coral eating starfish

[bugshop]

I've had several tiny starfish in my tank for some time
that until recently I thought were harmless.

Well I was WRONG!!!:mad:

They are about 1/4 inch across and have an irregular
number of arms. Most have 6 or 7 arms some may only have 3.
It is my understanding that they reproduce by splitting so the
ones with more arms is about to split.

anyway.... I've had a few things in my tank loose tissue
for what seemed to be no reason. Then I picked up a coral from my
tank that was loosing tissue and one of these starfish fell off:eek2: that was a week or so ago.
Wendy has plucked them off of sponges, tunicates and zoos
where they were clearly eating them.
Today I plucked one from a sps with a area of missing tissue.

I just thought that if you have any of these in your tank that you
may want to keep an eye on them.

Timmy

[chad508]

scary, i found one in my tank about three weeks ago. i guess i need to get him out as soon as i find him again. thanks alot timmy
chad

[hammerhead]

There are a few threads that discuss this.

[bugshop]

Originally posted by hammerhead
There are a few threads that discuss this.


Thanks Michael,
Do all say they are bad?
Do you know what it's called?
Or do you you have a link to the the threads you mentioned?

Thanks again,
Timmy

[DrBDC]

Yes they are BADDD!!!
Even the ones they sell us a reef safe are known to turn. I had thought about a blue linika(sp?) but after searching on info, I didn't like the risk of it.

[bugshop]

http://garf.org/STAR/starfish.html

check out this link

[tomterreefic]

Maybe you could get hold of a Harlequin shrimp for pest control. I think the shrimp would die if it runs out of starfish. So you'd have to decide if you wanted to keep a supply of CC stars on hand to feed the harlequin. Just a thought. Hope your corals revive once you've gotten rid of the starfish. Keep us informed.
TOM

[SptfireXIV]

Originally posted by DrBDC
Yes they are BADDD!!!
Even the ones they sell us a reef safe are known to turn. I had thought about a blue linika(sp?) but after searching on info, I didn't like the risk of it.

I gotta agree. The starfish that Bruce sells (the orange knobby sea stars) will eventually eat corals as well. I've had one for a little over a year now, and after about 11 months it started to realize that the corals were a food source. I found it attached to my A. tenuis twice, and after I removed it, the coral had receded where it was attached. It's just a matter of time before they realize that our corals are also food.

[phishguy78]

i agree with jason the only stars i put in reef aquariums is serpent stars or just brittle just watch out for brittle it will get large and probly eat small fish also crabs and snails

[tomterreefic]

I'll second stephen on the brittle stars eating small fish. I had one that "developed" a taste for dottybacks, shrimp and snails. It would just ease up on them while they were 'sleeping' in there caves, slowly wrap it's arms around the unsuspecting victim and then 'pounce' on them. Damn, $5 starfish cost me over $100 before I realized it was him wreaking havoc.

[SptfireXIV]

same here, I had one in my 20 gallon reef tank and it ate about $80 worth of fish, over a couple of months, before I figured out who the culprit was.

[tomterreefic]

Timmy, had a chance to take any action?

[bugshop]

Yep, we've got about 10 or so out.
I know they, like bristle worms, eat dead and or dieing tissue
so there is a chance that that's what they were doing.
But I'm not risking having them in there and once they're removed the coral starts to grow back.

I've had brittle stars in my tank before and one day I noticed my jawfish and all my snails and crabs were gone...nothing but empty shells...no more starfish. They may have their place but not in my tank.

Timmy

[tomterreefic]

Originally posted by bugshop
Yep, we've got about 10 or so out.
I know they, like bristle worms, eat dead and or dieing tissue
so there is a chance that that's what they were doing.
But I'm not risking having them in there and once they're removed the coral starts to grow back.

I've had brittle stars in my tank before and one day I noticed my jawfish and all my snails and crabs were gone...nothing but empty shells...no more starfish. They may have their place but not in my tank.

Timmy
I couldn't agree more!

[scuba4ever]

We found two last week and thought we were lucky :( now I need to find the little critters.

[whosjohnny]

If I have starfish that are tiny like 1/4" inch, they don't have any solid colors at this time, should I take them out?! Some have 5 arms, 6, some 7??! They are crystal clear looking, arms not solid at all, looks more like hair strains...