Something in this picture isn't right

[pwoller]

I am 1 stage through redbug treatment but this one colony I had looked worse then the others so I thought I would do a good 10 minute revive dip and this is what came off it. Is it the redbugs bleaching this one colony or is it something else in these pics? Parameters are all stable, 40 other colonies look ok 2 are starting to lose some color and flesh. Part of me thinks its the starfish, seems like a pretty high concentration.

 

[nano427]

Harlequin shrimp time!

 

[pwoller]

Harlequin shrimp time!

I already have one. Everyone said he'd starve but he's been in their for 6 months.

 

[Ding2daDong]

It could be the stars or the redbugs, not sure.

-Matthew

 

[pwoller]

looks like redbugs to me.

-Matthew

Great I treated for them right before I revive dipped this coral. They hang on after death right? What do you make of all the stars?

 

[dudley moray]

garf.org has a good write up about acro eating starfish !

 

[returnofsid]

Some have claimed, or thought that Asterina starfish are harmful in our reef tanks. According to everything I've read, AND my own experience, over the past 4 years, with 5 tanks, they aren't any problem at all. Garf did seem to have a problem with them. I've read that there's quite a few species of Asterinas. Supposedly, there's 1 species that might be a problem. However, this species is very rarely found in our reef tanks. Maybe you got unlucky. However, I'd suggest that the reason you have such an abundance of them, on that particular coral, is because they're scavenging flesh that's been damaged by the redbugs.

 

[eros]

Here's my experience. I think the pics speak for themselves

 

[Snailpowered]

From what I have gathered the ones that are green are okay for the tank, others that are colored are the ones you have to look out for.

 

[tangstank]

IMO: It is the Red bug weakening the colony, & the reason for tissue loss. The asterina start don't go after SPS if they are healthy. If SPS shows any sign of weakness then the asterina start cling on to clean it up.
I have had a lot of these small stars & a harlequin shrimp is doing the damage to the stars now, slowly but certainly.

 

[SDguy]

IMO: It is the Red bug weakening the colony, & the reason for tissue loss. The asterina start don't go after SPS if they are healthy. If SPS shows any sign of weakness then the asterina start cling on to clean it up.

100% my experience as well.

 

[pwoller]

I did a 18 hour full tank interceptor treatment 1/3 of a larger pill for my 120 gallon system and pulled the coral out of the tank and dipped it in revive with a power head, thats what fell off. Should I assume they were dead and they just fell off in the revive dip from the turky basting or did my treatment of interceptor not do the job? I guess the real question is after interceptor do you need to turkey bast the corals to actually get the red bug off?

 

[jdm1114]

Some have claimed, or thought that Asterina starfish are harmful in our reef tanks. According to everything I've read, AND my own experience, over the past 4 years, with 5 tanks, they aren't any problem at all. Garf did seem to have a problem with them. I've read that there's quite a few species of Asterinas. Supposedly, there's 1 species that might be a problem. However, this species is very rarely found in our reef tanks. Maybe you got unlucky. However, I'd suggest that the reason you have such an abundance of them, on that particular coral, is because they're scavenging flesh that's been damaged by the redbugs.

I agree those stars are harmless in my experience.

 

[CleveYank]

IMO: It is the Red bug weakening the colony, & the reason for tissue loss. The asterina start don't go after SPS if they are healthy. If SPS shows any sign of weakness then the asterina start cling on to clean it up.
I have had a lot of these small stars & a harlequin shrimp is doing the damage to the stars now, slowly but certainly.

Ding Ding Ding Ding, ladies and gentlemen we have a winner!!!!

or ahhh +1 :beer:

 

[pwoller]

I did a 18 hour full tank interceptor treatment 1/3 of a larger pill for my 120 gallon system and pulled the coral out of the tank and dipped it in revive with a power head, thats what fell off. Should I assume they were dead and they just fell off in the revive dip from the turky basting or did my treatment of interceptor not do the job? I guess the real question is after interceptor do you need to turkey bast the corals to actually get the red bug off?

 

[sfsuphysics]

I'm not quite sure what point you're trying to make.

To me the pics say this.

Here's a particular coral skeleton with very little live tissue and a ton of algae growing on the dead parts. The starfish eats the algae.

Here's my experience. I think the pics speak for themselves

 

[eros]

I'm not quite sure what point you're trying to make.

To me the pics say this.

