Yeah, they don't look anything like that....

And yes, I got my first stomatella snails almost 6 months ago, and surprised how many I have now. I see a few big ones, and lots of small ones, so they are definitely breeding. They do a nice job of polishing my upper rock surfaces and around my SPS bases. I don't see them on the glass though, which is where the asterinas used to hang out, or at least where I really noticed them.

Asterina populations tend to ebb and flow. I think mainly due to the amount of available food. A person generally doesn't see a huge population in low nutrient, low feeding systems. A lack of Asterinas would make happy. :)

But I've had my butterfly for a couple years too, and this is a recent happening. I have never seen them eat an asterirna, although they do pick away in the rocks all the time, and who knows what they find. I do have a lot of pods, too, which are even visible often in the daytime, crawling around on the rocks.

Having said that, though, I was away last month to Maui for 10 days. Maybe the butterfly (or something else) got hungry and developed a new taste.

Maybe I should relocate a few asterina from my sump back to the DT, and see who goes after them. Then again, would rather not risk another infestation of them.

I had thousands and then same thing one day poof no more , same with the tiny round snails , i guess they just ran out of food or all got the flu and died.

The tiny white snails are collinista snails. Harmless. I have 540000 right now. I attribute it to over feeding as I picked up some anthias that were a little skinny. I've paid off the food and asterias ate on the decline but not so much for the snails. Funny though I don't have high nutrients. But the food is red plankton and cycopeze so I imagine it gets trapped in rock work

Given the widespread observation of their disapearance I think a return to the mothership more likely. :lol:

One other thing I noticed in this tank is a lot of the small mini brittle stars. Do they eat asterina stars?

I am wondering too if these mini brittle stars are the reason I can't keep zoas, as I saw them crawling over them too.

The mini brittle stars also hang around my dendros and sun corals, and try to steal the mysis I feed them. My tank is definitely full of them.

Are there any fish or other predators that eat the mini brittle stars?

I noticed the same thing in my tank last fall. My tank was infested with asterina's and they would cover the glass at night time. It was actually kind of a cool effect :lol: Then, almost over night POOF. All gone. No more starry night scene in my DT tank at sundown :sad: I do spot a few here and there but nowhere near the population I had previously.

the brittle stars wont hurt your zoos , if i am to pick up any given colonie or frag of zoos from my tank theres on average a dozen or more stars intangled in the polyps . i could estimate i bet a few thousand in my tank , asterinas on the other hand you def dont want, good or bad brown or not........

its not uncommon for butterflys diets to change , my guess would be thats the trouble for your keeping zoos , im not sure about them eating stars i mean anythings possible but ive never first hand seen that happen.

i know for a fact theres not a whole lot that eat brittle stars , i have about 8 wrasses, a butterfly and 3 mandarins....neither has ever touched the stars.

my harlequins keep the asterinas from ever appearing .