Asterinas all bad?

[Tonycass12]

Those shrimp must have a crazy appetite! If I can keep enough Asterinas in my other tank maybe I can have a stable enough food source to get harlequin.

I've got them in my 120 gallon sps dominant system it's also hooked up to a 100gallon grow out tub and I rarely ever see them show up in that one. When they do appear they go to the main display and if the shrimp don't have a meal in progress I've watched them run down the side of the tank after the ones I've dropped in. It's funny to watch especially with the bigger starfish, they will start jumping off the glass while I'm temp acclimating the bag that the starfish is in.

 

[taricha]

@taricha rock is from KP Aquatics, so Florida Keys I believe.

interestingly, a quick and not careful look, I don't see aquilonastra native to the caribbean or gulf of mexico @ISpeakForTheSeas might find better sources than me.
Suggests those are probably in KP aquatics system, rather than in the collection site.

I culture them in my sump for my blue linckia stars

wait, blue linkias can be raised on tiny aquilonastra? never heard that. awesome.

 

[toi_ss]

interestingly, a quick and not careful look, I don't see aquilonastra native to the caribbean or gulf of mexico @ISpeakForTheSeas might find better sources than me.
Suggests those are probably in KP aquatics system, rather than in the collection site.

wait, blue linkias can be raised on tiny aquilonastra? never heard that. awesome.

I read it somewhere online in a few places and my blue linkias are doing great, also there is nothing else in the tank that I think would eat the aquilonastra/asterina stars and I do have to add more every couple weeks.

 

[harlequinfanaticyert]

I've got them in my 120 gallon sps dominant system it's also hooked up to a 100gallon grow out tub and I rarely ever see them show up in that one. When they do appear they go to the main display and if the shrimp don't have a meal in progress I've watched them run down the side of the tank after the ones I've dropped in. It's funny to watch especially with the bigger starfish, they will start jumping off the glass while I'm temp acclimating the bag that the starfish is in.

How would yo go about “breeding” them?

 

[KrAt0s]

How would yo go about “breeding” them?

I guess you can basically frag them since they reproduce by splitting but I’m still waiting for the one I found to start splitting in my QT tank. Only thing reproducing in there so far is ten million copepods that I swear are annoying my Royal Gramma

 

[Paul B]

Free Livestock.

 

[Tonycass12]

How would yo go about “breeding” them?

I dont, I would like to have them eradicated but I would need at least 1 harlequin in each part of my system. The harlequin only live in my 120gal display. I've got a 40 gallon sump and a 100gallon grow out tub attached to that sump as well. I've tried moving them in the past and they will get the tank they are in to the point that you question if any are left after a while but the dang starfish always seem to come back once the shrimp are gone.

 

[KrAt0s]

Free Livestock.

Just amazing how they can multiply so quickly and be so hardy! Great pic. I’m still at 1!

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

interestingly, a quick and not careful look, I don't see aquilonastra native to the caribbean or gulf of mexico @ISpeakForTheSeas might find better sources than me.
Suggests those are probably in KP aquatics system, rather than in the collection site.

wait, blue linkias can be raised on tiny aquilonastra? never heard that. awesome.

I read it somewhere online in a few places and my blue linkias are doing great, also there is nothing else in the tank that I think would eat the aquilonastra/asterina stars and I do have to add more every couple weeks.

Yeah, to my knowledge, no Aquilonastra populations are documented along the US coasts. So, they're either invasive (Edit: i.e. recently established populations that haven't been documented yet) or in the system.

Blue Linckias can be kept on Aquilonastra stars for a time, yes (they usually drive the Aquilonastras to extinction/near extinction within a few years and then starve though). For people determined to keep them, I usually suggest trying to farm Aquilonastras, sponges, and tunicates to feed the stars (but at this point, I still don't recommend keeping them; the longest I've seen them live even with these food sources is like 4-5 years).