Zoo eating Asterina?

[TJL]

It's good to have some of these old threads be brought back to attention to help those new to the hobby separate myth/rumor from facts. Being that there are many small Starfish species labeled as Asterinas the ones we typically find in our Reeftanks are generally herbivores and/or detrivores probably the most common is the small purple colored Asterina that feed on coraline algae and similar sized grey/white ones that feed primarily on detritus/diatoms. There are a few species that get much larger 1" or more and seem to be more capable of doing harm, I myself will remove these alone as have never had any issues with first two mentioned in over twenty-five years with some of my past systems literally crawling with them (1000's)
I can remember in the past, panic within this hobby in trying eradicate Amphipods & Copepods that were eating everyones SPS colonies... truth was far from it... just poor lil bugs trying to get a meal out of our poor husbandry skills of that time. There are plenty of real pests to be aware of and deal with but IME & IMO Asterinas do not make that list. Though any one species left unchecked within our lil glass-boxes can become a problem so providing diversity in ones livestock tends to help create a better check & balance. Just having one or two of the smaller reef-safe Wrasses will help naturally control Asterina, Bristle Worm, Flatworm and Pyramidal Snail populations. Having more than one family of Tangs/Surgeonfish (in larger aquariums) will help control most all Algae species ie: Yellow Tang / Powder Blue/Brown / Kole Tang combination. Certain Shrimp, B-fly's and Filefish for Aiptasia and Mojano etc...
Anyhow, a good thread to revive.

Cheers, Todd

 

[gshelton]

I had them wiping out healthy zoanthids. A pair of Harlequin Shrimp and manually picking away at them got rid of the Asterina. I dive, too, so one smallish starfish from Puget Sound provides months of food for the Harlequin Shrimp. Froze it an cut off small chunks for them now that the Asterina are gone.