Baby starfish?

[Lexi81]

I have no starfish in my tank. How do I have a baby starfish in my tank if this is what it is??

 

[Lexi81]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/nqbkfzizbujtvem/2018-09-06 15.55.44.jpg?dl=0

 

[jlmawp]

Asterina starfish. Very common hitchhiker. Beneficial algae eater, but can reproduce fairly quickly in the right conditions.

 

[Lexi81]

Asterina starfish. Very common hitchhiker. Beneficial algae eater, but can reproduce fairly quickly in the right conditions.

Thank you! I'll keep an eye out.

 

[Foundry]

I've got a bunch of these little guys in my tank now, no doubt one or two got in via some LR or maybe a coral frag.

They roam around and keep my glass and rock nice and clean. Some folks have them pegged as bad hitch hikers but personally I'm in the camp of 'beneficial, no harm'. It's pretty fun when they hitch a ride on the hermit crab shells to scrub the algae off them.

 

[AlSimmons]

I don't trust them.. Until somebody can differentiate the good ones from the bad ones without a doubt I'll continue to treat them all as bad and remove them.

 

[mcgyvr]

THOUSANDS in my tank.. harmless IMO..
They from my experience eat film algae or something on the glass and will eat decomposing/dead flesh,etc... but never harm "living/healthy" tissue..

 

[MrHyde]

Thousands? WOW! The tank probably looks like it has chicken pox or something. lol

Not a fan of these ugly little starfish. There's just too many horror stories out there to risk it IMO.

 

[mcgyvr]

Thousands? WOW! The tank probably looks like it has chicken pox or something. lol

Yes likely thousands in an 80G tank....
In the morning there is about 1 every inch or more all over the front/side glass... It is crazy...
Once the lights come up they hide in the rocks,etc..
Its just "life" to me in the tank and not a bother/annoyance at all..

 

[ajoe]

Yes likely thousands in an 80G tank....
In the morning there is about 1 every inch or more all over the front/side glass... It is crazy...
Once the lights come up they hide in the rocks,etc..
Its just "life" to me in the tank and not a bother/annoyance at all..

Touche' ...love all the extras in my tank as well. All part of the ecosystem and makes for a healthier tank IMO. Pineapple Sponges, Asterinas, Spirorbids ...

 

[PsychoticBeauty]

I like all the hitchhikers too, but some of them just aren't worth keeping IME. Asterina stars being one of them.

 

[billdogg]

THOUSANDS in my tank.. harmless IMO..
They from my experience eat film algae or something on the glass and will eat decomposing/dead flesh,etc... but never harm "living/healthy" tissue..

Yes likely thousands in an 80G tank....
In the morning there is about 1 every inch or more all over the front/side glass... It is crazy...
Once the lights come up they hide in the rocks,etc..
Its just "life" to me in the tank and not a bother/annoyance at all..

Touche' ...love all the extras in my tank as well. All part of the ecosystem and makes for a healthier tank IMO. Pineapple Sponges, Asterinas, Spirorbids ...

I'm 100% with mcgyvr on this one. I have yet to have a problem with them in any of my systems over the years. If one tank seems to be running low, I'll transfer some over from another to keep their population up.

You'd think that if the horror stories were as true as some attest to that I'd have hd some sort of issue in the 30+ years I've been at this hobby.

 

[Wandering]

I agree that they are harmless. There are a few people with horror stories, but they must have had an odd species or something- because by far the majority of reefers with them don't have an issue.

 

[thegrun]

I can’t ever remember having a tank without them. Their eggs survive all the coral dips that I am aware of so even if you wanted to keep them out of your tank it would be very difficult to do so. IMHO they get blamed for killing corals when all they are doing is cleaning up corals that are already dead.

 

[reefinmike]

I agree with everyone that they are a beneficial hitchhiker and good general cleanup crew but i prefer a tank without them. Without periodic thinning of the herd they got bold and there were always a dozen or more on the glass. I managed to eliminate an infestation from my tank. My new favorite cuc is baby trochus snails. A local shop had some spawn and i got 60-80 for free. They stay on the sand, rock and they are only on the glass to clean the corners i cant get with the magfloat. The best part is that they can flip themselves over when they fall on their backs.

 

[monkeysee1]

They from my experience eat film algae or something on the glass and will eat decomposing/dead flesh,etc... but never harm "living/healthy" tissue..

Yep, +10. Nailed it.
I have them in my tank. My emerald crab, Brutus, loves them....