Pix & ID: Critters that come in your rocks: the good and the bad.

Will a Asterina eat corals?

Just corraline algae. I like them because they are a good food source for harlequin shrimp, don't have to spend money purchasing other stars.

(some harlequin don't eat them, so only do it when you have enough asterina to feed the shrimp and a backup plan of buying other stars if he won't eat them)
 
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Just corraline algae.

That's not necessarily true. The zoanthids in my tank have never looked better once I started removing these stars on sight. There were quite a few times when the actinics would come on in the morning and I would find one or two on a colony. There's also some horror stories out there reguarding sps corals and these stars Be careful...
 
It all depends on the specific kind, and it's virtually impossible to tell them apart. In 6 years & 6 tanks I've never had the kind that eat anything but film algae & coralline. That's where paying attention to what's going on in your tank comes in. Mine cruise all over my zoas, and I've watched them sit on a closed one for a while, then when they get through cleaning off the algae & leave the zoa opens back up. Now if they leave and the zoa is damaged, pull them. Or, as I said, you can pull them now just in case. The coral eating kind are rare in home aquaria, but it happens, especially when people share frags or a store sells frags with the wrong kind on them. That's why you usually hear about the bad ones in spurts instead of all the time. Same thing with the coral eating amphipods or isopods.
 
It all depends on the specific kind, and it's virtually impossible to tell them apart.

That's reason enough for me. (better safe than sorry) Not to mention that an aquarium full of these things kinda looks like the tank has come down with chicken pox or something. Not attractive IMO. My LFS has a bunch of asterina stars roaming around. I almost want to ask if i can pull what I see. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to have some diversity and all, but some things you can go without. :)
 
What is this guy growing in my garden of waterman zoas? At first, i thought he was a zoa bud that was developing, but during a feeding he put out tentacles.

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Nudibranch

Nudibranch

Hello all. I'm building a mixed reef tank. This nudibranch (I'm hoping I'm able to attach the photo - my first try) surfaced; and she's not alone - it seems she's made babies so I've got a bunch of miniature versions too.

May I have an ID please? My friend tells me there are good and bad kinds. Any input/advice would be appreciated.
 

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Trent, if you go look at my Homepage or my Albums, there are pics of aiptasia in there. See if that's what it is. To me it looks like a closed polyp at the bottom, that's all I can make out from the pic.

Sorry, Morten the pic isn't working. Google zoa-eating nudibranch & see if that's it.
 
strange moving tube. It looks like it has a small lump its using to eat off the rock
 

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I thought it might be, but it's color and semi transparent tube seem a little off He also doesn't immediatly dart away from light
 
I have a piece of rock that I bought with alot of diferent mushrooms on it, now I am getting a couple large patches which I have just saw from the above pics are "bubble algae". I pulled one off the other night, and it was teardrop shaped, quite hard, and range in size from pin heads to large peas. Should I pluck them all off, and try to remove them, or what?
 
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