Asterina stars all gone??

[gregzz4]

What's your fish and invert list ?

[Aquattro]

Now that you mention it, I'm down to very few of them, if any! Gonna go look again

[Reef Pilot]

Originally Posted by gregzz4

What's your fish and invert list ?

Like I said, have not added any fish or inverts recently. But here is what I have in there:
Yellow tang (this guy is about 10 years old now)
Couple of firefish gobies
Big fat lawnmower blenny
Pearlescale butterfly
Azure damsel
Royal gramma
Dwarf flame angle

4 or 5 hermits (getting bigger and bigger)
Large bristle starfish (about 12 inches)
Cleaner shrimp
Couple of urchins, one small one that likes to hang out in the rocks, and one big black long spined one, mostly hangs out on the back glass.
Lots of stomatella snails (these are fairly new, and keep breeding)
Various crabs and other unknown critters hidden in the rocks, but I rarely see them. This tank is 12 years old...

Anyway, that's all I can think of right now. It's a 100g tank.

[gregzz4]

I asked for your list as I thought somebody might spot a potential culprit

I can't help as I used to have some in my sump and DT, but removed every one I spotted as I'd heard they can reach plague proportions

[Proteus]

Originally Posted by gregzz4

I asked for your list as I thought somebody might spot a potential culprit

I can't help as I used to have some in my sump and DT, but removed every one I spotted as I'd heard they can reach plague proportions

I bought a couple of Harley's. they cleaned me out good but there gone to a new infested home and the stars are on the rebound

[Reef Pilot]

Originally Posted by gregzz4

I asked for your list as I thought somebody might spot a potential culprit

I can't help as I used to have some in my sump and DT, but removed every one I spotted as I'd heard they can reach plague proportions

Thanks Greg, makes sense, and I appreciate the help.

I am not sure when exactly this happened, as I just noticed it today. But I suspect in the last month. The weird thing is, they are still in my sump, although even there maybe not as many.

My tank has been running pretty clean lately. Nitrates always zero, and phosphates near zero. Although I still grow algae on the glass, which is where the asterinas were most often seen before.

SPS is growing really nicely, and great colours.

I should maybe mention one other thing. I can't keep any zoas. I tried twice now, and while they initially opened up, they would soon stay closed, and gradually melted away. Pallys are fine. No sign of any pests. So I have just given up with the zoas. Other softies, LPS and SPS, no problem.

[Reef Pilot]

Also, I forgot that I added a couple of peppermint shrimp a few months ago. They disappeared in the rock work, though, which is why I forgot about them. Do they eat asterinas?

Does a Harley look similar to a peppermint? Maybe I got a Harley by mistake.

[subman]

No mistaking harlequin shrimp for anything else.
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...749&pcatid=749

Maybe the stomatella are out competing the stars for food causing their decline. I noticed a couple months ago a few asterina stars but never any more. I also have epic numbers of stomatella snails so this may be why mine haven't grown in numbers as well

[reefwars]

butterfly is my guess

[Reef Pilot]

Originally Posted by subman

No mistaking harlequin shrimp for anything else.
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...749&pcatid=749

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.