Found this guy on the glass this afternoon....
- Thread starter project5k
- Start date
cthegame
Reef enthusiast
Asterina star
PRC
Stop Quoting Me!
I've got'em too...there are 2 schools of thought on this. Some people say they eat coralline, here's what I do know. They reproduce like rabbits, I don't freak over them, but I just get them out when they're easy to reach. Grab the bigger ones with your fingers, suck the small ones up with a turkey baster.
I give them to my kids, they take them to school and give'em to their friends.
I give them to my kids, they take them to school and give'em to their friends.
project5k
Reef enthusiast
Alrighty... well, i like the turkey baster idea, might just use a syphon hose... same idea...
cool, thanks!
i just realized that i put this in the wrong area... sorry about that.. well, not too wrong, it is still an invert.. but i should put it in the identification area... i just saw the "I" and clicked... hehehe
cool, thanks!
i just realized that i put this in the wrong area... sorry about that.. well, not too wrong, it is still an invert.. but i should put it in the identification area... i just saw the "I" and clicked... hehehe
Last edited:
sen5241b
Reef enthusiast
YEP Asterina STARS and they will eat your coralline. I slowly but surely and VERY diligently picked everyone out with tweezers and now they are gone. Without fail the moment I saw one, I plucked it out. I also hunted them at night when they really come out. In the end it really did not take all that much time to pick them out but then I never let them get out of control to being with.
If you see a little bleach white area in the middle of a patch of coralline on the rock then look for an asterina!
yote
In Memoriam
The ones in my tank,never bother anything.But I've only noticed them on spots of film algae.
reeffreak
Reef pro
The ones I did have never bothered anything.As my tank matured they all or nearly all of them disappeared.To remove them is up to you,some say they are bad and some say they are okay.
project5k
Reef enthusiast
i desperately want for my coraline to grow, so i syphoned him out...
kwsm
Reefing newb
i've seen them in my tank before but haven't made a fuss over it. we have an urchin who noms most of our coralline anyway. and the urchin is WAY more interesting than the algae.
project5k
Reef enthusiast
yea, i can definately see that...
dcantucson
Reef pro
I have them in both my tanks and have never seen them do harm to anything. I think they're cute little suckers and guests are fascinated by them. Okay that might be stretching it a bit. :lol:
Hiker4twenty
Reef enthusiast
I've got lots of them in my tank/fuge (50+) and they don't seem to bother anything. Until they do start to annoy me they'll be staying.
Bifferwine
I am a girl
Mine behaved themselves for years. I had no problems with them and only ever saw them on the glass. Then a few months ago, I started finding them on all my corals, and the corals were being eaten. Keep asterinas at your own risk -- there is a chance their tastes will change.
sen5241b
Reef enthusiast
Mine have definitely eaten coralline. But I've heard only the ones with a bluish spot will eat coralline and mine have the blue spot.
project5k
Reef enthusiast
i'm wondering if maybe this isnt what was eating on my xenias....
dcantucson
Reef pro
If that were the case, some of us would buy them by the dozens! :lol:
