get ur asterina stars out

[charliethetuna88]

I'm gonna check the zoos that a few starfish were on last night and see if the messed it up hopefully there open and ok and I don't have to get rid of them I really do think they ate the procillapora though the polyops were open on the upper half of the coral and the stars were on the bottomw maybe they are just eating the dead part or just crawling on it who knows I need to observe it long and see what happens I may get a harly just to keep them under control if there ok and not harming coral then I would like to keep them I feel like they do a lot of cleaning In the tank

 

[fernandokng]

Wow. That's a very long sentence. Actually, it's not even a sentence since it's missing a period. I had such a hard time reading it.

I'm gonna check the zoos that a few starfish were on last night and see if the messed it up hopefully there open and ok and I don't have to get rid of them I really do think they ate the procillapora though the polyops were open on the upper half of the coral and the stars were on the bottomw maybe they are just eating the dead part or just crawling on it who knows I need to observe it long and see what happens I may get a harly just to keep them under control if there ok and not harming coral then I would like to keep them I feel like they do a lot of cleaning In the tank

 

[charliethetuna88]

Then skip the post and move on bro

 

[anthony27]

I am not going to take out the live rock, but I am going to help him rid them off the glass. It would be stupid to take out the live rock. LOL :starfish::starfish:
I know they do eat zoas, I have not seen any in my tnak eat them but you can not be to careful. Good advice. :hug:

Huh? Anthony - are you says you'll help him take the asterinas out?
Unless you are going to take out all of his L/R - they do hide on the underside of rocks - he'd be much better off getting 1 or 2 Harleys.
Certain asterinas DO eat zoas - you may not have that type in your tank - but if does, he stands to lose a bunch of zoas while you wait to catch them all.

Do remember that even from your fuge they can 'walk' back up your plumbing and back into the tank :

 

[jcolon2]

I didn't think they would actually kill them. My tank is covered in asterinas : /

 

[e.muehlbauer]

My tank is also covered in Asterina's. They do a great job of cleaning algae, and my zoa's and Pocillopora are completely untouched. Every now and then, when they get a little too thick, I siphon them off the glass...that keeps them at manageable levels. I like the idea of a harlequin shrimp...although I do not want to wipe them out...It would be great to have a sustainable population that doesn't get too great. Funny thing is, I can't get them to survive in my other tank.

 

[jcolon2]

I heard Harlequins wont touch the asterinas. If they do then that is a great idea. I cant because I have a marble starfish.

 

[JARRETT SHARK]

Tuna how is the new harlequin you bought tonight?

 

[motortrendz]

the micro brittles are good tho..

 

[duke62]

dude i want a couple.dont kill em all

 

[JARRETT SHARK]

Tuna put some in your fuge what you can catch

 

[KathyC]

Ugghhhh. Just because you see a scavenger at the scene of tissue necrosis does not automatically mean they are responsible. Having a diverse (and free) cleanup crew is a huge asset and removing anything without a proper ID is counter productive. Micro brittle stars are great. There are websites that even sell them as part of a cleanup package and some of the species exhibit bioluminescence (which is cool on it's own). If the asterina population is so out of control that it detracts from the overall look of the tank than get a pair of Harlys like a few people have said. I wouldn't go nuts trying to remove something unless you know for sure they are bad for the tank. Pocillopora does use polyp baillout as a mechanism under stress and zoas do melt on their own sometimes. If they are sitting on the healthy tissue I'd be worried but loitering on the dead areas would be a sign to me they are probably just cleaning up what remnants are left.

Jared - I have nothing against asterinas in general as I have them in 2 of my tanks - where I don't keep zoas.
The regular stock standard white/beige asterinas are great little workers, though I do feel that they detract from pics when they are all over the front glass of a tank, but I digress.

The asterinas that are the issue are pictured and written about in the following link:
http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/general-discussion/39498-stars-my-nemesis.html

Since I added the Harleys to the tank I haven't lost a single zoa to anything other that regular zoa issues like, bad glue job, jawfish theft, meltdown or pure stupidity.

Wait a harlequin won't eat a frozen starfish? Where can you get a constant supply of them (Stars) then? And if you buy more than 1 at a time how do you keep them alive?

Not from what I understand - they only eat live starfish. Many buy chocolate chip star fish (usually 3-5 ") and feed them to their Harleys.

Oh and I have mini brittles and 1 large brittle should I remove the large brittle and will they eat the mini brittles

The Harleys won't eat your mini stars or the large brittle star either Mine are doing just fine in my tank along with my remaining Harley.

