[gudar]

i just found a sea star in my tank. i need some info on what i need to do. i just started my tank last year. i started adding live rock this year. i think the sea star is eating the coral that is growing on my live rock. i found the first one on some decor in my tank when i was cleaning my tank. the sea star is real small it is smaller than a penny, its almost the size of a dime. it has five legs. it has one long leg and all the others are short. it is brown and the long leg is striped. the live rock i have is fiji live rock.
andy

[rlcline76]

Is it an asterina star? I have a couple in both of my displays and I am watching their population closely. Do you have a sump you can put the star in?

[gudar]

what is a asterina star? like i sade i just started so i don't know much. and yes i do have a sump if you meen a differant tank.

[rlcline76]

Google and see if you can find it. It can have more than 5 legs. It reproduces itself by splitting. If you are worried about it, next time you see it, toss it in the sump.

[pete york]

do what she said^^^^^^

[gudar]

it only has 5 legs. but the legs are real slim if that makes any differance. it might be a surpent star.

[pete york]

either way its a nuscense find a way to get it out of there i think itd be cool to study it put it in a tiny tank i do that all the time for my marine biology course its really cool i was studying the mating behaviors of mantis shrimp for a whole year it was great i highly recommend if u have the tank and the time

[gudar]

Yes I do have a small tank, but it doesn't have and air pump or a filter. So your taking Marine Biology that is AWESOME!

[pete york]

yea got a 97 in it right now i love the ocean i go out on a boat for a few months in march im super psyched for it were going to the great barrier reef to study why the crown of thorns sea star is eating all the soft corals on the reef should be pretty interesting

[gudar]

sounds like fun i wish i could go but i'll probebly be in school. so how big of a tank the i have four. one is my main display tank another is a 10 gallon beach tank another is the 10 quarrontein tank witch i think i might use the last one is a 1 gallon tank thats the one i was talking about. or should i use an empty 50-100gallon filter its broken. are you in high school becuse i cant take marine biology till im in high school.

[david6789]

The Serpent Starfish is a tremendous scavenger that makes a great addition to any tank.





Asterina starfish is capable of destroying large amounts of coral.

[gudar]

it looks like the serpent star but its way smaller. the center of it is dark brown and the small legs are tan, and the long leg is brown and tan striped.

[CoralGeeks]

Originally Posted by david6789

Asterina starfish is capable of destroying large amounts of coral.

Asterinas sp. some are good, some are bad. The most common Asterinas are good, you rarily see the bad ones. The worst most of them do is eat your coraline. That pic from GARF, is the bad kind from one of their tanks. However if you want to see the difference between the good and the bad, you need a microscope to do so.

IMO, if you have a lot of them, thats a good excuse to get yourself a nice harlequin shrimp, they will eat every one of them.

[david6789]

Another Serpent Starfish. These are awsome clean up guys, dont get ride of it.


If thats not it, check out this site:

Starfish Hitch Hikers

[pete york]

yea highschool

[gudar]

he looks like the surpend star above but he also looks like the other star too

[gudar]

on the internet ifound some stars that looks like him it said they are "micro stars"

[stephaniesquires]

Originally Posted by pete york

yea got a 97 in it right now i love the ocean i go out on a boat for a few months in march im super psyched for it were going to the great barrier reef to study why the crown of thorns sea star is eating all the soft corals on the reef should be pretty interesting

Saw a program on that not too long ago - very interesting, but a huge and tragic problem. I think one theory about the population explosion is runoff from agriculture - nitrates, phosphates. Hmmm sound like anything we have learned here - throw one thing off balance and the system goes wonky...
I love to know more about your trip...

[gudar]

it is a mini serpent star and i have a lot more of them in my tank

[1reefguy]

I have several asterina stars in my reef and have never had a problem with any of them doing any damage. I will keep a closer eye on them now tho!