starfish?

[marlin06]

i have some of these in my tank. are they some kind of starfish.are they reef safe?

 

[slim_jim989]

umm no picture and are they big or small.

 

[marlin06]

how about now

 

[slim_jim989]

haha yeah it worked and i have those they work great on the acrylic or glass lol, there fine unless you have a ton of them then dont worry i forget what there called. but if u do have alot then u would use a harlequim shrimp but beware if u have any other type of starfish in there he will eat them all lol .

 

[marlin06]

haha yeah it worked and i have those they work great on the acrylic or glass lol, there fine unless you have a ton of them then dont worry i forget what there called. but if u do have alot then u would use a harlequim shrimp but beware if u have any other type of starfish in there he will eat them all lol .

thanksalot

 

[returnofsid]

Asterina Starfish. There's a lot of people who say that are not reef safe, especially around Zoanthids. Then there are people who say that the white ones are reef safe and gray or reddish ones are not. I have lots of them in both of my reef tanks, and have never had them hurt anything, including many Zoanthids.

 

[alki]

I have these and did some research and what I found was they are ok, IF, they are on the glass alot of the time. BUT if they are always on your liverock or coral they probably should be 86'd as they are eating. But they are so small it should be fine either way. I have 3 so far that Ive seen and there fun to look at.

 

[lamonte]

I've had asterinas for years, never any problem with my corrals. They like the coraline algae that I have on my rock though.

 

[boosted306]

Our local LFS has a superb reef tank that has hundreds cruising the glass. I have always heard that the white ones are perfectly fine but the sandy brown will devour any and everything.

 

[clevergeek]

I have two types of Asterinas, one white and one purple (with white edges). The guy I got them from (on some rock) said they were a pest that should be killed. Someone else mentioned that ones with seven legs are fine, but the ones with six eat coral. (which considering the number of different species, is unlikely to be a good way to judge)

I see them on my glass and rock, but have never seen one on coral. I'm guessing the type I have enjoy eating coralline algae...they reproduce by splitting in half-- or thirds. It's weird to see one separate on the glass...sometimes two legs just detach and walk off by themselves.

 

[Vdituri]

My observation in my tank was that the perfectly symetrical ones with either 5 or 6 legs would latch on to the head of my zoanthids and eat them.
The irregular shaped ones seemed perfectly fine.

Never noticed if the color of the asterina made a difference.
I added a Harlequin shrimp he took care of everthing in a matter of weeks.
Hungry bugger. (1 in a 55g)