Is this an Asterina Star?

[tthayer]

Hi All,

I just found this little guy on the side of one of my zoo's. Is it an Asterina Star?

Also, should I keep it or would it work well in my fuge?


Please excuse the image, it was the best shot I could get so I tried to enhance it with arrows.

 

[Elysia]

Yes. I see no reason to get rid of them. You can keep it where ever you have films of algae and bacteria.

 

[jhildebrand]

+1

 

[musty baby]

In a very rare instance, in a really nutrient free tank, they'll go after zoanthids. If you scrape your glass more than once a month there's no reason to remove it. You'll end up with them in the rest of your system anyway.

 

[tthayer]

Thanks all. I have put the little guy back in the tank. If they help with algae, then I definately do not want to remove it.

 

[Sculp1n]

I personally hate asterina. They completely took over my 235 and seeing them everywhere bugged the crap out of me. I probably had at least 2000 of them until I bought a pair of Harlequin Shrimp. Best buy ever! They ate every one of them in about 2 months. Now I have to actually feed them starfish but it's worth it, they sure are cool.

Sculp1n