starfish?

[caseyjaydarling]

Anybody know what this is? I found it in the tank last night when the lights were off....never seen it before. The dorsal side looks like a blob of sand. It is about as big as a dime.

[Doctor_Reef]

Looks like a standard Mini-Star...they get up to a maximum of 1 inch in diameter...and most are totally reef safe and good for your system!!!

Yup....asterina mini-star. They reproduce by dividing themself in two. GARF.org claims that they are coral-eaters but I've had them in tanks for years and never ONCE saw them bothering a coral.

I'll let you decide for yourself. http://www.reefs.org/library/article/coral_eating_starfish.html There's a link on that page that links to GARF's deadly corals but mine have never been that asymetrical. Rob Toonen also comments that GARF's were much larger than most asterinas so it is likely not the same starfish.

Yours looks like the kind that I've always had....much more symetrical.

[Doctor_Reef]

Yup...GARF...does claim that but as with Mantisfreak I have had these in my tanks for years and never saw one eat a coral or even bother a coral...I would be in agreement that these are safe in your tank...:)

[newtofish]

I also have lots of those little guys in my tank. I have never noticed anything bad from these.

[FishinInTheDark]

Hearty little things too: My daughter's preschool class is studying the ocean, and instead of just sending her in with an old shell, I grabbed an asterina star and popped it in a tupperware container with some tankwater. It made the trip to school, survived being jostled and handled by a bunch of preschoolers, got home and I forgot to put it back for a couple of hours, and it still lived.

[romunov]

No professional has taken the task of identifying the "coral eating" and "safe" asterinas. So until then, it is best to observe them, and if they don't pose any problems, there is no need to panic. :D

[Solarflare8806]

I will just say that I had dozens of them in my tank when I first got my live rock and sand. They seem to eat meaty foods, I give them muscel and cockel

[Sugar Magnolia]

LOL...there goes that crazy censor again!

[Solarflare8806]

lol, why did it do that? I didn't write anything bad.

[Sugar Magnolia]

Hehe, if you accidentally spell a word wrong and it resembles aanother word that is censored, it wil replace that word with the "expletive deleted".

Oh sure....that's a likely story.

JUST KIDDING!!!

The censor won't let me tell you my favorite type of mantis. Watch. My favorite mantis is a peacock mantis.

[Sugar Magnolia]

I know exactly what kind of mantis you like. :D

Now quit that. :razz:

[romunov]

Pea cook mantis? :)