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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. :)
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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.
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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
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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.
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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 . |
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