I need help killing asterina starfish...

[ReeferRyan]

I reposted this here because it seems to be more populated than the invert forum:

Well I have had a problem with coralline-eating asterina starfish for a couple of months now and after physically removing every single one I could see twice a day, the problem has only gotten worse. I have now quarantined everything in my tank with my rock, inhabitants, and corals all in seperate tanks.

My question is, what do I need to in order to make sure that they are all dead so I can put my tank back together?

I planned to use hyposalinity, but are there any other treatments that will wipe these pests out?

[bertoni]

That's a nasty problem.

I wouldn't use hyposalinity on the rock, personally. If it's gone that far, I'd let them dry out and re-cure them. It'd be easier, although the coralline wouldn't make it. The rock would definitely be starfish-free, though.

Some harlequin shrimp would eat the Asterina, but they'd require feeding with live starfish to survive long-term.

[ReeferRyan]

Thanks.

I figured I would have to dry out the rock, so that's not a big deal. Are there no chemical treatments to kill these guys? They hitchhiked in on a frag and destroyed almost all of my coralline.

[bertoni]

I don't know of any chemical that'd kill them, well, anything that you'd want in your live rock.

[DrBegalke]

Lugol's kills them, 40 drops per gallon.

This is not a treatment for the main tank...

[ReeferRyan]

Well I am going to dry out the rock seperately, so that shouldn't be a problem. I will dose the QT tank of the corals and inspect the main tank thoroughly before putting anything back in. Thanks for the help.

[daven]

I found this:

I happened to put a Nardoa species sea star into a small reef aquarium that contains a large population of Asterina sea stars. I discovered that the Nardoa sea star regularly consumed the Asterina sea stars. The Nardoa sea star san be a good biological control for those aquarists that want to reduce their population of Asterina sea stars.

[adam82]

check this out. http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...readid=1251575

[em805]

Originally posted by daven
I found this:

I happened to put a Nardoa species sea star into a small reef aquarium that contains a large population of Asterina sea stars. I discovered that the Nardoa sea star regularly consumed the Asterina sea stars. The Nardoa sea star san be a good biological control for those aquarists that want to reduce their population of Asterina sea stars.

What is the common name for the Nardoa sea star and who sells them? Also, according to this site http://www.starfish.ch/collection/seesterne.html there are several kinds of Nardoa, which one is the one you are refering to?

[stealthbimmer]

if you want to get rid of some you can send em to me...ill pay for shipping charges. my fish like to snack on em