starfish everywhere

[peanuts183]

I have dozens of small white starfish is my tank. They are probably 1/4 to 1/2 inch is size. There are alot of them in my sand bed. Can any one tell me what they are, or if they are harmful or not? Sorry no pic.

 

[phenom5]

First guess would be Asterina starfish.

Do they look like this?

Common hitchhiker, generally harmless.

 

[peanuts183]

No, they are all white, but the have a very definate round body and small fine legs. They look a lot like miniture brittle stars to me. That is why I am concerned. I have never had a star fish in my tank. They would have had to hitchhike in on something else.

 

[OranguTang]

I had probably hundreds if not more of those in my old tank. Up for 3 years no problems....(the small brittle stars I mean).

 

[peanuts183]

cool thanks

 

[jlt23]

Don't mean to hi-jack but if you had a lot of asterina stars would they cause a problem. I would love to get a harlequin shrimp to take care of them but once they are done, i think feeding them starfish will really make my water funky.

 

[Dubbin1]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11651116#post11651116 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by phenom5

Common hitchhiker, generally harmless.

Keep in mind that some do eat corals.