How to get rid of Asterina Starfish?

[DevIouS]

or Serpent stars...

 

[KathyC]

Kathy:
I fully understand you by-passing the Asterina advice....




Harley's will not touch Brittle stars.

lol.. just not enough energy for the ensuing discussion that follows a post like that Philly..:hug:

 

[DevIouS]

What's that phrase....?

"+ 1"

 

[stoneriff]

Hey Kathy;
I just picked up a Harley. He is very cool. Let's see what happens. I got him from Jim at HOF. They look so cool, I may get a couple more. Thanks for your advice.

 

[KathyC]

Hey Kathy;
I just picked up a Harley. He is very cool. Let's see what happens. I got him from Jim at HOF. They look so cool, I may get a couple more. Thanks for your advice.

You're welcome, my pleasure to help out

Two things..
1- if you do get more Harleys - be sure to only get 1 as it is said that 2 Harleys of the same sex will kill each other, though a male/female pair will live in harmony (they are really very cute together as they often stay side by side . You can sex them by looking at their abdomen (one has markings there, the other doesn't..forgot right now which is which, tho it really doesn't matter as long as they are different)

2- Just to explain a bit about the posts above by myself and Phil...there are a few subjects that come up here on MR ..lets say rather frequently... one of them is ich (hate to say that too loudly) and the other is Asterinas. Both manage to draw a number of differing opinions.

There are some that think that all asterinas should be eliminated entirely from a tank but especially if you have Zoanthids in your tank, (Phil and I are in that group of folks), and others that feel differently.
All I can tell you is that since I have a Harley in my largest tank (where my zoas are), I haven't lost a colony since the addition, but had lost about 40 colonies of (some extremely) expensive zoas prior to the Harley being there.
Here is the link to the thread that I'd posted when I had the asterina issue...
http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/general-discussion/39498-stars-my-nemesis.html

Please keep in mind that there are numerous types of Asterinas and you may never be sure if you have the bad guys, or a few of the bad guys in your tank. To me it isn't worth the guessing game...and I will continue to agree to disagree with anyone who gives Asterinas the blanket 'reef-safe' description.

Here is another link - a great one on all sorts of info about Harleys (the sexing info is in here too!)
http://www.chucksaddiction.com/harlequinshrimp.html

 

[stoneriff]

Kathy;
Thank you very much for your posts. Very informative. I've been very concerned about these Asterinas because I have been losing some beautiful Zoo's. My parameters are perfect. Nothing else has died, but since their population exploded, some Zoo's have died, and a few others won't open. Go Harley's!

 

[Marteen]

That Harley is going to make short work of your Asterina population. Be sure you have a source of chocolate chip starfish for feeding. They usually cost about $5 a piece expect to feed probably once every 2 weeks or so depending on how fast your harley consumes the star. Also, if you harley kills the star before finishing it it can pollute your tank so if you notice the star is starting to melt it's time to take it out and get a new one for them.

 

[tomtoothdoc]

That Harley is going to make short work of your Asterina population. Be sure you have a source of chocolate chip starfish for feeding. They usually cost about $5 a piece expect to feed probably once every 2 weeks or so depending on how fast your harley consumes the star. Also, if you harley kills the star before finishing it it can pollute your tank so if you notice the star is starting to melt it's time to take it out and get a new one for them.

i feed only the "legs" to mine. i have 3 of them(had 2 pairs but one female killed the other), they seem to finish off one leg at a time without any of them melting/rotting. where as the body usually rot before they can finish and they always dragged it into a place where i can't get to. i give the body back to the lfs to have them "grow out", used to keep it in my sump but after 2 months still no new legs.
the female has blue swimmer legs under the abdomen area whereas males have clear/white legs.

 

[stoneriff]

Thanks for all the great advice everyone. Please keep it coming. It is all greatly appreciated. Tomtoothdoc, your Frog Fish are awesome. I wish I could add one to my reef.

 

[tomtoothdoc]

Thanks for all the great advice everyone. Please keep it coming. It is all greatly appreciated. Tomtoothdoc, your Frog Fish are awesome. I wish I could add one to my reef.

you can add the frog fish(wart skin angler...they're smaller than others.... < 3" full grown) if you don't have any slender fish (like goby or blennie even if it were more than 5.5" long....believe me i know!!!!!:eat or ones that are smaller than its mouth. oh ....no small shrimp either....other than that, they're pretty reef safe.:wink1:

 

[Marteen]

I've heard people freezing chocolate chip starfish legs for feeding as well. Don't know if it would actually work.