I have been told that an unbalanced population of these is usually a result of something (likely overfeeding). I have been using the spectrum pellets once a day for a couple of months. So I dont think it is overfeeding. The starfish are all over my rocks. Some big ones are on glass. My tank is 36" deep. It is not possible to catch them, plus most of them are on the rocks. I have been reading a lenthy thread on Harlequins. I was wondering if anyone locally has tried these and what was the outcome? I do not want to create a bigger problem.
Asterinas- How many is too many?
- Thread starter tent boy
- Start date
moonlightdriver
New member
I am interested to know what you come up with because I have noticed over the past two weeks I have been getting more of them myself
reefman5511
New member
Easy way to get rid of them is to siphon them out when doing a water change.
davidpesce
New member
I have a harlequin and he eats them, but faster than they can reproduce so you'll have to supplement the Harley with other stars.
The other problem I ran in to is trying to determine the right amount to feed him to keep him actively eating the nuisance stars. He's lazy and will hold out for the big easy star legs I drop in there.
The other problem I ran in to is trying to determine the right amount to feed him to keep him actively eating the nuisance stars. He's lazy and will hold out for the big easy star legs I drop in there.
Gary Majchrzak
Team RC
Asterina population adjusts itself to availability of food.
Algae is the food source they adjust to- not Spectrum pellets.
Algae is the food source they adjust to- not Spectrum pellets.
suppressivefire
New member
I get rid of mine immediatly, deffinatly zoa and paly eaters. IME
museumguy
Active member
We had a lot of them in our big tank at the museum. Not a lot of algae issues at the time since our collection of tangs tend to keep all algae under control, but I bet we probably had 1000 asterinias in the tank at one point. Most mornings when the lights came on there would be dozens to hundreds on the glass near the sand.
One day we did a very thorough cleaning of the rock stack and sand bed and got an awful lot of trapped detritus/muck/organic waste out of the rocks that had accumulated over time.
Like flipping a switch, the asterinias disappeared from the tank practically overnight with no other real changes. Just last night we were trying to find a single one in the tank but couldn't.
Take a low powered MaxiJet or something with a small hose to direct the water flow and blow your rocks clean of detritus, but be ready to do a water change as this will stir a lot of gunk up into the water. Do this for a couple weeks and I bet your stars start to disappear.
One day we did a very thorough cleaning of the rock stack and sand bed and got an awful lot of trapped detritus/muck/organic waste out of the rocks that had accumulated over time.
Like flipping a switch, the asterinias disappeared from the tank practically overnight with no other real changes. Just last night we were trying to find a single one in the tank but couldn't.
Take a low powered MaxiJet or something with a small hose to direct the water flow and blow your rocks clean of detritus, but be ready to do a water change as this will stir a lot of gunk up into the water. Do this for a couple weeks and I bet your stars start to disappear.
Cutting back on them nutrients causes them to wane ,ime. Haven't had very many for years now.
Tried the harlequin a while back but it was a gruesome pain and an expense to keep feeding it pieces of live chocolate chip stars.
Using a piece of air line with a length of rigid airline end works very well as a siphon and let's you reach . They easily pop off the rocks and glass by the hundreds in short order and into a bucket. The small tube creates enough vacuum action and draws little water. You can usually find them more easily just before the lights come on in the am. Once you are done you can reuse the bucket of water.
Tried the harlequin a while back but it was a gruesome pain and an expense to keep feeding it pieces of live chocolate chip stars.
Using a piece of air line with a length of rigid airline end works very well as a siphon and let's you reach . They easily pop off the rocks and glass by the hundreds in short order and into a bucket. The small tube creates enough vacuum action and draws little water. You can usually find them more easily just before the lights come on in the am. Once you are done you can reuse the bucket of water.
