Mini Starfish

L

lynetteww125

New member
I purchased some corals back a few weeks ago from someone out by Chicago and a couple of days after putting them into the tank, I saw a super small banded serpent like starfish climbing on the front glass after the lights had been turned off.

That night, I was watching the tank closer and saw there were 2 of them in there.

Since then, I have found 2 more, for a total of 4 free starfish hitchhikers. They are smaller around (including the legs) than a dime and I was wondering if I should try to remove them from the tank and set up a new system just for them so I can spot feed them.

If so, what would you recommend for the set up for just them? How would you recommend going about removing them from the tank they are currently in? What would you spot feed them with due to their size?

Thanks guys!
Wendy
 
Those mini starfish wont get any bigger than they are now. They are just like pods. They reproduce like crazy in your tank/refugium. Don't worry about feeding them, they will do fine on their own.
 
Those are excellent scavengers, great in a refugium and like TheCoralReef said, they are most likely the "microstars" that will stay that size.
 
I have a bunch in my tank as well, I thought they were worms at first because I could see was 1 or 2 legs sticking out. They definitely spread fast but I dont see any adverse effects.
 
do they look like little brittle stars? Or more like normal shaped stars?

If they are the latter they are asterina, the former are (belive it or not) mini-brittle stars. Asterinas have more issues with being a pest, but they are both relativley harmless IMO. I think the asterinas eat coralline algae and other gunk in the tank. Mini-brittles are probably like their big cousins and hunt for min-food.
 
if they are the size of an eraser and look like a chip star...beware! I thought these were beneficial and turns out they cause damage. they feed on zoo colonies and then move to sps colonies. my neighbor talk with menard and was told the only way to get rid of these invasive stars are the harliwuin shrimp which just feed on star fish. I would look into it further to make sure you do not have this type of star fish.
 
softbal4

those were probably asterina. I've heard of them going crazy and attacking corals, but I think this only happens when they get to plague levels (maybe you had something different). I have seen them occasionally at the ends of closed zoas, but I don't think they are causing great harm to overall colonies.

I agree that harlequin shrimp will certainly eliminate these guys. If you have a healthy population of asterina, I wonder if it could support a halequin, they are so cool looking.
 
I don't think I have enough to support the shrimp and plus I would lose my linkas. I agree harlequin shrimp look awesome. I have lost 2 colonies about 4 -5 inches each of awesome zoos and have always noticed these bad guys lurking on the rocks...this has been over sometime though...maybe 6 months. not sure if they are the lone culpret or not all other colonies are doing well, just wanted to put the idea out there that some of these star fish are undesirable tank ihhabitants.
 
The asterina that were on my zoas would attach to the end of the stalk when the zoa was closed and would sit there for quite a while, sometimes an entire day. The zoa did look thinner and stressed after the ordeal. I figured those guys might be sucking the life out of the zoas or something. But like I said before, I never saw this so much that it caused irreperable harm to a colony. Only a polyp or 2 at a time.
 
Over a course of time you will see many different things. Most of them are very bennificial to have and you don't have to worry about setting up a seperate tank for them. You want all of them in your main tank's biodiversity.
 
Thanks everyone for the replys. I determined before I even posted this that they were either brittle or serpent stars.

Wasn't sure if they were something that would survive on their own in the tank or not. Also don't want them to get eaten, but such is life in aquatics.

Wendy
 
I added a Harliquin shrimp to my system yesterday to try to slow down the growth in my system where I seem to have hundreds of the mini stars
they seem to reproduce quickly in my system
 
yes i have thousands of those little stars.. i think they eat coraline... but they are EVERYWHERE.. i would have to pull my linkias and serpant stars before putting in a harliquin...
 
this thread is getting a little confusing. There are many differnt "mini starfish" and even in the asterina family there are many...

Most of the asterina that I have come across are completely harmless detritivores. If you have a lot of them it means that there is a large enough food supply to keep them happy and multiplying. they will continue to multiply until they start to run short on food supply, and when that happens the numbers will dwindle naturally. Putting in something to control their numbers is a mistake IMHO. They are cleaning up detritus. If they are not there to clean it, the detritus will sink somewhere and you might end up bare bottom. Biodiversiy is key.

There is the little black and white "mini brittles that usually max out at the size of a 50 cent peice. Also benificial detritivores.

And my favorites, the lil tiny white mini brittles that usuall max out at the size of a dime. They usually stay (unseen) in the sand and do a great job of keeping the sandbed healthy (unless you have predatory sand sifters, which are a complete NO NO in my book.)

I have heard of predatory asterinas, but have yet to see them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

C.Eymann
Finding the "final boss" of coral pest hitchhikers, and how it turned into our beloved pet.
Replies
11
Views
533
griss
griss
A
Feeding regime
Replies
1
Views
143
griss
griss
C
Maxspect jump led issue
Replies
0
Views
73
Cruzersmith
C
DjPhato
Algae identification
Replies
3
Views
243
DjPhato
DjPhato
M
Zoas and gsp not growing but anemones and leathers are happy and growing fast.
Replies
4
Views
409
griss
griss
Back
Top