# Little mutant starfish



## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

Anyway to get rid of these things? I net them off the glass...but damn....seems like they are never ending. Is there a way to trap them or is there something that eats these thing?


----------



## thePACK (Jan 3, 2003)

is this what you speak about?


----------



## His Majesty (Apr 5, 2005)

ASTERINA STARS
You may see little oddly shaped white starfish crawling around on your glass. These are asterina stars. They will split and multiply in your tank. MOST asterinas in our tanks are good guys, but there are some types that munch on coral. Watch them... if they are always on your coral, be wary. If they are cruising your glass, they are probably algae grazers.

from what i have read they do no harm as long as they are no the coral eating variety. if they are just on your glass they are no harm. 
if you really wanna get rid of them ive only read that a good clean up crew will sort the problem out. other than that i dont know


----------



## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

I dont have any of those in my main tank....I have a shrimp that eats the sh*t out of them. I do have a lot in the overflow in back of the tank. Every once in a while I go at them with Joes Juice...but it is a pain because of where they are. I thought about getting a few shrimp to take them out...but I dont think I really need too.


His Majesty said:


> ASTERINA STARS
> You may see little oddly shaped white starfish crawling around on your glass. These are asterina stars. They will split and multiply in your tank. MOST asterinas in our tanks are good guys, but there are some types that munch on coral. Watch them... if they are always on your coral, be wary. If they are cruising your glass, they are probably algae grazers.
> 
> from what i have read they do no harm as long as they are no the coral eating variety. if they are just on your glass they are no harm.
> if you really wanna get rid of them ive only read that a good clean up crew will sort the problem out. other than that i dont know


Yeah...this is what I am talking about. I dont think they do any harm...and just eat algea...but damn they are ugly. I was hoping there was something that ate them.

Thanks for the info!


----------



## Ægir (Jan 21, 2006)

Grosse Gurke said:


> ASTERINA STARS
> You may see little oddly shaped white starfish crawling around on your glass. These are asterina stars. They will split and multiply in your tank. MOST asterinas in our tanks are good guys, but there are some types that munch on coral. Watch them... if they are always on your coral, be wary. If they are cruising your glass, they are probably algae grazers.
> 
> from what i have read they do no harm as long as they are no the coral eating variety. if they are just on your glass they are no harm.
> if you really wanna get rid of them ive only read that a good clean up crew will sort the problem out. other than that i dont know


Yeah...this is what I am talking about. I dont think they do any harm...and just eat algea...but damn they are ugly. I was hoping there was something that ate them.

Thanks for the info!
[/quote]

I am pretty sure "camel shrimp" or whatever they are eat them... i will find out for ya

I started with 1 or 2 of them, and my colony is at staggering numbers now... I think its because i intentionally destroy them with the mag float, and if you didnt know, starfish can regenerate... that means if i break one into 5 pieces, thats likely 5 new starfish...

I will take a pic of my tank, and you will no longer think you have a problem


----------



## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

Ægir said:


> I am pretty sure "camel shrimp" or whatever they are eat them... i will find out for ya
> 
> I started with 1 or 2 of them, and my colony is at staggering numbers now... I think its because i intentionally destroy them with the mag float, and if you didnt know, starfish can regenerate... that means if i break one into 5 pieces, thats likely 5 new starfish...
> 
> I will take a pic of my tank, and you will no longer think you have a problem


My lfs had the same deal in one of their tanks...there were hundreds of little white spots on the glass. What I have been doing is netting them off the glass. I guess it is keeping them in check because I usually only see like 4 or 5. Rarely do I see one that is whole...it is always just a speck or one that has split so it will have only a few legs. The whole ones in my tank have 6 legs. I think they eat the purple and white algae because i will fine areas missing it on the back of my tank.


----------



## Ægir (Jan 21, 2006)

Grosse Gurke said:


> I am pretty sure "camel shrimp" or whatever they are eat them... i will find out for ya
> 
> I started with 1 or 2 of them, and my colony is at staggering numbers now... I think its because i intentionally destroy them with the mag float, and if you didnt know, starfish can regenerate... that means if i break one into 5 pieces, thats likely 5 new starfish...
> 
> I will take a pic of my tank, and you will no longer think you have a problem


My lfs had the same deal in one of their tanks...there were hundreds of little white spots on the glass. What I have been doing is netting them off the glass. I guess it is keeping them in check because I usually only see like 4 or 5. Rarely do I see one that is whole...it is always just a speck or one that has split so it will have only a few legs. The whole ones in my tank have 6 legs. I think they eat the purple and white algae because i will fine areas missing it on the back of my tank.
[/quote]

Mine arent little... they are the size of a pencil eraser or bigger.... a couple are the size of nickles

I tried to get a pic, but couldnt really get a good one... I counted well over 200 on my glass before giving up tho.

I have never seen this many all at once... because i shut off my MH lighting, and am only running a small CFL as a temp light they are like all at the top of the glass almost.



















More info... there are good and bad stars
CLICKY

And its HARLEQUIN SHRIMP that eat them?


----------



## His Majesty (Apr 5, 2005)

harlequin shrimps are sweeet looking.


----------



## DonH (Jan 25, 2003)

His Majesty said:


> harlequin shrimps are sweeet looking.


I agree... Get yourself a harlequin shrimp. One will eliminate your problem in a couple of months since asterinas are the only thing it eats. Make sure you pull him out and trade him to another hobbyist before it starves to death once he's through.


----------



## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

Really....sweet!

Do they get along with other shrimp?


----------



## Ægir (Jan 21, 2006)

Grosse Gurke said:


> Really....sweet!
> 
> Do they get along with other shrimp?


Clicky

Havent owned one personally, but i think they just eat stars... possibly some urchins


----------



## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

Thanks man. I will ask my lfs and see if they get them in. They are very cool about letting me trade things in so it wouldnt be a problem to bring him back after my tank is cleaned out. My only concern is that I might not have much to feed the guy anyways...I am only seeing a few tiny guys on my glass in the mornings now.

Nasty looking guy though


----------



## assclown (Dec 12, 2005)

i believe a thread fin butterfly fish will eat them too, reef save and they
eat aptasia too


----------



## redbellyman21 (Jun 27, 2004)

assclown said:


> i believe a thread fin butterfly fish will eat them too, reef save and they
> eat aptasia too
> 
> View attachment 192708


check into reef saveiness... sometimes they not so much stick with harlequins


----------

