what are these things???

[rvalen]

I noticed on my glass tank there are tiny (like the size of rice only round):confused: little starfish looking things the have a suction and the back of them is hard like a rock or shell,, as i looked closer i see lots of them on the live rock,, i did buy over 200lbs of dead rock and add 30lbs of live rock,, will these little guys help seed my dead rock??

2007

2008

[bigronbo]

they are hamless and actually helpful cleaners but some people look at them as an anoyance on the glass blocking their view of the corals

[rvalen]

wow im noticing tons of them just all of a sudden,,, do they get bigger??

[Luke]

nah they wont get any bigger.

[tbone74]

Wow lucky you, they have 6 legs, I mostly get the regular 'ole 5 legged ones :)

[Narazbad]

Astrea stars. Good clean up crews.

[St8Gr3]

Yep I got 'em too they don't bother anything

[rvalen]

whats the difference between 5 legs and 6 legs??? lolol

[mesafire]

One leg :p

[guarda]

heh, same difference, mine are usually the 3 legged variety. Just watch them though, they can multiply pretty quickly. Some have witnessed zoanthid consumption as well...

Art

[coker98]

I noticed on my glass tank there are tiny (like the size of rice only round):confused: little starfish looking things the have a suction and the back of them is hard like a rock or shell,, as i looked closer i see lots of them on the live rock,, i did buy over 200lbs of dead rock and add 30lbs of live rock,, will these little guys help seed my dead rock??

2007

2008

These are asterina starfish. They reportedly eat bits of coraline algae. Some people like them, some don't. They operate like urchins but on a smaller scale. But they won't harm anything alive and they are signs of a flourishing system.

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[rvalen]

flourshing system?? is that good or bad

[tbone74]

Good!

[Gyzpaz]

If they are the coralline algae eating type of asterina stars I'd take them out. I thought they well cool at first but when they did multiply, they can go through the coralline algae really fast. In my experience they did NOT bother anything else but the coralline algae. Probably because they have enough purple algae to eat. I just picked the with a tweezers for a few days. Once in a while I'll see one or two.

[RickMartin]

There are several different species, supposedly one eats zooanthids. Keep an eye one them.

[coker98]

If they are the coralline algae eating type of asterina stars I'd take them out. I thought they well cool at first but when they did multiply, they can go through the coralline algae really fast. In my experience they did NOT bother anything else but the coralline algae. Probably because they have enough purple algae to eat. I just picked the with a tweezers for a few days. Once in a while I'll see one or two.

As small as these animals are, in a healthy tank, they won't eat enough algae to hurt anything. In theory, if the tank is healthy enough to support growth in these creatures, the algae should be growing quickly as well.

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[bigronbo]

i have several but never seen them eat a zoa and i have tons of zoas

[Gyzpaz]

As small as these animals are, in a healthy tank, they won't eat enough algae to hurt anything. In theory, if the tank is healthy enough to support growth in these creatures, the algae should be growing quickly as well.

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I didn't pay attention to them too much until the star shaped spots on the coralline algae covered rocks became bald spots. I took out about 70-100 of them at a time for a few days. Now when I see 1-2 I pull out my tweezers. My rocks are covered again with coralline algae. Just keep an eye on them, if you see tiny white star-shaped spots on the coralline algae, they're responsible. Easy to get rid of in my experience since they have to come feed on coralline algae covered rock which are usually exposed for tweezer picking. Just sharing my experience with them.

[rvalen]

yup they are mostly coverd on my purple rock there are a few stragglers everywhere else,, i will wach em.. especially because i want my purple to spread

[coker98]

yup they are mostly coverd on my purple rock there are a few stragglers everywhere else,, i will wach em.. especially because i want my purple to spread

There really isn't any need to pick them out other than you having an ocd thing with these guys.

If the coraline supply gets low, they won't reproduce because the population wouldn't be sustained. Why go through the trouble?? They won't possibly eat much coraline off your rocks. It's not like having an urchin, which eats significant amounts of coraline. And technically speaking, these starfish are helping your system mature.

Every time they clear a white spot in your rock structure, it is just another place for beneficial bacteria to take root and grow. Coraline actually inhibits beneficial bacteria growth as it occupies pores in the rock that the bacteria could use to reproduce in.

How much coraline inhibits this ability.....probably as much as asterinas hurt by eating coraline. I think with all of the other things to worry about in your tank that could go wrong, this is the least of your problems.

I am not pro-asterina as I used to pick asterinas out upon identification. But laziness got the best of me for a while, and I noticed no difference between leaving them in and removal.

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