O.k fellow reefers now is the time to chime in. It appears that my daughters tank has gotten a hitch hiker (Asterina Starfish). About 3/8ths of an inch in diameter. Please let me kow the pros and cons of this guy.. Let met preface the story first: She loves the little guy/girl. Her tank is a 30 gallon long with some palys/zoas, kenya trees, GSP, pulsing Xenia nothing of super high value but a pretty tank for her. Will this guy decimate the palys or what? Any advice is very well received. Thanks in advance. Mike
Asterina Starfish
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justin_freebord
New member
there cool just watch them if they go after the zoas
jtarmitage
Active member
Personally, I'd get rid of them. Most of them are fine, but as mentioned, some have a taste for zoanthids. Even if they don't, they can quickly reach nuisance proportions and will be much more difficult to get rid of later.
Reef Bass
colors and textures
My cautious two cents, you should have nuked 'em in quarantine.
With your daughter's attachment (and their tendency to proliferate quickly), you're going to have a situation to deal with eventually, whether it is because zoas and palys are being damaged or because there are too many of them.
With your daughter's attachment (and their tendency to proliferate quickly), you're going to have a situation to deal with eventually, whether it is because zoas and palys are being damaged or because there are too many of them.
Thanks for all the good advice. I had cautioned her that this may be a problem for her tank once we found it. She is aware that it will have to meet it's demise to preserve the remaining corals in her tank. Daddy kills bugs for a living so this should not be much different. James and the others were correct about the quarantine tank, thats what her tank originally started as. Then she wanted to expand upon it. We do have a smaller Q tank that has been established so I believe that this won't happen again. Thanks again everyone. Mike
trdofwrkin
New member
cant you buy a harliquin shrimp if they get out of hand? They eat them
jtarmitage
Active member
You can, but it'll take awhile, and the asterinas learn to stay on the glass. Makes them more noticeable which is good for picking them out, but more of an eyesore if you don't.
For what it's worth, I have had some in my tank since I bought it as an established tank a year and a half ago. They have never been any problem for me. However, now that I have said that I am sure they will become a problem.
The population seems to stay relatively stable, and I just look at them as part of the clean up crew. The only problem I have is that sometimes one will get stuck under my magfloat. I probably wouldn't introduce them, but I haven't been motivated to exterminate them yet. I have a mixed reef and feed pretty heavily.
The population seems to stay relatively stable, and I just look at them as part of the clean up crew. The only problem I have is that sometimes one will get stuck under my magfloat. I probably wouldn't introduce them, but I haven't been motivated to exterminate them yet. I have a mixed reef and feed pretty heavily.
northbay-reefer
New member
I got hundreds in my 210 so I went out and got a Harliquin shrimp, and he is keeping them in check so far. There are worse things to worry about then these little starrs
