Asternia eating rastas?

[scubakid3]

I got 3 polyps of rastas at a local store the other day. Every day i wake up and see these small starfish on the polyps. I am pretty sure it has killed one already and there are 2 small ones left. There is a bit of green algae on the plug, but it seems like they are going for the polyps themselves. Is there anything i can do?

 

[650-IS350]

manual removal search the zoanthid threads theres a bunch about these buggers. I remove them when I see them regardless if reefsafe or not.

 

[scubakid3]

I may just stick it in my nano

 

[reefinsomnia]

Get a Harlequin Shrimp asap! Easiest asterina removal method ever. I had them everywhere, 1 month after I got the harlequin, its imposibble to even find one.

 

[CoralLife1985]

I had alot of Asterina Stars and they killed alot of my Polyps, I bought two Harlequin Shrimp and I have almost none left.

 

[650-IS350]

I would only get Harq' Shrimps if you have a very large population of Asterinas... if you don't those Harqs would just starve.

 

[reefinsomnia]

When they are hungry they will stand on top of a rock and wave there claws. Usually any LFS will give you back what you paid for it. Atleast they do in my area.

 

[PAnanoguy]

^ thats a VERY nice LFS! 100% refund at retail!

 

[kegogut]

Yea LFS around here usually only give 50%

 

[scubakid3]

I have enough asternias and bay brittle stars to last for months. I will try to get a couple. Once the tank is clear I can take it out of my nano because it will take eons to grow in there.

 

[reefinsomnia]

I have enough asternias and bay brittle stars to last for months. I will try to get a couple. Once the tank is clear I can take it out of my nano because it will take eons to grow in there.

one is way more then enough. my 120 was over populated with them like crazy. when i put the Harlequin in there hundreds of the asterinas made a run for it. the sides of my glass were covered in them. that's when i manually removed a lot of them. within a month, your going to have a hard time finding even one

 

[calistyle]

great info here guys! thanks

 

[Overgrown]

Get a harlequin as long as its presence is permitted by your fish selection, and supplement feeding with Choc chip stars. I prefer to freeze the star and trim off small portions of legs to minimize nutrient spikes.