Is this an astrina starfish? Size of a quarter!

[setsail4mexico]

I know I have a lot of astrina starfish in my tank... My kids liked them and they didn't seem to bother anything (other than did not have as much coralline algae as I should or would like) and my LPS and sofies corals are thriving. However, lately they seem to be proliferating out of control or maybe I'm just paying more attention. I seen one on the corner overflow that is in the center of my coralline algae patch and is HUGE! About the size of a quarter. See pic below. Is it an astrina starfish? Never seen one even half that size before!

 

[rogergolf66]

Yes. Haliqun shrimp will take care of them

 

[ClownMan727]

I have a few that big and I like them. For some reason I don't have a bunch of them that I can see any way. I wonder if my coral banded shrimp are eating the babies?

 

[RGS2]

Look at your tank hours after the lights are off, you will be surprised how many there can be. In my 220, I had literally thousands of them. 3 Harlequin shrimps have been feasting on them for a few months and knocked the population way down.

 

[setsail4mexico]

I've never had a harlequin shrimp. Any negatives to it? Will it bother my cleaner shrimp or any corals or clam?

 

[RGS2]

I've never had a harlequin shrimp. Any negatives to it? Will it bother my cleaner shrimp or any corals or clam?

First, I wouldn't worry about Asterinas until you feel you have a true overpopulation.

Harlequin shrimp ONLY eat starfish - Asterinas, chocolate chip stars, etc. - so after they eat them all you need to sell them back to your LFS or start buying them a starfish to eat on a regular basis.

 

[Jjtaylor62083]

I had one about that size got a harlequin shrimp after finding the star eating a blasto colony

 

[setsail4mexico]

Thanks everyone! Think I'll try the control method first! I picked out about 60 of them today. Sure more will be out tomorrow and after a few days of this the numbers should dwindle!