little white startfish?

[fishytoo123]

In the last day or so I have seen little white startfish which seems to be multiplying. How do I get rid of them?

 

[lvreefer]

Pic?

 

[Faviaphile]

Sounds like asterina to me. IMO they are harmless, I've got a dozen or so and they just help the turbos with glass cleaning.
They are even kind of cute.... small and tanish, white.

 

[fishytoo123]

here it is

 

[Scottkelly911]

definitely Asterina's do a search on them, can become nasty little buggers to corals. If you have a ton of them, you could get a Harlequin shrimp to feed on them, but once they run out you'll have to supplement their diet. Otherwise, pick them out by hand. They're reallyl cool looking little stars, so it's tempting to leave them in, but I know they reproduce really quickly and can be horrible to corals. If you have a fish only tank, then it'd be cool to leave them in. Or set up a tiny pico just for them lol

 

[fishytoo123]

I usually dip my corals prior to putting them into the tank. And this is what happens. They came from some star polyps I think. I got all but one so far.

 

[fishytoo123]

I thought I got them all out then I cleaned out some hair algae yesterday and now I have many. How many Harlequin shrimp should I use on 275lbs of rock and sps? I have a orange Linkia Starfish will that be a problem with this type of shrimp?

 

[fishytoo123]

What if I use a peppermint shrimp. I forgot that I have a Serpent Sea Star to which is impossible to catch and relocate.

 

[joeychitwood]

My daughter called them "Lucky Charm Starfish" when she was young. I have a few in my tank, but they've never caused any damage.

 

[dc]

Most of us like them. I have spread them to all of my tanks.

 

[cbeitel]

I have heard some say they are not reef safe, but most of the big time reefers seem to think they are OK.

I have plenty in my mixed reef with no apparent problems. I do not have SPS either though...

I like the little buggers.

 

[supervdl]

I have seen great SPS reef tanks that have them all over the place when the lights are out. I personally see them only occasionally in my tank.

 

[scarter]

sps reef here, never had a problem with them

 

[bluetmax]

Check out www.garf.org and look on the left side under Aquarium Pests. There are two articles on the starfish. I have always been skiddish about putting anything in my tank that is so controversial. I have always pulled them off of any new coral or LR I buy, but I have a friend who has a beautiful SPS tank with several of the little guys in it he and swears they have never caused him any problems. I just don't know, but they would not be deliberately put into my own aquarium, or stay there if I saw one I introduced by accident.

 

[joeychitwood]

These stars hang out on the glass at night, but otherwise I never see them. The don't bother any of my SPS or LPS corals.

 

[MTB]

I have never had a problem with them either. I think I read some where that there's 2 differnt sp. that are similar in appearance. One is bad the other is good. I could be mistaken. If I find anything, I will post it here.

 

[DSMpunk]

The vast majority of them are "reef safe" but there are exceptions. I had some that loved to eat my zoas.