Starfish collecting

[DonW]

I'm going starfish hunting tonight. Ive got thousands of the little white stars. If anyone has a preditor tank local and wants these let me know today other wise their going down the toilet. I can get a few hundred off the front glass alone.

Don

 

[brady816]

Why does everyone live in the northwest?????? I could buy some nice stuff from people

 

[twilliard]

Dont flush them Don!!
Are they the starfish looking kind or brittles?

 

[DonW]

Dont flush them Don!!
Are they the starfish looking kind or brittles?

No they are just those little white preditor starts. I have so many you can hardly see in the tank after the lights go out. During the day there is alway a few hundred on the ends where there is less light.

Don

 

[twilliard]

Ohh darn it!
I have those too, not as many yet. Its weird how they split to make two of them. I had one once so big it split into three!

I am looking for some of those cool little white brittles for my 14G nano.

 

[burning2nd]

why not buy something to eat em.

 

[DonW]

why not buy something to eat em.

I think anything that would eat them would feast on my clams.

Don

 

[loohunter]

don could you post a pic of them. I am wondering if they are the same as i have. also what exactly do they prey on

 

[c0yote]

How about a Harlequin Shrimp?

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/harlequinshrimp.htm

 

[DonW]

don could you post a pic of them. I am wondering if they are the same as i have. also what exactly do they prey on

Here is what they are.
http://www.garf.org/STAR/starfish.html


They are fine as long as they dont get out of hand. I havent touched my tank in over a month so they have reproduced like mad.

Don

 

[loohunter]

that is what i suspected. i have those as well. thanks for the link

 

[matts125]

I think anything that would eat them would feast on my clams.

Don

Don I use to have a bad problem with those stars too and I bought one harlequin and within a couple weeks didnt see a single one any more and FYI they only eat stars and certain urchins yor clams are safe!

Matt

 

[Damsel13]

How'd the hunting go?

 

[DonW]

How'd the hunting go?

I think I got a few hundred but this morning there were just as many on the glass as usual. Might run down and see if the the LFS can get me one of those shrimp. I'll get some more today with a water cgange.


Don

 

[Herefishyfishy]

I did some research on them. Outside of GARF, there is nobody reporting coral predation by them. Anthony Calfo agrees they act as a cleaner and not a predator. Just given a bad rap. Harlequin Shrimp will eat them.

 

[DonW]

I did some research on them. Outside of GARF, there is nobody reporting coral predation by them. Anthony Calfo agrees they act as a cleaner and not a predator. Just given a bad rap. Harlequin Shrimp will eat them.

I always thought that was the case. I think once they reach high numbers is when the problems start happening. I have a used do to be healthy monti cap that has about 100 of them sitiing all over it. The cap began dieing after it was covered with stars. Its my fault, I let them get out of hand. I havent touched my tank in a month and havent done anything inside the take for a few months.

Don

 

[Damsel13]

Sounds like you need to do some tank diving.

 

[matts125]

I did some research on them. Outside of GARF, there is nobody reporting coral predation by them. Anthony Calfo agrees they act as a cleaner and not a predator. Just given a bad rap. Harlequin Shrimp will eat them.

They wont eat corals of any kind if they are getting enough to eat but in a tank like Dons with that many of them I am sure they are going to be a little extra hungry and FWIW I had a 6'' pink pocillipora collony wiped out from them as well as I have caught them eating my zoos a few times... And the reason for this in my tank is I dont feed very often so the tank stays clean and free of detritus...

Matt

 

[Damsel13]

Well... they are ugly but cute. I think they would be even cuter in the turkey baster

 

[zenn]

herefishyfishy,

i've got a similar starfish I recently found in my display. It doesn't look like the ones in the garf link don posted, but it's similar. It only has 4 legs and is a cream white color. Do you know what this sounds like and is it likely eating corals? The two times I've seen it were only 3-4 weeks apart...and it easily doubled in size.