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View Full Version : asterina stars eating zoas?


christyf5
06-23-2015, 06:13 PM
So my nano is full of zoas and I've been picking asterinas daily (maybe its just one asterina that keeps going back for more) off one frag of zoas. The zoas look fine albeit ****ed that an asterina is sitting on them and then one day they're just gone. Currently I have 2 polyps of their little buffet left on the frag and am actively removing the stars completely when i can. Do these zoas have something about them that the asterinas like (ie, they're on their way out?) or are the asterinas just hungry for flesh (theres no "edible" algae in the tank, and when I say "edible" I mean there's a big path of turf algae that nobody wants, lol).

Coasting
06-23-2015, 06:30 PM
Im convinced they eat zoas. No matter their type.
Most people say the zoas are probably dying which is why the stars are munching on them.
But i have hundreds of these stars in my tank and they dont touch any corals i own. But when i kept zoas i too would find them on the zoa then the zoas gone by morning. I always see my stars hanging around patches of glass that have i missed with the algae magnet.

Skimmer Juice
06-23-2015, 06:49 PM
I also believe they eat zoa's , was having issues wih small 1-2 polyp zoa frags disappearing and I would always find asterinas on the plugs . Got a harlequin shrimp and now I no longer have the problem. Mind you I still feed my shrimp legs but he steady eats the asterinas in between feedings . Also have both colors of asterina's brown and white and they both are found on zoa frags .

Slyguy00
06-23-2015, 06:51 PM
They deffinitly eat zoas. I have to pick them off my Colonies on a regular basis. If I don't the colony will slowly die off.

christyf5
06-23-2015, 06:51 PM
the thing is these zoas look fine. I mean they're fully extended, happy and healthy looking. Next thing I see an asterina sitting on them. I pull it off and they're all closed up and pinchy. Then another asterina gets on them. Next thing they're little stubs and they melt away (or get eaten overnight). Effing asterinas. Guess I'll be hand picking them out. I don't think this frag is long for this world, one is super pinchy today and the one next to it isn't thrilled about Tuesday. Grr!

christyf5
06-23-2015, 06:52 PM
Im convinced they eat zoas. No matter their type.
Most people say the zoas are probably dying which is why the stars are munching on them.
But i have hundreds of these stars in my tank and they dont touch any corals i own. But when i kept zoas i too would find them on the zoa then the zoas gone by morning. I always see my stars hanging around patches of glass that have i missed with the algae magnet.

I have like a bazillion in my 180 gal. But no zoas in there so they just eat algae, which I thought was their deal. Guess if something better than algae comes along they jump on it like a fat kid on a smartie :razz:

christyf5
06-23-2015, 06:54 PM
They deffinitly eat zoas. I have to pick them off my Colonies on a regular basis. If I don't the colony will slowly die off.

Good to know. I'll get pickin!

Thanks for the info guys! I hate the little buggers anyways but now I hate them even more!

Slyguy00
06-23-2015, 09:12 PM
The starfish could just be taking advantage of an already injured zoa. If you have a large amphipod population they will eat zoas (mostly at night) and then the starfish will roll up and hit the exposed flesh. At least from my experience. They are both a predator for zoas as far as I'm concerned. Best way to tell is take a look with a flashlight after the lights have been off for a few hours. Solution = shrimp and wrasses.

reefwithareefer
06-24-2015, 04:02 AM
Bumblebee/striped harlequin shrimp eat Asterina, but unlike Harlequins, they are not obligate sea star eaters and will apparently eat frozen food. This way, you do not have to worry about them starving, once all the stars are eaten. I started to look for some last week, so if anyone knows where to get some......

monocus
06-24-2015, 04:07 AM
got a bunch if you need them

Myka
06-24-2015, 02:45 PM
There are over 30 described species of Asterina stars, and some definitely do eat Zoas. Harlequin Shrimp can definitely help if there are no fish that would eat the Shrimp. Many LFS will sell you Chocolate Chip Stars for a discounted price if you have a Harlequin, or they are easy to catch (with a star haha) and you can re-home.

