the blue-ish tint to them... Do I only need to worry if I have SPS in my tank(mine will be almost all softy, a couple of LPS) or should I try to take them out?

 

[baussie]

Gosh, if you weren't so far away I would send you several for free. Don't you know anyone with a mature tank that can give you 2 or 3? Maybe try contacting a local reef club. I find these little guys and the micro stars to multiply like crazy in my tank.

 

[ophiuroid]

These stars CAN NOT be identified by size, color, number of arms, etc. I have those with a bluish tint and they have not been a risk. WATCH them....if they are coral eaters they will be coral eaters, not "stumbling" on a coral and "oh! I can eat that!!" Watch BEHAVIOR, not color. Seastar experts can not identify these to species -let alone what they eat - by color, size, arms, etc. They are highly polymorphic (their physical characteristics are highly variable and not particularly informative).

Watch them. Very few people have problematic forms relative to the numbers who have them. If you see them cruising rocks and glass, they are likely harmless.

 

[IBASSFSH]

Beware

Beware

I would not introduce them if I did not have to. They split,and reproduce like crazy. You will have hundreds very quickly. On Weekends I dedicate that time to their removal. They end up in the trash can. You pay the shipping and I can send you several if you want, but I would pass on them. Buy more snails instead. Just my opinion.