Asterinea Starfish—pest or helper?

[maharsreef]

Talkin about the tiny starfish. Yes, If there arnt any tiny asteria starfish to eat, they will also consume he legs off other "friendly starfish you may have in your tank...

the shrimp was starving so it ate the feet off the starfish, not the starfish itself. the starfish body just rots in the tank

harliquin shrimp live on top sponges eating the larger particles in the water the sponge eats the smaller particles

 

[Salty D]

My nano was overrun by these little pests. The tiny white ones didnt seem to hurt anything but the large tan/brown ones chewed up my tank wicked fast! I got a harley and he cleared them out in a couple months. They chopped down kenyas,2 of my palau green trees and and ate zoas. I considered them beneficial janitors for a long time but one day out of the blue the big ones went on an all out feeding frenzy. They're not or will ever be a welcome part of my tank again. I took pics of them cutting a nepthea that was attached to the glass. I'll look later to see if I can find them.

 

[sucker_fish]

all I have in my tanks are the small white ones, never seen them eating any of my corals. I would say moderation is key like any thing else, maintaining a balanced biodiversity in your tank is good. If there is one certain organism that becomes so numerous it out competes other organisms then I would classify it as a pest, and of course if its causing harm to the corals we all love so much..definitely a pest.

 

[neuwave]

They don't filter feed, they do eat both the tube feet and the starfish itself. You can also see this happening on the blue planet documentary on national geographic. Though some other shrimp in the same family will eat tube feet off of Echinoderms. Such as bubble bee shrimp that eat the tube feet off of urchins.