little white starfish

[fishdude]

Good day fish people.

I have an outbreak of little white starfish in my 120 gal reef. They are about 7 mm across and mostly deformed;meaning that not all the arms = 5 or are tha same size.

They're not posing a problem but just a curiosity. Anyone have this before?

Moved to the main reefing forum

[Delphinus]

Do a search on Asterina sp. starfish and see if those look like what you have.

Mine eat nothing but algae in my tanks and I have thousands of them in my tanks all over the place. Some people have had some species eat SPS though. I have never had this problem with the ones I have however.

[AJ_77]

You've got the plague... Some say they're not a problem, and eat algae and whatnot. Others claim they strip coraline algae, leaving ugly whitish blothes where there was purple/red/pink before.

I'm one of their detractors, and pull a bunch of them out every so often. I don't like the blotchy look they leave behind.

Not sure if their (supposed) benefit has ever been documented either...

[Delphinus]

I don't notice a blotchy look left behind. .. Coraline like all things is going to have a ebb and flow and as long as more is growing than is receding I'm pretty happy with that.

Mine have yet to cause me a problem. I generally try to extend the benefit of the doubt towards something, I don't worry about it until I see/know for myself that something is a problem. Problem with going with what other people say is that there are always exceptions and norms and it's not always clear which case is which.

[AJ_77]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

I generally try to extend the benefit of the doubt towards something, I don't worry about it until I see/know for myself that something is a problem.

Well spoken (remember that Tony won't kill ANYthing), but no one is saying "slaughter them quick" or anything like that.

In my tank, where calcium is precious (no nuclear reactor), they are unwelcome, that's all.

[Buccaneer]

Originally Posted by AJ_77

In my tank, where calcium is precious (no nuclear reactor)

So Alan ... when are we going to assist you in building a " nuclear reactor " ?

Cheers

[Bob I]

I go with Alan on this. I feel they are detrimental to my Coraline Algae, so I have hunted them into extinction in my 50.

[monza]

Tons of them in my tank. I see no ill effects. When they are easy to grab, I sometimes toss them into my sump.

dave

[Canadian Man]

Ahhhh Coraline is overated anyway. CORALINE SUCKS!

[kari]

Lots of them here too. I agree with Delphinus and find no problems yet.