Tiny white starfish - friend or foe

[nauti1us]

I have been noticing these very small whitish starfish in my refugium. They are approximately half inch at the largest. Some are smaller. The legs are sometimes oddly sized. I only see them when they show up on the glass, otherwise they can't b e seen. The legs are fattish, not skinny.

I should include a picture later if I find time.

Are these a nuisnace starfish..? I recall seeing them in someone else's main display tank and they were everywhere...

If they are a nuisnace, what eats them..? I would like to avoid putting any wrasses into the refugium since I'm trying to cultivate pods etc...

Any thoughts..?

Matt

 

[Sk8r]

They're asterinas. There's constant debate on whether they're ok or not. I had them, before the move; they won't multiply outlandishly unless [a] they're eating something they shouldn't or ]b] conditions in your tank are providing them an outlandish food supply.
Two things eat the feet off stars and urchins---harlequin shrimp [avoid them, unless you also keep an urchin, or these guys will starve to death after eliminating the asterinas] and bumblebee shrimp---which are the size and general behavior of horseflies, tail of a mantis, front end of a shrimp, with stripes. They're cute guys, but allegedly will eat other things. Neither of these species are large. I'd recommend the bumble bee shrimp [Foster/Smith] as longterm survivors and kind of interesting. They never eat enough feet on an urchin to do more than annoy it into motion. They're more like fleas, to the urchin.

 

[chrisstie]

I think Sk8r has it right they probably look like this give or take (maybe not so much the orange mouth)

I think they eat algae, possibly even coralline and there are reports of them eating some corals. I'm not sure if it is clear on that they were eating the live healthy coral tissue, scavenging the dead or both but maybe the wetweb articles can help if you scan through them. Surprisingly a lot is written on these little dudes
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/asterinafaqs.htm

 

[nauti1us]

wow Christie... tons of info... thanks!

 

[cschweitzer]

My asterinas don't look to be harming my corals, and in one of my tanks, I have hundreds of little guys(I tend to overfeed)...that tank is the one with sps and they don't go near it. sps(I think) is what some people say they have a problem with when the asterinas attack. There are many possibilities, but my belief is that they eat decaying matter and dying coral is one of their favorite delecassies.

 

[dilligaf_biker69]

I have some in my tank...I used to think they fed on sps but...after observing them over time the only place I ever saw them was on dead or sick corals (and glass, and rock, and well u get the picture) , but never have I seen them on live healthy corals...they seem to clean up the dying flesh (that is to me they seem to) I have heard there are a few types and the larger blue ones will feed on sps's but the smaller whitish ones will not.

 

[skinnyjoe1976]

matt my suggestion if they are the ones that don't have perfect length arms than i would get rid of them. if all other stars seem to have perfect length arms then these would be an oddity of nature and possibly not good. if i not mistaken the Harlequin shrimp are very good choices for ridding your tank of the unevened Asterina stars (Asterina stars are corraline eating starfish with 3 - 5 uneven legs). but i think you have a Pincushion Tuxedo Urchin in your tank. i don't know about stars but let us know if you see them eating any thing except corraline.

 

[SoundsFishy2me2]

I try and remove them when I see them. There are other better cleaners worth the risk to keep. I agree with dilligaf_biker69; I've seen them on corals but they tend to be near the base and not on the healthy ones but still, I'd rather eliminate them.

 

[chrisstie]

If you do decide to get rid of them I would be willing to adopt some. I'm entertaining the idea of keeping a pair of harlequin shrimp and wouldn't mind having a source of food like these that may propagate themselves... beyond buying chocolate chips for them to chow down on. I might have an extra frag of something to trade you if you like too - just wouldn't want those little guys going to waste

 

[lifesworksataol]

i have heard they eat sponge

 

[Sk8r]

What I've observed they eat is coralline, and I used to shepherd them onto my glass and let them work for a living. Never had any trouble with them and sps, lps, clam, sponges [I had a ton], or anything but coralline. They'll make a few white patches on your rock, which heal in a couple of days, no problem.

 

[plyle02]

I had an explosion of asterina stars, bought a harlequin shrimp, and one month later no stars, at all.......I am thinking of getting rid of the guy though, the water params get out of whack when supplementing chocolate chips stars....

 

[chrisstie]

plyle02 do you feed the shrimp a whole star at a time? I've heard of people keeping one or two around in a sump and occasionally just taking a leg every week or two and putting it down so theres not as much decay- otherwise they will paralyze and kill the whole star but aren't able to eat the whole thing if its just one or two shrimp getting their fill

 

[sytanek]

That sounds so awesome!! lol

 

[plyle02]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10001477#post10001477 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by chrisstie
plyle02 do you feed the shrimp a whole star at a time? I've heard of people keeping one or two around in a sump and occasionally just taking a leg every week or two and putting it down so theres not as much decay- otherwise they will paralyze and kill the whole star but aren't able to eat the whole thing if its just one or two shrimp getting their fill

chrisstie,
Thanks for the cool idea..... Better yet, I have a remote dsb, maybe he would fair well there. My Harlequin took down the entire CC star in 3 weeks. The only problem is the nitrate spike I have encountered, hence the RSDB. I don't want to lose him, almost wish I could find some asterinas to feed him. They are worth it, very entertaining to watch....

 

[mrcrab]

I have a fair few asterinas, never been a problem. I'll bring some to the swap meet if anyone wants them. No charge of course.

 

[cschweitzer]

Anyone who wants to come pick my tanks clean of asterinas for any reason(halequin or not), you are more than welcome to them.