Thats a joke right? It is funny..
Adding pulsing xenia to my new tank
- Thread starter Richard1999
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Thats how I got my first outbreak 20+ ago I had no idea, but it will definitely spread them.
Best to kill them with kalk paste and turn off your flow, it looks easy to get to before it spreads. Those are bad business when they infest and it will! It can live in filtration and pipes not always visible, when they are your lucky because you can get to it.
Look into it, there's tons of good information on here about them.
AnotherReefHobbyist
Well-Known Member
wait even smothering with superglue can cause an outbreak? I didnt know that.
Yeah you really want to melt them, kalk melt is easy but just be careful of it landing on corals, best to turn off flow, I try to do it before they get into the main display, same rule applys.
AnotherReefHobbyist
Well-Known Member
that is interesting, thanks for the new knowledge!
Richard1999
Community Member
guys I am super stressed I keep finding unwanted guest in the tank….I am super scared cause now I gotta deal with that stupid sea anemone, but also now a tiny starfish is in my tank. This starfish has mixed reviews so idk what to do. I am super stressed and honeslty this is my fault for not researching crap before adding that rock with the micro algae on it. Every time I look at the tank I find something going wrong. Like today I had to flip over 2 snails since they couldn’t get back up. They could of easily died. Idk what I am doing wrong. Here’s a picture of the starfish…
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Sharkbait19
10K Club member
Part of reefing is the hitchhikers, most are harmless but you may wind up with some bad ones. The asterina stars are usually harmless but some may eat coral. Up to you if you want to toss it or not.
The snail thing is annoying, astrea are great for cleanup but can’t flip themselves over.
Get it now b4 it multiplies into a problem no benefit to having them.
AnotherReefHobbyist
Well-Known Member
I like this little short legged ones, they aren't super invasive. The long legged ones have taken over my tank though, wouldn't recommend those.
asterina starfish will take over i have finally had enough of them i have easily 300+ in my 120, and recently bought a 70$ harlequin shrimp to take care of the infestation! It is a problem I could have taken care of when I noticed the first couple.
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Richard1999
Community Member
I really really like that shrimp! If I had an outbreak of those star fish could I get one of those for my 13 gallon tank with my 2 clownfish and my snails and corals?
Sharkbait19
10K Club member
Harlequin will quickly eat all the stars and then starve if you don’t supply stars to feed it with - which can get expensive fast. They can clean out much larger systems in weeks - think of them as the mandarins of the invert world.
Bumblebee shrimp will eat stars but will find other things to eat when it runs out.
I’m pretty sure my old emerald crab would’ve eaten stars - everything else was on the menu.
Bumblebee shrimp will eat stars but will find other things to eat when it runs out.
I’m pretty sure my old emerald crab would’ve eaten stars - everything else was on the menu.
Richard1999
Community Member
Yah I heard that you can keep 1 star fish in your filter and just cut off a leg a week so it’ll always be regrowing but idk I just want all these pest to go away especially that stupid sea anemone thing.
They eat starfish exclusively
Richard1999
Community Member
I know that but do they require anything special to keep them alive Other than food?
Sharkbait19
10K Club member
Peppermint shrimp or berghia nudibranches eat aptasia but it’s honestly less risk to just kill it yourself.
You’ll also save money long term removing the star yourself.
Lots of these pests are what makes saltwater so amazing - for every bad hitchhiker there are dozens of amazing ones contributing to the biodiversity of the reef!
No different than any other invert or shrimp, mine hides in a cave all day and everything i see her, she has a starfish in her grasp. I have not seen a difference in numbers yet, Its been maybe 3 weeks .
Richard1999
Community Member
Yah since honeslty I don’t think imma worry about the pest rn they aren’t bothering anything and I only have 3 corals on the whole other side of the tank. I really like how interesting these pest are. I still really want pulsing Xenia tho. If I just left these pest in would they eat the Xenia? The aptasia is on its own rock far away from the main coral rocks. And it’s Been in the tank for more than a month now and it hasn’t spread anywhere and it’s barely getting bigger.
Richard1999
Community Member
I haven’t kept salt water shrimp before but my sea snails are doing good only 1 died so far. When I used to have fresh water shrimp all of them died but they where only ghost shrimp. I honeslty would really like a small crab or shrimp that won’t bother the corals/fish/snails
Sharkbait19
10K Club member
Aptasia spreads fast - you will want to remove that ASAP.
The star will most likely wind up being harmless.
Ghost shrimp are great at dying, I wouldn’t sweat it much.
There will always be a drawback for every fish and invert you can get, the trick is just to find the ones most suited for your tank.
The star will most likely wind up being harmless.
Ghost shrimp are great at dying, I wouldn’t sweat it much.
There will always be a drawback for every fish and invert you can get, the trick is just to find the ones most suited for your tank.
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