Why do some reefers hate these little guys?

[Fish Fan]

Am I the only one who doesn’t know what these are? Other than obviously some kind of starfish lol

Possibly

Asterina stars, a hitchhiker commonly found on live rock.

Asterina starfish, an introduction to this common reef aquarium critter | Reef Builders | The Reef and Saltwater Aquarium Blog

Have you ever wondered what that itsy bitsy starfish is doing in your tank? The sneaky starfish probably hitchhiked its way in on some live rock or new coral, but now there are dozens of small grayish…

reefbuilders.com

 

[JonoH]

Am I the only one who doesn’t know what these are? Other than obviously some kind of starfish lol

Asterina Starfish

 

[Koty]

I have one type of these starfish and my tank is loaded with them. They do help clean the tank glasses. I think that they did eliminate my sponge population but not completely sure

 

[Lavey29]

From what I’ve read people always say they’re invasive and multiply a lot but personally I like looking at them

Mine have never gotten invasive or damaging to coral. I guess I just got cute friendly ones.

 

[polarbeard]

Possibly

Asterina stars, a hitchhiker commonly found on live rock.

Asterina starfish, an introduction to this common reef aquarium critter | Reef Builders | The Reef and Saltwater Aquarium Blog

Have you ever wondered what that itsy bitsy starfish is doing in your tank? The sneaky starfish probably hitchhiked its way in on some live rock or new coral, but now there are dozens of small grayish…

reefbuilders.com

Thanks. My newbie is showing lol

 

[Fish Styx]

Thanks. My newbie is showing lol

At some point, the rest of us all asked the same question. We all start somewhere.

 

[sawdonkey]

I’ve had these in my tank forever. The population ebbs and flows. Sometimes, it seems they are covering 40-50% of my rockwork. Hundreds of them on the glass in the mornings. Fight now, they don’t seem too bad in my tank. Yes I’ve seen them eat zoas (I don’t keep zoas though). I hate them misty because they are aesthetically ugly when the population explodes.

 

[EricR]

I think they are cute and an intricate part of the overall biome.

I like your 7-armed guy,,, looks pretty cool.

I witnessed a nice display at my LFS go from awesome looking to covered in them in between visits (((not sure how long,,, but a couple/few weeks))).

I only ever found 1 tiny one on a frag once and felt really bad but discarded:

 

[Fish Fan]

Thanks. My newbie is showing lol

At some point, the rest of us all asked the same question. We all start somewhere.

Absolutely! The only "silly" question is the one left unanswered

 

[VintageReefer]

Absolutely! The only "silly" question is the one left unanswered

Found this starfish on my liverock and then taking a break on a coral colony. He parked there a while, must have been tired! When he finally left there was a big indentation! Waiting for it to fluff back up.

Anyone know the name of this friendly guy?

 

[Fish Fan]

Found this starfish on my liverock and then taking a break on a coral colony. He parked there a while, must have been tired! When he finally left there was a big indentation! Waiting for it to fluff back up.

Anyone know the name of this friendly guy?

Wow! I mean, that has to be a different family than the Asterna stars I've seen. Plus what @exnisstech posted above. I have never seen stars like these, and if I did, I think I may want them more than corals lol!

Thank you for your reply buddy

 

[Lavey29]

Found this starfish on my liverock and then taking a break on a coral colony. He parked there a while, must have been tired! When he finally left there was a big indentation! Waiting for it to fluff back up.

Anyone know the name of this friendly guy?

Looks more like a type of nudibranch

 

[VintageReefer]

Ok I’m kidding! It’s a crown of thorn starfish and it’s primary diet is corals! Googled for the image

I was just making a silly question

 

[Fish Fan]

Ok I’m kidding! It’s a crown of thorn starfish and it’s primary diet is corals! Googled for the image

I was just making a silly question

Stop! Just stop! lol!!

 

[Fish Fan]

Ok I’m kidding! It’s a crown of thorn starfish and it’s primary diet is corals! Googled for the image

I was just making a silly question

I was seriously reconsidering everything I've ever known about an Asterina star.....

.......Grrrrrr VR LOL!

 

[VintageReefer]

Stop! Just stop! lol!!

Found cat can anyone ID breed ?

 

[VintageReefer]

I was seriously reconsidering everything I've ever known about an Asterina star.....

.......Grrrrrr VR LOL!

Documented story

Exosphere’s vanishing - losing colony need help

No idea here everyone Bought a colony of 25 heads of exosphere. Looked very healthy. Within a few days I was down to 15. Looked like all the lower and smaller ones melted and turned to mush. I dipped it in revive and coral rx and gave a light scrubbing with a soft brush and got all the mush...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Fish Fan]

Found cat can anyone ID breed ?

Holy cats, Bat Man!

Thanks for your help here

 

[Fish Fan]

@VintageReefer, I differ to you and your experience, and I appreciate your help here as always

There must be different groups of these stars that superficially look-a-like. Some report that they are harmless algae-eaters, while some say they feast on their corals. I am thinking that it's a wide ranging group of animals that we are all considering as one, superficially.

Thank you for your help!

 

[VintageReefer]

26 genera. Most need a specialist to distinguish. Many eat zoanthids

ZOANTHID WARS PART I: THE ASTERINA CONSPIRACY

I'm reporting from an ongoing battle that started few days before the Spring swap. My aquarium was in its high peak, every citizen of that little coral

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