what is this thing?

[meagheavz]

well he is in a container chilling,

 

[DevIouS]

There is alot of conflicting information on these guys. Such as kind of stated above it only eats the dead portions of corals, it'll only eat things that may be on it's way out already and may just facilitate the dying.

I hear you.....
I used to think they were cool too & read that that there was a difference, but after seeing a few munch out on my perfectly healthy zoas, I won't take the chance to differ between the 2....so I take them out or throw them in the sump.

The the excerpt I quoted above from garf does not state that it eats dead portions or dying corals.
As I mentioned, I experienced it & they are not that good of a clean up crew to risk having in the tank..



"Several people have argued that these starfish are harmless, but we have yet to find any that will not eat coral polyps. It is our recommendation that if you discover this type of starfish in your reef aquarium that you remove it as soon as possible. We have documented these type of starfish eating small polyp stony corals, Xenia , green stars, and several types of soft leather corals."

 

[rfny75]

It's funny, just saw one of these star fish in my tank a few mins ago and wasn't sure if he's good or bad, good thing I saw this thread!!:approve:

 

[evik]

I just picked few dozens of them from my tank. An hour ago I saw this thread and checked the link and was shocked. I was under impression they are cleanup crew, somebody is selling them on ebay and people are buying them . Well now I on a mission, and also it's explanation for the changes in my zoas colonies :sad2: . Thanks for this thread :hug:

 

[meagheavz]

lol YEA, i did something good for the site!.

 

[BrooklynsReefMan1]

its a common asterina star i have several in my refugium they come out around 4 am when all lights are off/./ they dont harm corals they stayy on LR and glass i have only 1 in my show tank 20 long he comes out of my fiki LR and crawls around that

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

They reproduce rather quickly. One today 200 next week.

 

[DevIouS]

its a common asterina star i have several in my refugium they come out around 4 am when all lights are off/./ they dont harm corals they stayy on LR and glass i have only 1 in my show tank 20 long he comes out of my fiki LR and crawls around that

:tired::sigh:

 

[KathyC]

Interesting thread...need to say that since that asterina Megan has came in on a coral I sold to her.
I must have hundreds..if not more... of these in my tank along with the much smaller blu-ish ones (of which I seem to currently have 10 bazillion...).
My plan was to buy a Harley today..that will be passed onto to somesome that isa willing to feed it AFTER it eats up my ministar population...
I can't say that until I read this thread I knew these were considered this negatively..and I have read quite a bit about them!

Learn something new everyday!

..and Meg - sorry about that!!

 

[meagheavz]

lol its ok kathy. i havent kille dhim yet. i put him something out of the tank and called it night

 

[Aquatic Life Direct]

They reproduce rather quickly. One today 200 next week.

I have witnessed this personally on a customers tank. :division:
Almost took over the tank. They were everywhere!

 

[Sean]

they can be a bit like tribbles

 

[jhart]

Get a pair of forceps and eradicate them!!!

 

[cybermeez]

Yeah I was trying to find out which were the ones that were bad first. I've heard that if it has 5 legs then its good and if it has 6 then its a predatory starfish, etc. etc. There is alot of conflicting information on these guys. Such as kind of stated above it only eats the dead portions of corals, it'll only eat things that may be on it's way out already and may just facilitate the dying.

This has been my experience with them. The only times I've seen them on a coral it was one that was already having problems (due to Alk/Ca imbalance). I only saw them on that seritatapora and never on any of my acros. I didn't lose the seriatapora completely and as soon as it began to turn around the starfish abandoned it.

I don't know this for a fact, but I suspect that corals will give off some kind of chemical "scent" when they are in distress, probably before we even know they are. These little stars probably pick up on that, are attracted to stressed or dying corals and feast on the decaying tissue.

The one draw back is that, as Sean says, they reproduce like Tribbles. I recently got a Harlequin shrimp to help keep the population in check (one Harley in a 120g tank) and the little guy is as happy as a pig in slop. Can't say the same for the starfish though.

 

[KathyC]

They also irritate corals when they are climbing over them..another reason they aren't good in a reef tank...

 

[DevIouS]

Robin there are different ones that are not reef safe....
Trust me.
As I mentioned before, I don't chance either one so I remove them.
Even the so called "good" ones can get to outrageous #'s & as Kathy stated, they irritate corals.


Not sure if I can supply any more proof

http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/290116-post12.html

http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/223939-post4.html

http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/103351-post5.html

http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/33517-post12.html

http://www.reefs.org/library/article/coral_eating_starfish.html

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

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-12/rs/index.php

 

[suntzu]

Dang! I thought these were okay. I just moved one from my 20G to my 75G. Come to think of it, it did reproduce quite a bit in my 20G. I guess I have to get my tweezers ready. Sucks! This all came from my Fiji LR. But thank God you guys let me know.

 

[cybermeez]

Robin there are different ones that are not reef safe....
Trust me.

Phil, what's that little munching sound coming from your tank? :eat:

The problem seems to be that not even the biologists can tell one asterina from another. They can't even agree if the offenders are truly preadatory or if such behavior is prompted by a lack of their preferred food - film algae. In well maintained reef tanks algae producing nutrients are usually very, very low.

You know me, I'm hesitant to brand any critter uniformly bad. Everything in an ecosystem has a place and only when things are out of whack does the trouble start. I suppose by its very nature you could argue that most reef tanks are out of whack in that what we construct is not a true replica of a wild reef, just an approximation.

This thread is well on it's way to becoming as hot as the "PetCo Tang" thread. :biglaugh:

 

[meagheavz]

lol
and all i wanted to know is ifi should keep him or not

 

[suntzu]

From all this discussion, I would say get rid of it whenever you see it. Good or not, it will reproduce like weed in your tank.

I am know I am keeping an eye out for it.