Hitchiker

[XxVooDooxX]

So I was sitting in front of my tank just watching (as I do most of my time) and one of the LR I put on about a week ago, I noticed some movement. Out came a starfish! About 1/4 inch at most and white/grey in color. Amazing that it seems like nothing happens for so long then all of a sudden.....BOOM so much life! I'm so excited!

 

[Jaybird]

Keep watching. It can take years before you see all of the hitchhikers.

 

[XxVooDooxX]

Haha, that's all I do is watch. I love it!

 

[XxVooDooxX]

Will an emerald crab mess with it?

 

[PrettyFishies]

Emeralds are pretty peaceful. They, like all crabs, are opportunistic. So, if the starfish dies and comes in the path if the emerald, the emerald will probably eat it. I have little stars and two emeralds. No problems yet.

 

[Flake]

Sounds like asterina starfish. They're all over my tanks. I love them! My emerald has yet to eat all of them. They tend to be good at multiplying.

 

[XxVooDooxX]

Cool! How big do they get?

 

[XxVooDooxX]

ok so I was looking at pics of them on google and from what I see the asterina stars have five arms but not equal sizes. The one I saw in my tank have five arms yes, but they were all uniform and it was one of those stars that look like the arms are slightly webs together

 

[Flake]

I've had my biggest at maybe a half inch? They usually split before that. Mine are usually running around with 3 or 7 arms.

 

[Jaybird]

They can come and go in your tank. I used to have quite a few in my tank but haven't seen a single one for a long, long time now. They have probably died off.

 

[XxVooDooxX]

And some eat corals and others eat algae right? I don't have any corals yet so I'm not worried about it. It's just fun to see things come out!

 

[Jaybird]

Yes, there are some that eat corals and others that eat algae. The normal asterina won't harm anything in your tank.