Here's a particular coral skeleton with very little live tissue and a ton of algae growing on the dead parts. The starfish eats the algae.

This coral wasn't doing well and there were some areas with die off. It's harder to tell in the pictures but after peeling the starfish off the coral the skeleton looked much more like freshly eaten tissue then old dead coral skeleton with algae grown over it that had been eaten off. If you look closely at the picture you will see part of the branch attached to the dead area still has polyps on it. The other dead areas of this coral were actually very brittle and black and had been dead for a long time. It's certainly possible that they weren't the cause and this little guy was just clinging tightly to a branch that was badly bleached or attacked by something else, either way after removing the starfish I'm no longer having problems with this colony.

I don't think anyone should jump to the conclusion that NO asternia stars are coral predators just because they haven't had a bad experience with a specific variety, especially when there are so many people that may have had experiences that would suggest otherwise including the Garf website that has taken the time to set up a page devoted just to this topic. Unless you have a PhD in marine biology and you've done research on the eating habits of asternia stars you're really not qualified to make that determination. Having a fish tank doesn't make you an expert not matter how nice or elaborate your system is. :beer:


http://www.garf.org/Star/starfish.html

 

[pwoller]

This coral wasn't doing well and there were some areas with die off. It's harder to tell in the pictures but after peeling the starfish off the coral the skeleton looked much more like freshly eaten tissue then old dead coral skeleton with algae grown over it that had been eaten off. If you look closely at the picture you will see part of the branch attached to the dead area still has polyps on it. The other dead areas of this coral were actually very brittle and black and had been dead for a long time. It's certainly possible that they weren't the cause and this little guy was just clinging tightly to a branch that was badly bleached or attacked by something else, either way after removing the starfish I'm no longer having problems with this colony.

I don't think anyone should jump to the conclusion that NO asternia stars are coral predators just because they haven't had a bad experience with a specific variety, especially when there are so many people that may have had experiences that would suggest otherwise including the Garf website that has taken the time to set up a page devoted just to this topic. Unless you have a PhD in marine biology and you've done research on the eating habits of asternia stars you're really not qualified to make that determination. Having a fish tank doesn't make you an expert not matter how nice or elaborate your system is. :beer:


http://www.garf.org/Star/starfish.html

I'm covering all bases, treating for redbugs and I added a 2nd Harlaquin. I'll be pulling some of the colonies and dipping them to see what comes off.

Does anyone know if the red bugs need to be blown off after the intercepter treatment or do they just fall off? I'm nervous that the treatment didn't work because after the dip there were so many left in the bucket.

 

[sfsuphysics]

Well it is indeed hard to tell from the picture, since the starfish is on their prior to seeing what it looked like.

I do indeed see two nubs that have tissue on them, however I basically extrapolated that the dark green algae covered parts were also where the starfish was simply because it's green all the way to the two smaller tips (ones without polyps). And the reason it looks like pure skeleton after the fact is simply the way starfish eat, they throw their stomach out onto the area and consume everything, and yes sometimes there is some tissue that gets there.

As to the second part, I never claimed or came to that conclusion, I was simply commenting on your pictures which to me didn't speak to the same thing as they apparently did to you and left an alternate explanation. And quite frankly that second paragraph reads almost as an insult to me, and anyone who has commented with a different opinion than you. Just because garf has a website doesn't make everything they say as true or infallible, I mean I still see they're peddling their "grunge" ...

 

[eros]

As to the second part, I never claimed or came to that conclusion, I was simply commenting on your pictures which to me didn't speak to the same thing as they apparently did to you and left an alternate explanation. And quite frankly that second paragraph reads almost as an insult to me, and anyone who has commented with a different opinion than you. Just because garf has a website doesn't make everything they say as true or infallible, I mean I still see they're peddling their "grunge" ...

I agree about the Garf Grunge :lol2:
The second part wasn't directed at you, and I'm sorry it reads that way. I know you didn't suggest any conclusion about the starfish effecting the colony and I certainly didn't mean to offend you or anyone else that has posted.

The point I'm trying to make is that we can't jump to conclusions based on our isolated experiences. We already know that there are species of starfish that do eat coral. It's also possible that there are smaller varieties that hitchhike there way into some tanks and cause damage. Just because the starfish in one person's tank isn't eating their corals doens't mean that none do.

My grandpa worked with asbestos for over 30 years and never had a problem. He still claims there's nothing wrong with it. :beer: