Harlequin shrimp to controll tiny starfish?

[bluewatercandy]

I have been having an outbreak of mini starfish... all over the glass, rocks and my zoes! If I were to put a harlequin shrimp in the tank would it be able to eradicate these starfish? Obviously I would have to then keep other inexpensive starfish in the tank for the shrimp to feed on, but at least I would not be sweeping hundreds of tiny stars of the glass and corals daily.
Are there other methods for controlling these stars?

Thanks

 

[lvreefer]

Harlequin shrimp or manual removal.

 

[das75]

might also be asking whats causing outbreak (feeding the tank lots?)

 

[bluewatercandy]

Haven't been feeding any more than normal... SPS dominated tank so I feed phyto every other night and the fish get there daily mysis and cyclops. I feel like I could even feed the fish more, but I like for the tangs to want to work at the algae like they would in nature.

The stars population growth just came out of nowhere... I hadn't introduced any new rock or corals for quite some time. The only change I made was to add on another 250w MH and a 30g frag tank.

All my parameters are stable and at acceptable levels for an SPS dominated tank...

 

[BeanAnimal]

If the are those asterina stars, they are harmless... most people would love to have them in large numbers. They come and go though... I used to have hundreds, now I rarely see them.

 

[bluewatercandy]

Thanks BeanAnimal, I'll leave them be as they seem to not be causing any harm.
I wonder if their reproduction rate would keep up with a Harlequins rate of ingestion? I have always wanted one of those cool looking shrimp, but don't really want to keep up with their diet...

 

[coralnut99]

In a 125, I doubt the harley would do anything close to a perfect job. Most shrimp don't have the longest of lifespans even in perfect conditions. So at best, you're talking about a temporary and partial fix. There's also the issue of tankmates. Depending on what fish you have in the tank, the harley may end up being a snack. As Bean said, they tend to come and go like everything that sees huge population explosions. Their worst attribute is that if they don't have any film/nuisance algae to consume, they will turn on coralline algae.

 

[bluewatercandy]

No kidding! So that's where all my coralline has gone! Even with calcium around 400-420 it has been steadily disappearing from the glass... now I know what is to blame!

Thanks coralnut99!

 

[Scythanith]

I had a pair of Harlequins for 3 years, they were by far one of the most interesting critters I have owned to date. I fed mine Fromia sp. and Linika sp. rejects from the pet stores. They'd go through a 4" Linika sp. in 3 days. They are ferocious hunters and if you have any stars desireable or not, they will find it, flip it, anesthetize it, and eat it.

This was them in a 5gal nano once I realized how messy it can get feeding them starfish in the reef tank.

Hope that helps, I highly recommend them. But like was said before, the Asterina stars won't really hurt anything as far as I know.

 

[Sk8r]

Another shrimp that preys on starfish/urchin feet is the bumblebee shrimp---size and general look of a horsefly, stripes, swims in midwater, hardy, and interesting. Got mine from Foster/Smith.

 

[stugray]

I used one in my 125 because I was completely overrun.

The Harlequin ( Harley ) used to walk around with asterinas in it's claws. It looked like he was carrying a cookie.

Once he cleared out the little guys, I fed him frozed choc chip star legs. He lived for a few extra months until he disappeared. He was eating 2-3 times a week & looked healthy. I think they do have short life spans.

I have been mostly asterina free in the display for ~1 year now.

I find a few in the sump & have seen one in the tank lately, so they arent completely gone.

HTH

Stu

 

[coralnut99]

It's kind of interesting that Stugray's experience and mine are pretty similar, down to having fed them CC stars, but scynthanith's lived much longer. The notable difference being a diet of linkia and fromia stars instead of CC which are a carribean species. Makes one wonder if there's a connection.

 

[Scythanith]

And I think mine died because I was stretching out their feedings and wasn't keeping the tank clean enough.... I was a bad dad back then!

 

[Reeftank3]

Great infromation. thanks.