Alex

Pretzel in Orange M&M
Location
staten island
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For a while now I have noticed that my zoa's where doing very well, then a few days ago some of them did't open. I paid no mind since it was early and I figured maybe lighting was playing a part in this. However, yesterday I noticed that two asterina stars where on the small colony. I've looked and searched for possible nudi's but have had negative results thankfully. Now the question I'm wondering is, Is it possible that the asterina stars are eating my zoa's ? If this is the case I will gladly start to remove them, I remove them on occasion when doing maintenance. Maybe even a harlequin shrimp ?

Any input will be appreciated, but keep this on topic since I'm not interested in "ooohhh and aaahhh " answers, thank you.
 

jr973

Advanced Reefer
Location
new jersey
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Damet if I had a car I'd go pick em up that's food for my harliquen lol I had them but as soon as I put in my harlie they are all gone
 

Alex

Pretzel in Orange M&M
Location
staten island
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Imbarrie

PADI Dive Inst
Location
New York
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Completely unconvinced unless somebody has a link where this has been studied. This is nothing more than opinion.
I go by wetwebmedia who clearly states they have no evidence of this.

Though I completely understand why people don't trust them. The same reason I don't have any hermit crabs.
 

James

Zen-Reefer
Location
Bay Ridge, BK
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Completely unconvinced unless somebody has a link where this has been studied. This is nothing more than opinion.
I go by wetwebmedia who clearly states they have no evidence of this.

Though I completely understand why people don't trust them. The same reason I don't have any hermit crabs.


I completely think you have never had them badly if you are comparing them to hermits. I hope you don't get them but if you did I think you would change your opinion. Hermits bother some zoas and palys and other corals sometimes walking over them or eating algae near them; asterinas, whether they eat the zoas or not, affect colonies in a much more malignant way.
Is it my opinion, sure, but anecdotal evidence in large numbers shouldn't be ignored simply because it hasn't been the object of a scientific study.

Anthony Calfo supposedly is quoted in some of the info in this thread

http://www.3reef.com/forums/inverts/asterina-starfish-45802.html

And while I do not like using GARF as an authority, this page is interesting.

http://www.garf.org/STAR/starfish.html


I guess what I come away with after all of this is much like most reefers. Could they be harmless? Yes, but the evidence is overwhelming that they can also be dangerous to our corals and are not worth taking the chance on.
 
Last edited:
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I'm writing a blog about those damn little bastards. I did my research and while some people point to some different color variations of the asterina starfish, I witnesses two different colored ones having a dinner on my rose nebula colonies and that made me believe that there's no proven method to tell the difference between friend and foe here.
 

Imbarrie

PADI Dive Inst
Location
New York
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I have asterina seastars and I have zoas. I've had both for two years and I've yet to see them on my zoas. I wouldn't mind if they did as zoas in my tank are very invasive. All my zoas are on one end of the tank and I see the seastars on my rocks and on my glass evenly distributed around my 75 gallon tank.

I have soft coral, LPS and some SPS. I think there may be a certain type that could be dangerous but I have not witnessed this. But don't say all of them are killers when that is obviously not the case.

I look forward to seeing more research and not anecdotal evidence.
 

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