Predatory Star

[Enigma13]

I had a fairly stable blue tipped acro suddenly bleach out and die over the last two days. I was wondering what could have went wrong when I noticed a very small sea star at the base of frag. It looks kind of like a Kenya Star except it has seven arms instead of five. It is about the size of a dime.

Does anybody know what this might be and if it really was the cause of the corals demise or just an opportune scavenger. I know that Kenya Stars will eat coral.

I have pulled him out of the tank and put him in a small plastic container for now. Don't know if this is something that someone with a non-coral tank might want or if I should just but him out of his misery with a trip to the freezer. I might be able to snap a picture if it would help.

Funny thing is that I haven't added any rock or coral to the tank in at least a month and never seen him before, but I guess things can hang out of sight for quite a while.

[cpreefguy]

http://www.garf.org/STAR/starfish.html

[Enigma13]

Those are them. Thanks for the link Sean. It happened exactly as mentioned in the article. Wish I would have reacted earlier. I noticed a small white patch yesterday and then today all white. I used tweezers to remove one star tonight. I am going to keep close watch before they get anymore colonies. Once again thanks for steering me to the info.

[cpreefguy]

Good luck! I know how frustrating it can be :angry
All you can do is just pick them off as you find them. I know GARF suggests the use of Harlequin Shrimp, but I dont know how well that would work in the long run

[Viet-Tin]

I also heard that bumble bee shrimp are also known to eat starfish and will also take frozen. Might be worth researching.