Starfish Question

[gcfd191]

Hey. I found a starfish in my tank the other day. It looks like the one that harlequin shrimp eat. I took it out & flushed it. If I find more, are these bad or do I want them? Unfortunately, I didn't take a pic. Thanks!!

 

[tunicata]

you flushed it? Couldn't you have put it in a holding container (a cup??) then asked that question?

I'm sorry I'm just thinking about all of the issues we have with animal control, rules/regulations etc because folks flush without worry....

I don't know what type of star you're talking about though. What did it look like?

 

[gcfd191]

I know. I was bad. It was very small. Not well defined as far as a full star yet. I'd say it was the size of the head of a pen cap. I don't remember the color, though.

 

[DontXtripNfall]

astrea star most likely

 

[cybermeez]

Yeah, asterina stars and they are not bad. There are a few species that look like asterinas that reportedly will eat corals, but they are not as common as the benign ones that people most commonly find in tanks and I've never actually seen it (Devious has...uh huh :tongue1. If you don't want yours rather than flushing them there are undoubtedly Harley owners who here would gladly take them off you hands to feed to their shrimpy friends. Beats paying for chocolate chip stars and the like to keep their Harlequins fed.

 

[al0ha]

im getting harlys soon :tongue1: wouldnt mind the asterinas

 

[marki24]

Hey. I found a starfish in my tank the other day. It looks like the one that harlequin shrimp eat. I took it out & flushed it. If I find more, are these bad or do I want them? Unfortunately, I didn't take a pic. Thanks!!

:smash:

 

[DevIouS]

(Devious has...uh huh :tongue1.

http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/408762-post36.html

:sgrin:

 

[CadetMKultra]

I love my asterinas. They are very good little cleaners, and you can hardly see them, because they are so well camouflaged. They reproduce by splitting. The fun part is that an individual will stay in a certain territory of within my tank for several weeks, and be easy to find. Then it will divide, and both new stars will move to a new location.