Tiny Starfish

[mhagst1]

I’ve recently noticed small starfish crawling over my live rock. They are about 1/8th of an inch in diameter, light brown and have six points. So far I’ve counted about 15 that I can see. Does anyone have an idea what kind of starfish they are, and if it will cause a problem down the road?

Matt

[minfinger]

I can't think right now, but there's some contraversy(sp) around starfish. There are small baby Brittle starts that are harmless and quite common in reefs, but there are some stars that are very harmful...Skip might know.

BTW...How's the tank doing now?

[skipm]

There is a white starfish that I have that I usually see on the glass that is similar to the predartory starfish that Mike is talking about, just keep an eye on them and if they start munching on corals give them the boot. You more than likely have the good starfish that are excellent algae eaters, the bad ones are very uncommon but watch them for awhile just to be safe. HTH, Skip

[Simbo18]

Skip, I have them too, but they ALL will eat some sort of coral. Mine really like my xenia, but no other coral besides coraline. No matter, they keep my xenia under control. But like skip said keep an eye on them, If possible wake up really early a few mornings say 3:00 or 4:00 and see if you see them on any corals. You will hardly find them on during the day.

Luke