Asterina Star?

[CluelessInNY]

I found a little guy on my glass this afternoon...looks like a tiny starfish, but not are well-defined. I think it's an Asterina Star....is this a bad thing? Should I take it out? From teh description on Xtalreef, it splits into other stars....any idea how many of these I'll get?

 

[Ziggy953]

As long as you see them climbing around on your glass or rock work they are fine. It's the kind that you see on your corals you need to worry about. I have tons of them in my system and have seen no ill effects from them. If you don't like the look of them remove them I consider them part of my clean up crew.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Ditto what Ziggy said.

 

[CluelessInNY]

Thanks guys. I've been told that these little critters I've been finding and stressing over a good sign that my tank is healthy, so I'll stop stressing and enjoy the variety of marine life thriving in my little world
Youy guys are great!

 

[cmor1701d]

These things are great. I have a bunch of them running around the tank.

 

[melosu58]

I have hundreds no matter how many I give away. LOL. They are OK and wont harm your tank.

 

[roka64]

Cmor, it looks like one has SIX legs....mybe the 4 leaf clover of stars.

 

[Innovator]

My only advice to be wary of their numbers as they are varied feeders.

 

[CluelessInNY]

I have no corals for them to munch on, so if they help keep my glass clean, I am plenty happy I also have a bright pink/purple bristleworm that has gotten pretty large, so I am happy to see so many new forms of marine life in my tank

 

[ryshark]

In my tank I dont have too many of that species of stars, but I do have a ton of the MINI BRITTLE STARS

The only reason I know this, is because when I vacuum the substrate during pwc I notice a bunch of them in the bottom of my bucket. I try to save some with a spoon and put them back it the tank because I feel bad for them, but it is hard to do because if I can scoop one up, I usually scoop out a bunch of the detrius that I vacuumed out too.

 

[cmor1701d]

Yep, 6 legs, some with only 2 <g>. They are a misshapen lot!

 

[roka64]

Lol!