reefwithareefer
06-25-2015, 03:11 AM
J&L had some Bumblebee shrimp...$8.00 a pop.

christyf5
06-25-2015, 03:13 AM
Then what do the bumblebees eat once the stars are gone? I hauled a ton of little bits of stars out of the tank today. Not willing to put a specialized feeder in there just to eat them.

reefwithareefer
06-25-2015, 03:18 AM
They will eat the asterina and when there is none, they will eat meaty frozen food. They are a species of Harlequin shrimp. The problem with the typical Harlequins is that they only eat asterina and will starve if there is no supply.So you have to rehome them or get everyone to give you asterina.
Mind you, this is what the article says, not from experience.

http://reefkeeping.com/joomla/index.php/current-issue/article/45-reefkeeping-101-

Skimmer Juice
06-25-2015, 05:22 AM
for my harlequin I have 15 cc stars in my sump and I just give him a leg a week and then he keeps my asterina in check on top of that , the bumble bee shrimp are pretty small so you might need a few . I also have a bumble bee shrimp that eats almost anything so they are not as specialized as a harlequin . The bumble be likes to sit in my urchin and he will also sit with the harlequin and get scraps from the cc arms . Pretty cool you wont see them much mine just pops up in random spots would defiantly recommend getting one

New West 40
06-25-2015, 06:22 AM
I got one of these guys at JL (and it was so small I thought I'd lost it when he went in). He's been eating the unwanted stars.

reefwars
06-25-2015, 11:57 AM
They will eat the asterina and when there is none, they will eat meaty frozen food. They are a species of Harlequin shrimp. The problem with the typical Harlequins is that they only eat asterina and will starve if there is no supply.So you have to rehome them or get everyone to give you asterina.
Mind you, this is what the article says, not from experience.

http://reefkeeping.com/joomla/index.php/current-issue/article/45-reefkeeping-101-

Harlequin shrimp will eat many types of starfish not just asterinas :)

reefwithareefer
06-25-2015, 03:48 PM
Yes, you are correct, they will eat any and all starfish. I should have worded my comment better.

Myka
06-26-2015, 03:43 AM
My Harlequin pair never touched my Black Brittle Starfish. I never saw them bothering mini Brittles either. They like Chocolate Chips better than Asterinas ime.

gregzz4
06-26-2015, 04:12 AM
My harlequin pair did a number on my red star and it passed

My pair have since been re-homed to another member who had an asterina outbreak

As far as the OP thread goes, I guess I've been lucky. I had a huge outbreak of asterinas last year and they never touched my zoos or palys. I had maybe a hundred visible stars before I bought my harlequins.
In retrospect I should have got my params in check, not kill off the stars.

christyf5
06-26-2015, 05:31 PM
I've just been picking the asterinas out as I see them. So far its worked out well, although I'm down to a single boy scout polyp on the frag (at least I think they're boy scouts). The trouble is the little tiny ones get by unnoticed and whammo there they are on the frag again. Bloody things.

Ken
06-27-2015, 06:58 PM
hi christy, I had a lot of these stars awhile back, they were hanging out when the lights were off in the frt of the glass, which makes it easy to pick off, I just keep picking them off each morning until I didn't noticed them anymore, I am sure there may be afew but way better than before. greetings from Campbell River Ken

wreck
06-30-2015, 04:54 AM
I have been battling these buggers for a long time. so the only way to get rid of these is to remove em by hand or get the shrimp?.

christyf5
06-30-2015, 07:29 PM
I think I've managed to remove them all by hand in my nano (8gal). Apparently they were eating more than just the zoas as I now have a crazy number of tiny snails all over the place (or maybe they just hatched or something, I have no idea what new snails look like, these guys are teeny tiny). I still have the one zoa from the frag that got munched on so hopefully it does well.

Now to attack the main display tank. I siphon monthly or so but I suppose I'll have to put more effort into it as there are hundreds of them in there. This is going to take awhile.....