What is this? Tiny starfish?

[Chucktastic]

I just got my new tank cycling after being away from the hobby for quite some time. I have a couple chunks of live rock the LFS gave me to help seed the tank. After a couple days, I noticed this little guy crawling around on one of the LR pieces. Anyone have an idea what he might be? He's really tiny, probably about 2-3mm across and has six arms.

 

[jdareef]

It's an asterina starfish. Common hitchhikers on live rock.

 

[Chucktastic]

Thanks for the quick reply. After a quick read about these, it seems that some people consider them a nuisance. Should I get him out of the tank before he disappears?

 

[jmahfouz]

yes get all of them out, they are a pain in the arse if not controlled

 

[Rebel]

I see occasional warnings to "get them out, quick!" but rarely have I ever seen anyone with a true problem. It reminds me of the old bristleworm scares. Most people have them, few have too many. They are just part of the fauna in the tank.

 

[jmahfouz]

I have had them, and still have them. I lost my harlequin shrimp during my tank move so there were still a few in my tank and over the past couple of months I have hundreds again

 

[stiltman]

hmmm, i've had these in my BC 14 for at least a year. interesting.

 

[preef]

I have them and they have never been a problem. I like the diversity they add to the tank.

 

[stiltman]

preef, love your avatar!

 

[WhoDey64]

I see occasional warnings to "get them out, quick!" but rarely have I ever seen anyone with a true problem. It reminds me of the old bristleworm scares. Most people have them, few have too many. They are just part of the fauna in the tank.

You have obviously never had them numbering in the several hundred eating zoas and smothering all your coraline algea... Kill it and don't risk the astrinia plague!

 

[scubasteve06]

What are the white tiny starfish called? I was turning my macro over the other day and noticed one of these little guys in there. He is solid white and looks like a starfish you would by at the fish store just mini sized. It doesn't look like the picture the OP posted.

 

[aleonn]

Got one hitch hiker asterina a few months ago. They keep on splitting and multiplying. Recently the larger guys have been eating some corals, so I've begun to remove the larger guys. When my big tank is in operation, I'll banish them to the refugium.

 

[pledosophy]

You have obviously never had them numbering in the several hundred eating zoas and smothering all your coraline algea... Kill it and don't risk the astrinia plague!

Have you actually had them eat your zoa's, or did you just see one on a zoa, and assume. Perhaps you read about it. I have hundreds of these things as well, but I also have hundreds if not thousands of zoa polyps, I don't think they are doing them any harm.

If your really worried about them they are very easy to erridicate if you have a sump. Just tie a piece of legging around the end of your water change hose,a nd place that end int he sump. Start a siphon and vaccum the buggers out. In several minutes you will have a hose with many starfish inside. Do this every night for a week and you will have a tought time finding star fish.

Personally I don't mind them, and I am kinda sorry I removed so many (see post above). I hope they come back in the next few years as I think a harley pair would be dope.

JME

 

[WhoDey64]

Have you actually had them eat your zoa's, or did you just see one on a zoa, and assume. Perhaps you read about it. I have hundreds of these things as well, but I also have hundreds if not thousands of zoa polyps, I don't think they are doing them any harm.

If your really worried about them they are very easy to erridicate if you have a sump. Just tie a piece of legging around the end of your water change hose,a nd place that end int he sump. Start a siphon and vaccum the buggers out. In several minutes you will have a hose with many starfish inside. Do this every night for a week and you will have a tought time finding star fish.

Personally I don't mind them, and I am kinda sorry I removed so many (see post above). I hope they come back in the next few years as I think a harley pair would be dope.

JME

Having witnessed them explode in population and then plow through about 300 zoas seeing visible damage when they are removed... its not an assumption. I used harlequins to bring the population under control. It's easy to conceive that there will be multiple varieties of this star yet they all appear the same, some docile some aggressive but given my personal experience I will always recommend total removal.

 

[bigworm175]

I have copious amounts of them and have had no problems. I have a mixed reef with SPS, LPS, Softies, zoos. I too like the diversity. I'm sure I couldn't get rid of them if I wanted to.