Id Reef Safe??

[devonjevon]

I just found a starfish in my tank he is about the size of a dime.
he is a fast mover compared to other starfish ive seen.

I also see some of his brothers and sisters now that im looking.
Are they reef safe or do i need to start picking them off the rocks?

I saw him climb on my monti but quickly moved off.

 

[c_stowers]

I think it's debatable whether those are safe or not. Some people say they have problems with them, while others have had them in their tanks for years with no issues. I would just remove him to be safe.

 

[NeveSSL]

Those are asterina star fish if I'm not mistaken.

Just like Chris said, some people have problems with them, some do not. I haven't had any problems with them, but they got to plague proportions in Angelas tank (a common theme it seems ) and kind of smothered her corals.

Brandon

 

[devonjevon]

well When I see them they are gone. Better safe then sorry. Might as well control them while they are manageable

 

[lotsoftats]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12617903#post12617903 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by devonjevon
well When I see them they are gone. Better safe then sorry. Might as well control them while they are manageable

if you have a bunch and want to go to the hassel after you clear them from the display throw them in the sump/fuge and after awhile sell them to other reefers. could get some new corals for them. i have seen people sell them for $25 bucks shipped for 10-15 of them would help with the cost of running your tank.

just a thought.

mike

 

[devonjevon]

I would rather find a natural preditor. I wonder would a coral banded shrimp kill them. I know a harlequin shrimp would but I wouldnt be able to sustain it.
Things in my sump always find a way of making it into my display

 

[gsusfreak]

doubt the coral banded shrimp will kill them....i have them and the CBS doesnt do a thing

by the way, ive never had any problems with my asternias...if anything, they help out in keepin my tank clean

 

[DMBillies]

Like c_stowers said, some people report having problems with them, others not. Since almost every tank I've ever seen has at least a couple in them (almost like aiptasia), my opinion is that 1 of the following 2 things are likely: 1) People see a starfish on an already dying coral and assume that the starfish is eating it, or 2) there is a coral eating species of starfish that looks very similar to asterina stars that are being misidentified.

FWIW, I know you can put me in the category of having them and never having problems with them.

 

[NeveSSL]

What happened to Angela is that they were just in crazy numbers... she would dip a coral and 100 would fall off (according to her, anyway... so you know how SHE goes j/k Angela!). I think most of the time they don't pose much of a problem, though.

Brandon

 

[Turtle77]

I have hundreds of these in my tank as well. All different colors and all different sizes, the largest I have seen is about the size of a dime. Do I need to weed them out and if so which colors? I have everyting from the ones shown in this thread to solid white to beige. Remember you all, I got this tank from somoene else so I dont know if they have been a problem or not.

 

[CKreef]

I had them in my tank. The ones I had ate coralline. I hated them. I used to pick them out at night. They were at plague proportions. They reproduce by splitting.

 

[devonjevon]

wow so I guess ima continue what im doing I piced of like 20 yesturday and 7 so far today they get small. and since they split to reproduce ima never bet rid of them all
Maybe I need to get a harlequin shrimp and when im done with it pass it to another reefer

 

[CKreef]

You can get them all you just have to really look for them. It is a pain

 

[platax88]

I got em too with no problems. I see them on the glass at night. I would not worry about it

 

[wfuavenger]

I found a natural predator. I used to have a lot of them in my 90. I got a peach tipped star fish and it ran around like crazy eating them. I have not seen one in quite a while. It was neat to see the peach tip eatting them on the glass with it's stomach out.

 

[devonjevon]

wow really is that the only thing it eats. Will I have to suppliment its diet. Do they eat corals?

 

[devonjevon]

what's there real name? And where can you get them

 

[wfuavenger]

Peach tipped star fish

Peach tipped star fish

I suppliment with the same stuff I feed my snowflake. meat from the sea. It had a run in with a powerhead and lost 3 arms....but they are growing back.

I got mine from liveaquaria.com

Fromia monilis

looks like this:

Peach tipped starfish

This is not my picture.