Asterina Starfish???

[Morena_Model]

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m121/Morena_Model/astrina.jpg

Has anyone else seen the above Starfish in their tank? I found it in our tank when we first set it up. They disappeared for a while but now are starting to show themselves again. I'm not sure where they came from but there are about 2 or 3 that I've seen. Did they ever grow? Is there anything special I need to do for them as far as food, etc. Do you know if they're going to keep multiplying? Aside from those, we have a Sand Sifting Starfish, a Green Bristle Starfish, and 2 Orange Linckia Starfish...do you know if having all these Starfish with the Asterina Starfish will effect anything? It hasn't so far...they all leave each other alone...that I've seen...

[rz1a]

i would take out the green brittle star since they eat fish. i would say just to keep specific gravity at 1.026, keep the water stable as far as salinity, temp go.. make sure alk doesnt rise or drop drastically. seems like a lot of star fish in that tank, what size is the tank?

i would also take out the sand sifter since theyll deplete the micro fauna

[JimD]

What a great photo!... Looks like one to me!...

[profntbtr]

asterinas = bad they will reproduce in plague proportions and possibly consume your zoanthids (i seen it) as far as care instrutions and interactions, no special care, and no negative interactions with other echinoderms, as far as i know..

[LoneStar]

asterinas = bad they will reproduce in plague proportions and possibly consume your zoanthids (i seen it)

Yes and Yes

They will multiply faster than rabbits..... I try to pick them out and throw them away if I come across any nowadays.....

[jroescher]

My asterinas got to plague proportions and then consumed all of the coraline algea in my tank. They didn't look exactly look like the one you have pictured though. I'm using Harlequin shrimp to control them now.

As pretty as they are, I would get rid of them. Too many people with bad experiences.

[Mr Cob]

Toss them! Asterinas multiply fast. They will drop an arm and it will grow into another asterina, that's why their arms are always different sizes. I had these take off once but I kept tossing them and now I haven't seen any for awhile. They were munchin on my smaller zoas I think.

[Ping]

I have a totally different experience with them. I have had them in my tanks for years without problems. I do not over feed my system and I believe this is the reason they have never grown to plague proportions and bothered any of my Corals or Coralline in my system.

I am not implying that others over feed their systems to the point that it causes other problems, rather, there is enough nutrients introduced to many systems allow the Asternia to become to populous.

Just my opinion.

[Mr Cob]

P.S. That really is a great photo. Nice shot...

[coraline79]

I had a ton of these for a while, they never really bothered anything but, I just took my tweezers and picked a few out everyday for a while and they were gone like that.

[Gseclipse02]

i would take out the green brittle star since they eat fish. i would say just to keep specific gravity at 1.026, keep the water stable as far as salinity, temp go.. make sure alk doesnt rise or drop drastically. seems like a lot of star fish in that tank, what size is the tank?

i would also take out the sand sifter since theyll deplete the micro fauna


we have a 90g

[Gseclipse02]

What a great photo!... Looks like one to me!...



P.S. That really is a great photo. Nice shot...


google is the fun place to look...lol :bigsmile:

[Gseclipse02]

asterinas = bad they will reproduce in plague proportions and possibly consume your zoanthids (i seen it) as far as care instrutions and interactions, no special care, and no negative interactions with other echinoderms, as far as i know..


looks like we will be picking them out one by one .... and i can here her now "just throw them in my bio cube"

[Mr Cob]

looks like we will be picking them out one by one .... and i can here her now "just throw them in my bio cube"

Well, I still think they look cool...I mean they are MINI sea stars... how cool is that!?!

Classic...google images! LOL!

[Morena_Model]

Awww....like the Mr. said...they're going into my bio lol. I don't know how or why someone would want to throw away a healthy animal...as far as any of the other Starfish go, none including the Asterina have bothered anything in the tank. As the Mr said we have a 90gal tank. The Green Bristle Starfish I'm not getting rid of...he was given to me and I said I would take care of him so that's exactly what I intend on doing even if it consists of multiple tanks...we already have 3 salt water tanks set up...one with nothing, the other with Damsels, and the 90gal with everything else....plus we have a fresh water tank that can always be converted later. Thanks for all the info though. It's appreciated! :)

[MKCindy]

I was told there are good and bad asterinas, the problem is it is very difficult to tell the difference. Even experts have trouble with identification until they are bigger. If they are on the glass eating, great. If they are on the corals eating, not good. Hate to say it, but best bet is to toss them out if you have corals in the tank.

[jroescher]

Here are pictures of the ones that eat my corraline. They only eat the pink, not the red. The second picture is a large one headed into an overflow. Most are very tiny.

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e108/aquacop/th_ManyStars.jpg (http://s38.photobucket.com/albums/e108/aquacop/?action=view&current=ManyStars.jpg) http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e108/aquacop/th_Star1.jpg (http://s38.photobucket.com/albums/e108/aquacop/?action=view&current=Star1.jpg)

Same overflow before the stars from he**!
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e108/aquacop/th_Overflowbeforestars.jpg (http://s38.photobucket.com/albums/e108/aquacop/?action=view&current=Overflowbeforestars.jpg)