Beautiful Astrenia :)
- Thread starter NanaReefer
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fall0n
Well-known member
NICE, I have a few that seem to giants in my main display as well.
NanaReefer
Well-known member
Derbird
Well-known member
I used to really like these little guys. I let them grow and some got up to 3/8" if not 1/2". Then I noticed they were going after my soft corals :yell:. Since I'm a Zoanthid freak this would not do. They no longer are welcome in my DT's.
glweek
Well-known member
I -HAD- them as well and saw one on my zoa's and the next two months was dedicated to picking them all out
NanaReefer
Well-known member
So people don't get confused into thinking that ALL Astrenia Stars are BAD. I'd like to point out that I am speaking and posting on the TOTALLY WHITE one's only. Which IME have never touched a zoa or any other coral in my tank.
There are zoa eating Astrenia Stars. Those according to www.chucksaddiction.com
Sent from my iPhone 4s via Tapatalk.
There are zoa eating Astrenia Stars. Those according to www.chucksaddiction.com
Sent from my iPhone 4s via Tapatalk.
Derbird
Well-known member
mfinn
Surgeonfish
+1
I use to get the pure white ones as well. They looked pretty cool and my grandaughter loved searching for them in my 180.
It wasn't until a few years later I started getting some of the darker ones and saw they seemed to always be around zoanthids that were suddenly distressed..
I let them overpopulate WAY out of control. Never saw any damage from the the tiny white ones. I tried taking a top-down pic of a clown and you can see how many there were in just 1 corner.
stars by SaltyDawg_2009, on Flickr
I had them for over a year with no issues and noticed some getting larger than the rest. For the next year or so I still had no troubles with them, even the large ones. But one day it was like someone flipped a switch and the big ones started eating zoas and softies. I watched one go onto a zoa polyp and left it there for a while and I flipped it over after a few hours and the polyp was gone. I put the star right back where it was and checked later and the zoa was gone completely. Just bare rock. So I knew it was guilty lol. The next morning I checked and there was more than a dozen large ones on my zoa colony and I started manually removing them. There was a bare spot about the size of a golf ball. Thats when I noticed them around the base of all my trees too. Thats when I declared war! Heres some pics of what one of the large ones looks like.
star 2 by SaltyDawg_2009, on Flickr
star 3 by SaltyDawg_2009, on Flickr
star 4 by SaltyDawg_2009, on Flickr
I didnt get any pics of them on zoas but I do have tree damage pics. I peeled a star off the base of a palau green tree and found this wound...
IMAG0323 by SaltyDawg_2009, on Flickr
And heres a pic of a star cutting a tree off the side glass...
IMAG0838 by SaltyDawg_2009, on Flickr
Not sure why they turned nasty all of a sudden. Maybe they were running out of food and turned...I'll never know. But I do know they will come out as soon as I see them in any future tanks. And finally this was my answer to them stars. About 3 months and couldnt find a single one :lol:
IMAG0293 - Copy by SaltyDawg_2009, on Flickr
stars by SaltyDawg_2009, on Flickr
I had them for over a year with no issues and noticed some getting larger than the rest. For the next year or so I still had no troubles with them, even the large ones. But one day it was like someone flipped a switch and the big ones started eating zoas and softies. I watched one go onto a zoa polyp and left it there for a while and I flipped it over after a few hours and the polyp was gone. I put the star right back where it was and checked later and the zoa was gone completely. Just bare rock. So I knew it was guilty lol. The next morning I checked and there was more than a dozen large ones on my zoa colony and I started manually removing them. There was a bare spot about the size of a golf ball. Thats when I noticed them around the base of all my trees too. Thats when I declared war! Heres some pics of what one of the large ones looks like.
star 2 by SaltyDawg_2009, on Flickr
star 3 by SaltyDawg_2009, on Flickr
star 4 by SaltyDawg_2009, on Flickr
I didnt get any pics of them on zoas but I do have tree damage pics. I peeled a star off the base of a palau green tree and found this wound...
IMAG0323 by SaltyDawg_2009, on Flickr
And heres a pic of a star cutting a tree off the side glass...
IMAG0838 by SaltyDawg_2009, on Flickr
Not sure why they turned nasty all of a sudden. Maybe they were running out of food and turned...I'll never know. But I do know they will come out as soon as I see them in any future tanks. And finally this was my answer to them stars. About 3 months and couldnt find a single one :lol:
IMAG0293 - Copy by SaltyDawg_2009, on Flickr
NanaReefer
Well-known member
Herefishyfishy
Smart Bass
In my decades of reading stories and articles, I have yet to be convinced any Astarina starfish are predatory. Almost every case where they had been accused of such, they were in a tank that had excess nutrients creating a population explosion of one type or another and other less than ideal conditions. These little reef dwellers are detritus feeders whom also eat coralline algae. They are not carnivores but do their job as cleaners by gladly finishing off a weak or dying life form, probably already smelling of decomposition to it.
SaltyDog2
Clam Eater
That star fish by the dime only has 4 legs. Most that I've seen have had 5 or more. Could that be an indication of a bad star fish.
mfinn
Surgeonfish
I do agree to a point Mike. They don't target zoanthids like a sundial snail or zoanthid eating nudibranch.
But I think they will move onto a normally healthy zoanthid colony/frag and cause it to react, slime up. Then this will cause some distress and then the star will start the feeding process.
