Asterinas getting out of control

IrishTang

IrishTang

Member
So I made the mistake when I first set up aquarium to leave some of the "cute little starfish" (Wife's words) alive. Needless to say now I have an explosion of the suckers and I am daily pulling them off my higher end zoas, they don't care about the run of the mill watermelon or dragon eye type. They have refined tastes for utter chaos, rastas, magicians and hornets. I have to inspect everyday and its getting a bit tedious.

I'd like to know what everyone would do in this situation. Do I continue to pick them out when I see them, or do I get a Harlequin to eat them? Only downside to harlequin is I would have to relocate Fromia star for awhile and re-home the harlequin once he has done his job. I have mixed feelings on this as I hate to bring in an animal I have no intention of caring for and keeping long term. They are beautiful and would be cool to keep for a bit but I also love my starfish. Is there a shrimp in the club that can be employed? a hitman I can call to take care of a little "problem"? Let me know what you guys think.

Thanks
Sean
 
I would buy one from a store and see if they would take it back for reduced credit when the starfish are gone.
 
Maybe once my asterina population dwindles I can catch a few stragglers and make a trap for the shrimp.

That's what I was thinking tony, a shrimp rental. If I go through with the plan (which I think I will be) I'll make him available to everybody on the forum.

Do I need to worry about anybody else with a harlequin? I have a cleaner and a Blood shrimp. I do have a Melanurus wrasse but he has ( up to this point ) been a model citizen.

I tried a large blue linkia in the past but he was a bit large for my 90 gallon, I kept him in there for a month but he never seemed to take a liking to the asterinas. He is living in my 200 gallon at work now.
 
I have a red linkia in my tank with my asterinas, and while I've seen it eating several, it'll never eat enough to make a significant dent in the population.
 
I find that they become very social when they finish the job and get hungry. I have one in an 800 gal reef with a large 6 line and no problems. The harlequin is very bold. When it comes time to remove the shrimp, place your starfish in an open container in the tank. The hungry shrimp will make a beeline for him and you should be able to catch the shrimp and return the starfish to the tank without any harm to either.
 
Irish - I have a harlequin that is just finishing up ridding my tank of asterinas

The place I purchased it said they would take it back when it was done for 50% credit, but while it was in my tank it lost a claw, so I doubt that offer would still stand. You are welcome to it if you'd like.
 
So how did that go for you Irish Tang? I've got the problem now with loads and loads of starfish eating my beautiful corals. Is one Harlequin Shrimp enough for a 300 litre tank full of them? I popped my new little guy in there a week ago but my corals are still looking dangerously sad.

By the way, like your wife, I also thought they were cute! Not any more though!

Is there not something I could add to the water that would only kill off the starfish? All of my water test readings are at zero.
 
First make sure they're eating stuff. There are many species of asterina but only a few that eat coral. And they are extremely rare. Most eat filamentous algae. If they are on your glass, they're eating algae and are not a threat. I have a few in my tank now, and have on other occasions in 15 years, but never any coral eaters.

Second, if they are actually eating stuff or you just don't like them, two adult harlequins can eat an entire 10cm chocolate chip in about 1-2 weeks (they don't actually eat 100% of it) , so a few dozen or even hundred 4mm asternias won't last long. Make sure you are willing to feed it/them in a few weeks when they finish, or have somewhere to bring them back to.
 
I counter the argument that only 5% of Asterina species eat coral - in the wild - by pointing out that they all arrive in aquaria as hitchhikers - many on the coral they are consuming. This could easily flip flop the figure so that we deal with more predatory species in our tanks.

As for stocking, I keep one that I bounce between a pair of 800 gal tanks. Asterinas flee like rats from a sinking ship once a predator is introduced. I couldn't believe it when I first saw a ring of Asterinas around the top of my 180 after introducing my first harlequin.
 
I've had great success so far with Safirs harlequin shrimp "Harley". I only became concerned with the asterinas when I found a few on my zoas and the zoas were visibly being eaten away. It was great seeing them all running from the rock to try and crawl up the sides of the glass. One Harlequin did the trick for me in about 3 1/2 months. I highly recommend as a natural solution. I think 1 would do it for you Aly, you could always get 2 and locate at opposite ends of the tank but my single harlequin was a very effective hunter.
 
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