Nano Stars?

[Mdwannabe]

OK:

For those (MTRC club members) that do not know me, or did not see my response to "Phu's" thread, I offer the following:

I have been a slacker to my tank and the club for at least the last 7 months. I could offer all kinds of excuses, but they are not important.

The tank has had only water top off's done in that amount of time.
No chem checks, no protein skimmer cleaning, no calcium reactor re-charges, and no glass cleaning.

The excuse category has changed. and I'm happy to say the tank can now again become a priority.

Now to my question:

After cleaning the glass (expecting to see only death and destruction), I was SHOCKED, to find everything is doing super!
Giant Polyp's abound, and SPS have grown (with better color) than ever...... (todays chem check shows everything in-line, though I don't know why). But I now have what I can only define as nano starfish all aver the tank glass (literally hundreds of them in various growth stages). They are no bigger than 1/8 of an inch, and as the SPS and everything else in the tank look's great, I'm wondering what they might be....good/ bad or just a viewing nuisance (if it helps, they seem to be albino).

I would love to provide a picture, but I no longer have a functional digital camera.

Just looking for any input.

Thanks:
Rick

 

[Kalied20]

Astera stars? or Brittle Mini?....have them all over my 90, they are beneficial, but in the hundreds? Not sure....what you have without a picture or if that many would be good without a food source. It sounds like you cleaned the glass and got rid of the big food source.

 

[crumbletop]

Since things look good otherwise, my guess is that they are fine... for now. They may end up being fine as well, but since you cleaned the glass, etc, there may now be a shift in the balance of available food. This assumes they were eating stuff along the glass and rock. With the shift they may die off until a new equilibrium is reached, or they may begin to eat other things opportunistically. This is just a theory. I'd keep an eye on them, though.

 

[Mdwannabe]

Keeping an eye on them is no problem as they are everywhere!

Rick

 

[Mdwannabe]

Guess I owe this input, the tank is a 200, and hundreds is valid.

Rick

 

[rsteagall]

I still want some of those Giant polyps. Am I still on the waiting list?

 

[Mdwannabe]

rsteagall:

As soon as I get the tank and these new "Visitors" stable...(I'm doing a MAJOR water change this weekend), just because it seems required and it will make me feel better....yes I can already hear the "If it ain't broke don't fix it people screaming", and can figure out how to safely frag them without doing major live rock cutting, everyone get's some (they are everywhere), this is a possible problem with them, though they seem to do no harm to anything, and sure look interesting in my tank....see my gallery under "Murphy's loss 2"

Not sure a 58 will be large enough for them once they get their foot planted though (JMTCW).

Still wondering about the "Star's" though.

Rick

 

[fishdoc11]

Hey Rick:wavehand:

They sound like Asterinas to me as well.

Chris

 

[rsteagall]

No worries, I'll figure out a way to keep them trimmed back. I'll be going to ATL within the next month. When I was there last there was a fish store in their private tank that had different giant polyps than yours. I hope to score a frag of those when I go next... i gotta remember to call that guy though!

 

[Mdwannabe]

Got a PM with Pic's of possibilities, Asterinas win they are the viewing pest, so I guess I just get the tank stable and watch the population drop off.

Chris good to (is it hear or see) from you again. Hope things are going well.

Rick

 

[rcmike]

I have those also. I can easily believe hundreds. I had that many in my 110 at one time. I still have quite a few but the numbers are decreasing.

 

[rcmike]

I have those also. I can easily believe hundreds. I had that many in my 110 at one time. I still have quite a few but the numbers are decreasing.

 

[HowardCath]

I have maybe 50 or more chronically in my 125 gal. and they seem to be doing no harm.

 

[Mdwannabe]

Just noticed this, I have not had a way to clean the side glass (without doing damage to the existing corals) of coraline (sp) algae, but guess what...the stars seem to be.
Not sure this is a good thing (as they are all over the rock's when the light's first come up), but I can tell you, since I noticed this, I put a tape square around a section of coraline on the side glass, and it is going away, and the stars are there all the time (it's a low light area).
Any input? Just wondering (things that make you go Hum).
Rick