dshel1217 Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 I saw a thread about this a while back. These zoas were open yesterday ( i know I moved them) and found a starfish on them this afternoon. The pinkish zoa pointer toward the camera is the one he was on. The asterina found is next to the grabbers. Then I feed him to my engineer goby "Kraken" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestep Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 Evil little ^&(^$*^'ers. I have about a million of them. Wonder if that's how I've lost a few zoa colonies. I've never once seen them near the zoas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texasrob Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 Ill look for sum pics I had, the starfish would just get on the zoas and suffocate them. Get a harlequin and u will b good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 Still a supporter of the problem is with the zoas dying in the first place already and the starfish are just cleaning up. Of course, I don't doubt there are some species out there that do eat zoas. Just in my experience with my tanks, it has always not been the case of zoa eating stars. I probably have close to 700-800 zoa polyps in my tank and a conservative estimate of 400-600 asterina stars in my tank. When a colony of zoas starts to decline, the stars are all over it, doing what they are supposed to be doing, cleaning up. If I ran with the theory of zoa eating stars in my tank, I don't think I would have 700-800 polyps still in my tank... they would have decimated my zoa population a long time ago with those numbers. But if I overexposed a colony to light and they started dying or had an alk spike and some started melting, those stars are on them like white on rice. I guess there could be an argument that they could have recovered without the starfish on them but that is a theory for now until I can experiment with it. As always, just sharing what I have observed over the years in my tank... doesn't mean it applies the same to everyone's unique tanks. -Ty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Bio)³ Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 as I find them I throw them into my pico tank and the bumblebee shrimp (harlequin family) slowly eats their feet off Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dshel1217 Posted May 7, 2013 Author Share Posted May 7, 2013 Ty-I agree with u even with what I have seen there is still no 100% guarantee that that polyp was not already dying. Also mine (the star fish in question) that I saw today could be a different speices.The correct experiment would be to have multiple container with the same type zoa and a single star in each and see what happens. But... I did see the heathy frag yesterday and it look perfectly healthy. but the question is, is it worth it to risk a few bad ( or hungry enough) asterina stars in the tank. Ty - 0 Me -1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dshel1217 Posted May 7, 2013 Author Share Posted May 7, 2013 Still a supporter of the problem is with the zoas dying in the first place already and the starfish are just cleaning up. Of course, I don't doubt there are some species out there that do eat zoas. Just in my experience with my tanks, it has always not been the case of zoa eating stars. I probably have close to 700-800 zoa polyps in my tank and a conservative estimate of 400-600 asterina stars in my tank. When a colony of zoas starts to decline, the stars are all over it, doing what they are supposed to be doing, cleaning up. If I ran with the theory of zoa eating stars in my tank, I don't think I would have 700-800 polyps still in my tank... they would have decimated my zoa population a long time ago with those numbers. But if I overexposed a colony to light and they started dying or had an alk spike and some started melting, those stars are on them like white on rice. I guess there could be an argument that they could have recovered without the starfish on them but that is a theory for now until I can experiment with it. As always, just sharing what I have observed over the years in my tank... doesn't mean it applies the same to everyone's unique tanks. -Ty also Ty someone liked my post therefore I am right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+o0zarkawater Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 I agree that there are asterinas that don't bother zoas. But I also know for a fact that there are some that just straight up eat healthy zoas. Lost many healthy polyps to hungry asterinas. If anyone is up for the challenge, I can give you some asterinas from the biocube who are known zoa eaters and let me throw them in your tank. See how the population grows/dies in 6 months or so, and re-visit your previous statements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherita Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 I'm afraid I have to be the contrary one here. I have actually been working in the tank, looked at what was obviously a very healthy polyp, and an hour later found one of the evil white things on the same polyp. Remove the asterina, and there is a chunk of healthy flesh now missing from the zoa. I kept an eye on the polyp, it healed up and continued to grow. There are species of asterina that are zoa predators, I don't think we know enough to be able to identify them and separate them from the "good" asterinas. Therefore, I take the high road. They are not allowed in my tank. My harlequin shrimp find them tasty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 Still a supporter of the problem is with the zoas dying in the first place already and the starfish are just cleaning up. Of course, I don't doubt there are some species out there that do eat zoas. Just in my experience with my tanks, it has always not been the case of zoa eating stars. I probably have close to 700-800 zoa polyps in my tank and a conservative estimate of 400-600 asterina stars in my tank. When a colony of zoas starts to decline, the stars are all over it, doing what they are supposed to be doing, cleaning up. If I ran with the theory of zoa eating stars in my tank, I don't think I would have 700-800 polyps still in my tank... they would have decimated my zoa population a long time ago with those numbers. But if I overexposed a colony to light and they started dying or had an alk spike and some started melting, those stars are on them like white on rice. I guess there could be an argument that they could have recovered without the starfish on them but that is a theory for now until I can experiment with it. As always, just sharing what I have observed over the years in my tank... doesn't mean it applies the same to everyone's unique tanks. -Ty also Ty someone liked my post therefore I am right. I tried to like my own post... but it doesn't let you do that. Ty = -1 Dave = 1 Ooazarkawater- be happy to donate some zoas to that challenge if someone has a tank with no zoas to experiment with it. The zoas may not be pretty but they should be tasty to hungry zoa-eating asterina stars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherita Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 as I find them I throw them into my pico tank and the bumblebee shrimp (harlequin family) slowly eats their feet off Ohhh.....I want me some bumblebee shrimp. They sound great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Bio)³ Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 as I find them I throw them into my pico tank and the bumblebee shrimp (harlequin family) slowly eats their feet off Ohhh.....I want me some bumblebee shrimp. They sound great! They are very very small the size of a real bumble bee. I have just one in the pico tank and I toss stars in as I find them. I just got him from RCA and today was the first day of giving him stars but he was on one within 2 hours of it going in the tank. I read that they like to eat the tube feet of the star fish but will eat other meaty foods if the star fish isnt available. win/win for me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherita Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 as I find them I throw them into my pico tank and the bumblebee shrimp (harlequin family) slowly eats their feet off Ohhh.....I want me some bumblebee shrimp. They sound great! They are very very small the size of a real bumble bee. I have just one in the pico tank and I toss stars in as I find them. I just got him from RCA and today was the first day of giving him stars but he was on one within 2 hours of it going in the tank. I read that they like to eat the tube feet of the star fish but will eat other meaty foods if the star fish isnt available. win/win for me Sigh........I want! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mlaw Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 yeah I went up to RCA for first Friday sale and the bumble bee shrimp were gone. Seems someone went up and bought them before the sale started..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Bio)³ Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 yeah I went up to RCA for first Friday sale and the bumble bee shrimp were gone. Seems someone went up and bought them before the sale started..... Not true at all, they were in a Tupperware container in the tanks next to the QT tanks that were red. I bought mine at 9 PM and when I bought him they still had another in the container. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nvrEnuf Posted May 8, 2013 Share Posted May 8, 2013 hmmmm. I have been noticing some astreina recently near a mushroom and a zoa colony not doing well lately. Yet, another star near a different colony currently thriving. Could it be that some stars eat some zoa's and not others and vice versa? Zoa's growing up until yesterday then BAM, small frag looks like crap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.