ID please

[mbgrubb15]

Found this small starfish in my tank. Don't know how he got there. Good or bad?

 

[wschang812]

asterina stars, i think they are harmless, had a couple in my tank

 

[Mike389]

asterina stars, i think they are harmless, had a couple in my tank

They eat coralline algae

 

[junior ibanez]

They eat coralline algae

Very true, you'll notice your pink coralline algae will start to turn white, and
this stars reproduce like a mofo, so try to take it out without breaking any of the legs. ( if you decide you dont want them)

 

[AR0026]

I hear they eat zoas. If you have any..

 

[mbgrubb15]

so they are bad to have in the tank? i did notice the coralline algae turning white.

 

[Mike389]

Depends on what species you have... Some species are bad and feed on coral skeleton... Just get rid of it to be safe

 

[isnyc300]

they are harmless as long as you keep the population under control. If you see a black one remove it. ime those are harmful.

 

[bigcapct]

I have a lot of em with out a prob in my mixed reef

 

[B.BASH]

Harlequin shrimp can take care of them

 

[JMar101786]

I had a ton of them...they got out of control till I put some Harlequin Shrimp in....once i did that the population went down fast.


What caught my interest was the fact that I noticed my zoas weren't doing well...i started inspecting more at night ... i noticed these little buggers all over the place...once the stars went down in population my zoas started doing better.

 

[mbgrubb15]

yeah. i have a few zoas that arent doing well right now. ill take a closer look at night. thanks!

 

[NanoAquatic]

Those looks like Harlquin Shrimp food xD