asterinas stars eating my zoos!

[yesjenks]

Hello all,

I've noticed a bunch of my zoa's have been disapering! I thought it may have been my flame angel but never caught him picking but always assumed it was him.

Yesterday I sam 1 of the many asterinas stars eating a zoa! Could this be? If so, is there a fish the eats them?

Thanks for you help!

 

[bigcapct]

Me too!!!!

 

[JimmyR1rider]

Yes, there are 2 types of asterinas 1 that's harmless and the other type that you have that wil eat zoas. You can get a harlequin shrimp but after he eats all the asterinas you'll have to buy a chocolate chip starfish and cut a leg at a time to keep him fed.

 

[edd]

harlequin shrimp, but i read when they wipe out asternias they will starve. apparently they only eat star fish.

 

[edd]

sorry jimmy you posted as i was typing

 

[yesjenks]

Thanks for the info guys!! Going to pull out my paint ball gun and go to town on those little white bugger!

 

[turbotone]

harlequin shrimp will do it.. had an infestation of star fish which i thought was cool till i noticed some colonies doing bad.. i bought one small one and hes been there like 2 months almost got all the starfish out.. 75 gallon tank.. once hes done im gonna try to take him out and give him to my boy who has a similar problem.. just keep on swapping him back and forth... lol but no lie i dont think im gonna get him out... he hides well.. ive seen him like 5 times since i had him..

 

[rookie07]

Once a harlequin eats all the stars, it will search the tank looking for food. At that point, they are very easy to catch.

 

[OOtzie]

Harliquin shrimp eat both stars and urchins

 

[bigcapct]

Will it eat my bristle and serpent start also. The bristle is BIG?

 

[greybolt03]

Will it eat my bristle and serpent start also. The bristle is BIG?

No they won't eat serpent or bristle stars.. My pair took care Of my tank in about 2 weeks.. Now I just feed them one chocolate chip star a month...

 

[bigcapct]

Just got one!. Kinda small but there is hundreds of stars for it to munch on

 

[smoq]

The harlequin shrimp will get rid of the asterina quickly, but then you have to feed him chocolate chip stars, once every two weeks or so. Mine harlequin never touched brittle stars for reasons unknown to me. Here's my article about asterinas if you need more info:
http://www.reefs.com/blog/2011/05/03/zoanthid-wars-part-i-the-asterina-conspiracy/
and part II
http://www.reefs.com/blog/2011/06/0...he-silent-assassin-grammar-correction-please/

 

[bigcapct]

Great article !! Thanks

 

[bigcapct]

 

[smoq]

wow, that's a lot. Think of it as a month worth of food for the harlequin. They are fantastic creatures and I love keeping them, but they're tend to be expensive to keep if your asterina population don't replenish itself fast enough

 

[bigcapct]

That's nothing. Only one side of the tank. Should see it when I wake up to turn lights on! Lol

 

[bigcapct]

My boy doubled in size since I got it. Goin to work on the stars!!

 

[yesjenks]

My boy doubled in size since I got itView attachment 125877View attachment 125878. Goin to work on the stars!!

Did he start eating them right away?

 

[bigcapct]

Pretty much. Now he even goes to the glass and picks Em right off!! I still have ALOT of stars but notice a difference. I watched him use his to legs to kinda peel the star from the glass now he always has one with him eating lol. Coolest shrimp EVER!