Asterina starfish plague

[bioreactor2000]

Hey guys, this is the first post I have done so here goes. I upgraded my 55g tank about a year ago to a 120 RR setup. Im a biologist by trade and have had a tank for years. I thought I knew a lot but quickly found there is always tons of info I don't.
My problems started when I could get nothing to grow in my new setup. In my 55 I had good success with montipora, palys, zooanthids, and couldn't stop the growth of green star. Polyps. Since my new setup was larger it seemed no longer piratical for me to get water from my LFS. I started with a "tap water" filter. It took me almost 6 months after trouble shooting everything to figure out that the "filter" was not sufficient to remove the amount of chlorine in my community well water. Once this was realized I was able to immediately see corals added to my system not die. This was a great day! But I think the 6 month sterilization of my system has allowed a plague of asterinas to grow in my system.y corals seem to be alive but not thriving. I have zero and I mean zero corraline algae. After reading other threads I have come to believe that my plague of asterinas may be the culprit. I would love to know your thoughts.

I currently have the following corals:
Frogspawn
Red green war coral
Zooanthids
Green birds nest
Purple people eater
Darth maul paly
Small acan frag
Green button polyps
Red montipora
Green montipora
Purple montipora

All of them are alive but not doing well.
Water parameters are:
10 dkh, salinity 1.025, magnesium 1400, calcium 450, temp stays 78-79
Metal halide with actinic t5 and moon led. 30 gall sump with skimmer, dose fuel twice a week.

Looking for some success getting very frustrated. Any comments would be great!!! Will post some pics later






Always a learning experience! Hopefully a good one.

 

[bioreactor2000]

Always a learning experience! Hopefully a good one.

 

[DFW]

The birdsnest looks good to me. Asterina numbers will dwindle when their food supply dwindles. I employed a harlequin shrimp when I had large numbers of the asterina. It is amazing how fast that small shrimp can eradicate a large population of starfish. When the starfish are gone, you must pass the shrimp on, or provide it starfish to eat. And it happens quickly!

 

[dodgerblew]

I was going to mention the same thing. You can also add a coralline buffer to jump start new growth.

Curious about your water issue. You mentioned stopping with the tap water filter. What have you done since or what did you switch to?

 

[7hogwarts]

+1 on using Harlequin shrimp. I doubt you can get the food supply low enough to starve asterina stars before everything else dies.

 

[bioreactor2000]

I have been making a trek to the LFS twice a week. It has been cumbersome. I finally broke down yesterday and bought a do system. I have not had a chance to install it yet. Another project for this week! I will have to try the harlequin shrimp. It is amazing how desolate a tank looks without any of the beauty of the Coraline algae. I always knew that water quality was step número uno, I just didn't realize how poorly the Tap water filter was working. I should have been able to diagnose the problem quicker, but live and learn!


Always a learning experience! Hopefully a good one.

 

[dodgerblew]

Many times the water from the LFS has a high TDS. When you are in total control of your water you'll see progress I'm sure.

 

[Tx Medic]

Did you get a RODI unit? Trust me that is the only way to go its cheaper in the long run and saves you a massive headache. I used to tote LFS water and now that I have my own rodi unit I am upset I ever paid a cent for their water lol.

 

[Codemonkey812]

Another alternative to a Harlequin shrimp is a Pacific Jewel starfish (Nardoa is another name for them) . They also eat asterina stars, but will eat other food in the tank so they will not starve when the population of asterina stars is gone. I have one in my 75 and love it.

 

[EvilTaz]

Had an outbreak in my 55 gallon. Picked them out, did a partial water change and haven't seen anymore since

 

[Carmen]

Another alternative to a Harlequin shrimp is a Pacific Jewel starfish (Nardoa is another name for them) . They also eat asterina stars, but will eat other food in the tank so they will not starve when the population of asterina stars is gone. I have one in my 75 and love it.

I have a 75 gal. that's a year old now and seems pretty healthy. How long have you had your starfish? I've thought about getting one but would worry about it starving. Besides the asterina stars, what else do they eat?

 

[DaveMorris]

I have a 75 gal. that's a year old now and seems pretty healthy. How long have you had your starfish? I've thought about getting one but would worry about it starving. Besides the asterina stars, what else do they eat?

They will eat algae as well. I have always had one of them in my tanks, along with Linckia stars. They look good and the Pacific star will stir up the sandbed a bit as well. I'm a big fan of using the natural methods wherever possible to get rid of pests. Nature has a great way of dealing with pests. Asterinas are very hard to just remove manually. they will keep coming back. Harlequins are great and as long as you give them a chocolate chip star to munch on once the asterinas are gone, the harlequin will usually leave the other stars alone. At least that has been my experience. Harlequins look pretty cool too!

 

[jt17]

I have a lot of asterineas and I only notice them eating algae. Your problems may be from something else. Have your parameters been stable for a while? Did you do long acclimation? Your alk is a lot higher than most lfs run so it could just be the adjustment to your tank. Or it may take a while to dilute whatever made it through the tap filter into the tank. What are your phosphates and nitrates at?

 

[bioreactor2000]

My parameters have been stable since January once I noticed that I had a chlorine problem. I did a 80% water change and also added some dechlorinator. Since Jan I have done 15% water change a month (5 gal/week). Only LFS RODI.


Always a learning experience! Hopefully a good one.

 

[bioreactor2000]

Phosphates and nitrates are both at undetectable amounts. I wouldn't mind having a small amount of nitrates but I plan on adding more fish so it will be easier to keep it low once I see it come up a little.


Always a learning experience! Hopefully a good one.

 

[shred5]

There are different kinds... Some are bad and some are good cleaners.

I have had them in one of my tanks for years with now harm. Usually the lighter in color ones are ok..

The ones that look like this are bad:

GARF predatory starfish 11/25/01


I had one tank that had them for many many years and never a Issue...
Their population grows and declines with available food. One day they were completely gone.