Starfish or worm? Good or bad?

[ReyR]

Found this little guy on glass just now. Tookafew pictures from the side/front and behind. Thoughts? Recommendations?

 

[cloak]

Asterina star. :thumbdown

http://reefkeeping.com/joomla/index.php/current-issue/article/45-reefkeeping-101-

http://www.coralpedia.com/index.php?module=Gallery2&g2_itemId=1426

 

[NISMO703]

+1 on asterina

If you have a reef tank, Id begin removing them. Better safe than sorry.

If you have FOWLR, Id leave them but they do eat coraline.

 

[DrillSarge770]

Starfish

 

[Muller]

Some will eat zoanthids.
Harlequin Shrimp eat them.

 

[Muller]

Some will eat zoanthids.
Harlequin Shrimp eat them.

 

[cloak]

There have been some reports of these things eating sps corals too btw.

 

[Betta132]

Harlequin shrimp are not a good control method for asterinas. They need a lot of asterinas to stay alive, and the only food they'll eat is the tube feet of certain types of starfish. Plus, some varieties of asterinas evidently taste bad to harlequins.
Just manually pick them out and plop them in the sump. If you keep the numbers low, they won't be a problem.

 

[Naterade86]

I had dozens of these and they kept multiplying. Then they started eating my fire and ice zoa. I'd you see them eating corals get a harlequin shrimp. Mines a little beast I watched him eat 10 yeaterday

 

[Betta132]

Like I said, harlequins need a lot of food. They have to eat approximately 15 asterinas a day or they'll starve to death, and they eat nothing else but starfish.

 

[Naterade86]

Yea I'm gonna let him finish eating get nice a fat and I started a small 5 gallon tank with about 10 stars. I'm gonna harvest them. I cut one in half seeing how long it takes.

 

[RayAllen3422]

+1 on asterina