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| Atlanta Reef Club The reef club for Atlanta and surrounding areas |
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07-12-2005, 11:01 PM
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#1
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Little Fishy
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Roswell
Posts: 102
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Baby starfish?!?
I have a sand- sifting starfish - just one. My daughter spotted several "baby" starfish on the side of my tank that fell off the glass and disappeared into the sand. Is it possible that they could be babies? I noticed one of them has 7 arms, not five. Info on the web was spotty.
Thanks in advance,
Mark
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75g reef, pair maroon clowns, flame goby, crocea clam, shrooms, zoos, caps, elephant ear mushroom, Sebae anemone, candy cane, green star polyps, frogspawn
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07-12-2005, 11:29 PM
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#2
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Little Fishy
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 195
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It is normal to see small starfish that come with live rock and live sand around the tank every now and then. I would think that they were just hitch-hikers and not from your bigger sand sifting starfish
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~Brian
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07-12-2005, 11:38 PM
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#3
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Little Fishy
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Roswell
Posts: 102
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I haven't added anything to the tank in many months, other than some new cleanup crews from Kevin Holder. Could they have hitched a ride with the new crew? Having some "free" starfish is cool.
Thanks.
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75g reef, pair maroon clowns, flame goby, crocea clam, shrooms, zoos, caps, elephant ear mushroom, Sebae anemone, candy cane, green star polyps, frogspawn
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07-13-2005, 07:42 AM
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#4
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Phish Phan
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Smyrna, GA
Posts: 1,137
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I have seen two types of the "baby" starfish (actually hitch-hikers). Both white. One has sort of thicker arms and body and is around a nickel in size. The other type has really thin, spaghetti-like arms and very small center section. With the arms, they may be more of a quarter (or maybe half-dollar) in size. The former move about extremely slow and the latter move about more quickly. Neither one has caused any problems at all in my tanks.
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07-13-2005, 08:16 PM
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#5
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Little Fishy
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Woodstock, GA
Posts: 71
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We also have both of those. The serpent-type ones only come out at night.
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07-13-2005, 10:00 PM
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#6
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Resting & Relaxing :-)
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Alpharetta, GA
Posts: 546
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In my tanks and sump in the "crab room" I have tons of the small stars and small seperents as well. Hard to catch them out though. Likely got a few freebies that hitched a ride with your order. Not a bad deal huh?
I actually have a lot of these guys in my display tank upstairs and love seeing them come out to parade around the tank.
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Thanks,
Kevin
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07-13-2005, 11:22 PM
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#7
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I've got the REEF rash!
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 34,144
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Yea it's neat there so tiny.It's alway nice to find free good stuff!
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07-14-2005, 02:36 AM
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#8
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Plankton
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Atlanta, GA
Posts: 29
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Ophiurids (baby brittles) are perfect for reef tanks. Some species are actually live bearing! Asterina folium (the small fat armed guys) have been known to reproduce prolifically ( Harlequin shrimp food) and some say they eat coral (not known for sure). |
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07-14-2005, 09:36 AM
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#9
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Big Fishy
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Atlanta, GA
Posts: 921
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There is a nusiance member, a very small white Asterina sp. starfish. http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/20...ture/index.htm
Typically asymetrical with an odd number of legs. I have found them feasting on a dead fish [from a separate cause] and on the glass or under rocks. Although you did not notice them until recently, they could have lived quite comfortably and out of sight for months. |
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04-09-2009, 05:51 PM
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#10
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squid
Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 1
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baby stars
i have two sand sifters that seem to spend most of the time ontop of one and each another they dont do much else. but few months ago we see very small spots on the glass and rocks then realised they were baby star fish. im not 100% sure but id say they were from my sand sifters and not hikers as i too have not added anything to my tank in a very long time.
now they have got bigger for the eye to see and id say theres about 200 of them although they grow very slow. some started of with odd shaped bodys and looked like splats of white paint on glass and others had extra legs but the bigger ones seem to be looking ok i just assumed they sort themself out in the end. you can see suction pads on the legs and they start to get their greyish colour as they develop.
however i am keeping a close eye on them as i do have a reef tank and i too have hurd there could be a hiker that eats corals. i will let you know when i find out for sure!
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