tiny starfish

[mondello11]

I have a few reef tanks one with coral and one with fish. I went to my doctors office and saw his reef tank had all these tiny starfish in it. He said they came from a piece of live rock he got a couple of years ago. There must have been about 100. He said I could have some if I wanted them, but i wanted to find out about them before I ad them to either one of my tanks. Anybody know what they might be they don't get any bigger than about a 1/2" and they were mostly really small and white.

 

[artful-dodger]

Welcome to RC!

They're real common...sorry I don't have the books here now to look up species name. Only get up to about the size of a dime (or a little less). Never heard of anybody for whom they've caused problems.

 

[Buster4900]

I used to have the same star fish you are describing. I think my diamond Goby has eaten all of them. They seemed to a good addition to the tank, definately fun to watch. No problems with the corals. Grab a handful and see what happens.

 

[Paintbug]

sounds like asterina starfish. some are reported to eat SPS corals. i have the white ones in my tank and have never had a problem with them. heres some info
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-06/ac/feature/index.php

 

[mondello11]

Thank you for the info. After further research they are Asterina Starfish and I am going to give them a try.

 

[sean48183]

Yeah they are pretty cool. Can move relatively fast when they want to.

 

[cutsupremetrib]

i have them didnt cost me anything they dont die if u cut them in half they grow back into two full sized stars