mFrame Posted October 6, 2010 Share Posted October 6, 2010 In my quest to grow my zoa rock I've been accumulating numerous zoas and palys. Things had been going great with them, but last week I noticed a swath of destruction through one of my zoa colonies. Sitting at the end of it was a plump asterina. I then noticed several of my new corals from SD not doing well and found another asterina sitting on one of them apparently having a snack. Looking around the tank I can see a large number of asterinas. So, are they the culprit and should I get rid of them? If so, is there an easy way to control them besides picking them out by hand? I'm thinking harlequin shrimp here, but wonder if harlequins would be safe with and for my other reef inhabitants. Fish: purple tang kole tang flame hawk speckled hawk target mandarin coral beauty scooter blenny 2 cleaner shrimp sand sifting star serpent star tons of micro serpent stars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
innate1 Posted October 6, 2010 Share Posted October 6, 2010 my harly tore em up and I speak in the past tense cause it's no longer a problem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mFrame Posted October 6, 2010 Author Share Posted October 6, 2010 my harly tore em up and I speak in the past tense cause it's no longer a problem Safe to assume that my other starfish would be targets? Think that the hawks would pick on a harlequin? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polarbear Posted October 6, 2010 Share Posted October 6, 2010 hey mike i was just wondering if the tons of micro serpent stars came about from what I gave you or did you get some more? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mFrame Posted October 6, 2010 Author Share Posted October 6, 2010 hey mike i was just wondering if the tons of micro serpent stars came about from what I gave you or did you get some more? I'm sure at least some came from yours, but I added some more from another member. I don't see them out often, but whenever I move rocks a few turn up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
innate1 Posted October 6, 2010 Share Posted October 6, 2010 starfish are food, and the harlequin is an awesome hunter. Dont know about the hawkfish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill B Posted October 6, 2010 Share Posted October 6, 2010 I'm gonna guess this is not a good match. The cleaner shrimp certainly could be a target of the hawks as well, but I would be concerned about the harlequin. Assuming that hurdle gets made, I believe the harlequin is gonna look to any and all starfish as a source of food. JMHO Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 I'd go for a sixline wrasse or a coris wrasse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viet-tin Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 I had one and it never went after any of my brittle stars or serpents. Wiped out my asterinas within 2 weeks. Then I started chocolate chip star farming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesL Posted October 7, 2010 Share Posted October 7, 2010 My sixline never touched my asterinas. I agree with the others, the hawk might try attacking the harlequin, and yes I would assume the harlequin would go after any starfish. Might try eating the big ones first (less hunting for a larger snack ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mFrame Posted October 7, 2010 Author Share Posted October 7, 2010 Sounds like I'll temp move the stars I want to keep into my sump and buy the largest harly I can. Hopefully that will keep the hawks away from it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+o0zarkawater Posted October 9, 2010 Share Posted October 9, 2010 I know for a fact that the asterinas I have in my 55gal eat zoas. Every time I put some in there they are fine for a day or two, then if I look in the morning I see the asterinas covering them munching down. At first I offered the asterinas up to anyone who wanted them, but never had any takers. Now I just pull them out and into the trash they go. Best time is in the morning before your lights come on, you will be amazed at how many you actually have. I've pulled 50+ in one sitting before. I had considered getting a harli, but I have a spotted hawkfish who is a decent size and who LOVES shrimp. I put 5 peppermints in the tank one time, the largest being about 2" long. He hit and killed 3 of them before they even got to the sandbed. Then went back and ate them. Expensive dinner. So I wouldn't trust mine to not eat a 40$ shrimp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeeperKeeper Posted October 11, 2010 Share Posted October 11, 2010 Here's an interesting thread about asterinas. http://www.3reef.com/forums/inverts/asterina-starfish-45802.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoneroller Posted October 14, 2010 Share Posted October 14, 2010 I would look to your lineup of fish as potential culprits. esp. the tangs and the coral beauty. They've been known to eat corals. I am not saying Asterina don't eat polyps; there are many spp. some do and some don't.... can you take a pic of your zoa rock path of destruction? Also can you pull the zoa rock, dip it, and see what else might be lurking (spiders, nudies, sundial, etc.) What are you going to do with the harley once he decimates the Asterina? IMHO harley's are best left on the reef . You can get them under control with manual removal (e.g., suck them out during water changes) and in time you'll see a noticeable reduction. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
innate1 Posted October 14, 2010 Share Posted October 14, 2010 my harley died when I was redoing the rock work, I've never felt worse about a loss. I would gladly buy a chocolate chip every month to feed him because he was one of the most awesome additions to my tank ever. If the asterina ever build up again I'll get one in a heartbeat. And Mike I would listen to StoneRoller and dip the zoa's. Although I did have starfish it was the nudi's that were eating my zoa's, and they will look just like your zoa's. Dip and kill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesL Posted October 14, 2010 Share Posted October 14, 2010 I would look to your lineup of fish as potential culprits. esp. the tangs and the coral beauty. They've been known to eat corals. I am not saying Asterina don't eat polyps; there are many spp. some do and some don't.... can you take a pic of your zoa rock path of destruction? Also can you pull the zoa rock, dip it, and see what else might be lurking (spiders, nudies, sundial, etc.) What are you going to do with the harley once he decimates the Asterina? IMHO harley's are best left on the reef . You can get them under control with manual removal (e.g., suck them out during water changes) and in time you'll see a noticeable reduction. +1 to this. I have a lot of Asterinas in my tank and have never had them eat zoas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elizzy Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 Got a couple of new zoa frags and discovered that something has been eating their heads off... I saw an asterina on one of the heads a few nights ago, but didn't really think they ate zoas... Pulled the frags out yesterday and dipped them hoping to find the culprit.. (I do dip all corals prior to placing in tank.) Found a lot of copepods and 3 asterinas. Nothing else. Thinking the asterinas are eating my zoas. -- do they just eat the heads off or would that be something else? I've got 4 hermit crabs, 2 clownfish, 1 firefish, 1 watchman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Alvarado Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 I was reading up on Asteria just yesterday. Seems to be a bit of debate if they eat them or if they get ill, then they will eat the damaged / die-off. Most people are reporting them as completely harmless, and your problem probably happened before the asterina's picked on the dead ones. http://www.wetwebmedia.com/asterinafaqs.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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