I have not found any coral they damage yet and I've been looking since the early 2000's. I know there are strong anecdotal reports that they do eat corals. Let me chalk that up as the 25th thing that doesn't happen in pico reefs that seems to always happen in large tanks
B

Nice pico you have there Brandon!
It's only the blue/green asterinas that are the issue..and for whatever reason they tend to only like certain zoas. What a great hobby we're in! lol

I heard Harlequins wont touch the asterinas. If they do then that is a great idea. I cant because I have a marble starfish.

Where did you hear that Justin?

Tuna how is the new harlequin you bought tonight?

Tuna? We call him Tuna? I am in hysterics, I'll never call him Chuck again.. I love it!

 

[anthony27]

wow Kathy you had alot of typing to do

 

[charliethetuna88]

I put the pair in tonight I just bought from aqua hut and I threw a astrea star in the container I was drip aclimatting them in,they grabbed him right away lol the stars are not gonna have a good night tonight lol oh and they did eat my zoos they ate a whole mini colony on a plug I have 1 zoo left on plug outta 8 zoos so the war is on

 

[Harif87]

Ugghhhh. Just because you see a scavenger at the scene of tissue necrosis does not automatically mean they are responsible. Having a diverse (and free) cleanup crew is a huge asset and removing anything without a proper ID is counter productive. Micro brittle stars are great. There are websites that even sell them as part of a cleanup package and some of the species exhibit bioluminescence (which is cool on it's own). If the asterina population is so out of control that it detracts from the overall look of the tank than get a pair of Harlys like a few people have said. I wouldn't go nuts trying to remove something unless you know for sure they are bad for the tank. Pocillopora does use polyp baillout as a mechanism under stress and zoas do melt on their own sometimes. If they are sitting on the healthy tissue I'd be worried but loitering on the dead areas would be a sign to me they are probably just cleaning up what remnants are left.

That explains it.

Ive had asternia stars in my tank for about 4 yrs now and I used to see them every so often on my zoo's. I've heard stories of them feeding on soft corals which worried me. But after keeping a close watch I realized that they wouldnt devour not even a significant portion of any of my zoo colonies. I learned to live with seeing them on my softies every now and then because I knew that they would eventually move on -not knowing the reason why of course. Until now lol. What lfsmarineguy said about them eating necrotic tissue and being an assets far as CUCs makes sense.

BTW theyre cool as hell. If you manage to get a nice amount out of your tank dont trash them...Ill take them off your hands.

 

[KathyC]

I put the pair in tonight I just bought from aqua hut and I threw a astrea star in the container I was drip aclimatting them in,they grabbed him right away lol the stars are not gonna have a good night tonight lol oh and they did eat my zoos they ate a whole mini colony on a plug I have 1 zoo left on plug outta 8 zoos so the war is on

lol
Cute aren't they? (ok, you don't have to use the word cute...lol)
Wait till you see the way they hang out together, a very interesting addition to a tank

 

[masterswimmer]

Ugghhhh. Just because you see a scavenger at the scene of tissue necrosis does not automatically mean they are responsible. Having a diverse (and free) cleanup crew is a huge asset and removing anything without a proper ID is counter productive. Micro brittle stars are great. There are websites that even sell them as part of a cleanup package and some of the species exhibit bioluminescence (which is cool on it's own). If the asterina population is so out of control that it detracts from the overall look of the tank than get a pair of Harlys like a few people have said. I wouldn't go nuts trying to remove something unless you know for sure they are bad for the tank. Pocillopora does use polyp baillout as a mechanism under stress and zoas do melt on their own sometimes. If they are sitting on the healthy tissue I'd be worried but loitering on the dead areas would be a sign to me they are probably just cleaning up what remnants are left.

+1

The funny thing is, all these guys that are declaring war on all asterina's, regardless whether or not they are the innocent white/beige ones or the suspected blue/green ones, probably don't even have the blue/green ones. What a shame to wipe out such a beneficial part of your ecosystems diversity based on nothing more than circumstantial evidence.

I've had the white/beige asterina's in my tank for over 10 years now. I've never lost so much as a polyp of zoo's to any of these 'nasty, belligerent, aggressive, ne'er do well, asterina's. Whew, I must be the one lucky one with the tame asterina's.

And it was mentioned you only wanted to 'control' your asterina population with the harley's. That's unfortunately not possible. Harley's will only eradicate the asterina population, not 'control' it. Unless of course, by 'control', you meant annihilate and wipe out.

Good luck with your asterina control. I hope you're truly successful.

swimmer

 

[TRIGGERMAN]

lol I love russ

 

[masterswimmer]

lol I love russ

:hug:
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:smash:

Sorry, no guy love here

 

[TRIGGERMAN]

lmao shattap sorry I guess I should have put "no homo" at the end lol