Little Stars

J

joyski58

New member
My tank's been set up for over a year now. I watch it and examine it all the time. Last night, for the first time, I noticed 2 tiny starfish on the rocks. Not the mini brittle stars like in my refugium. They are more like a choc chip starfish shape, and are a little smaller than a dime. I haven't introduced any new rock or coral (other than frags), and I've only added a brittle star and a copperbanded recently.

Are these a good thing, or a bad thing? I JKJ
 
I have them they seem fine to me they have never hurt a thing. I had a thread about 2 weeks ago on the same thing you can check it out a few pages in.
 
Fishmon's paranoid because he's a professional. That means you'd darn well be paranoid as well.
You'd better check these out; "choc chip starfish shape, and are a little smaller than a dime" sounds like a recent, serious invert eater warned of in Seascope. How many arms do these critters have?
 
I have millions of them with no problems, I only see them eat algae. These have been in my tanks over ten years. Not all starfish that look like this are predatory.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7079470#post7079470 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by M. Python
I have millions of them with no problems, I only see them eat algae. These have been in my tanks over ten years. Not all starfish that look like this are predatory.
Click to expand...

She hasn't even said that they are the same stars I posted about, just trying to identify them for her, I am glad you havent seen them eat any coral but I have never heard of algae eating starfish. Not saying they aren't doing it for you, I just haven't seen it. garf seems to be pretty credible though.
 
I have heard of the same stars Jim is talking about eating SPS coral. Not sure about softies or LPS but it could happen.
 
There are diffrent asternia stars. One is a known SPS eater. Let me do a little research today. I don't even know if there is a way to tell them apart. Some are ok, some aren't.
 
From a starfish expert: (ophirua on saltwaterfish.com)

Asterina stars are in nearly all cases HARMLESS. You can not determine, nor can seastar experts, a harmful species by counting arms or looking at size or color just in the tank. Maybe microscopically, or, more likely, with DNA.

Nearly everyone has the stars, and relatively few have trouble. If you had the "bad" sps eating one's they would not be on your glass and rocks....they eat corals, and would be eating them now. Believe me on that.

Most are harmless, even desirable bacterial grazers. You can probably sell them. Actually, I am pretty darn sure you could.

I repeat. You can not determine easily what is bad and what are OK based on the number of arms or color. Don't be drawn into a delicate animal like a harlequin based on this "story" that these stars are all bad. Behavior is critical. Many get a bad rap because they are drawn to a dying coral long before we know it and they clean it up. But predatory stars would be on your SPS corals...and NOW. Not wandering the glass and rocks.
 
I checked out the site fishmon noted. Sure looks like them. Mine are light tan/almost white w/darker tan markings. I'm anxious to see what essop3 comes up with. Them just appearing now confuses me. I really don't want another epidemic; just got rid of a tank full of aipstasias. JKJ
 
Joy-
Either way this is not an epidemic, they are not new at all, they just seem to come out of nowhere in a well established system, most likely out of you r LR at some point. I have seen them many times at the shop, and had a customer call a few days after buying some rock to tell me he saw ( what sounds like the above animal ), attached to his SPS coral and "eating it." I can not verify the story as I have seen these for years and paid no mind to them. The SPS I have lost in my line have been due to many other mistakes on my part and not easily blamed on stars :)

I tend to agree with essop on this, if it were one of the bad ones Im pretty sure he would not be wasting time on your glass or rock and would be having a meal on coral. Again I have not personally seen one of these creatures eating a coral or on a coral for that matter. It would appear there are indeed two types of star in question and that they are to hard to tell apart. It would also seem from what I have seen in the past years that the "bad ones" are not that common at least not in our area.


Just my Experience on the matter.
 
BEWARE

BEWARE

I found one of these stars in one of my tanks today, just to see if they would hurt anything I placed it on the back of my hand and kept it underwater for a few minutes, I felt a sharp pain and looked down to see the little monster trying to bore into my flesh, when I tried to pick it off one of the legs seperated from the body and before I could pick it out, it worked into my hand, the doctors here at KDMC didn't know what to do, so after cutting it out they gave me tons of antibiotics and would not stitch up the wound for fear of remnants of the star still in my hand. BEWARE:eek2: :eek2: :eek2: :eek2: :eek2: :eek2:
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7089034#post7089034 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fishmon
APRIL FOOLS:D

Corny I know, but I couldn't resist!
Click to expand...

:uzi: :uzi: :uzi:
You're full of it today aren't you :D
 
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