starfish taking over

[cmyers629]

can anyone help! i have a small gray with some black starfish that is spreading fast. they seem to be on everything. i think there taking over.

[aquawolf]

Welcome to TRT!!!

Are they symmetrical with thick little bodies like this:


If so then they are a type of Asterina star. I have seen these ones eating zoanthids before, so I remove as many as I can when I am doing water changes. Someone else may have some other ideas for you as well.

[Loverotties]

Welcome to TRT! Can you take a pic of them?

[Mindsgoneawol]

man.. i got those too.. got me soo mad .. i am about to pull my critters and corals and nuke my tanks. they ate all my zoos.. little creeps..

would be nice to know how to get rid of them other than by hand.. ugg.. i really hate starfish. all starfish at that.. lol.. wonder if harlquin shrimp will eat them???

[aquawolf]

I have heard some people say that Harlequin Shrimp will eat them. Of course, once they finish them off then you either have to trade them in or start buying other starfish for them to eat. Tough call at that point.

[cmyers629]

YES! That's them! Sounds like I'm in for a pain. Thanks for info.

[biowheel]

Welcome to TRT !!

[luther1200]

I had a problem with them. I bought a Harliquin shrimp and he took care of them. After about 4-6 months he ate most of them. So I started buying a small CC star to feed him every 4-6 weeks. I have had him for over a year now and I still have a few of those little starfish. But he eats them in between my feedings.

[YLChik]

This is as good a solution as any unless of course you have fish in the tank that will eat shrimp

[crvz]

I've had a harlequin in my tank for about a month now, and while he's helping control the population, I doubt he'll succeed in eliminating them. how many are you talking about?

[Roflberrypwncakes]

buy a shrimp or start tearing them out, certain ones eat coralline, so unless u want ur coralline bleached, get em... getem!!!!

[Mindsgoneawol]

i know my tank is infested big time. i guess i might see about getting a pair. provided i can figure out which is male and which is female.. lol.. i planned to get some anyway. if they don't work i guess i won't be out of much.. and yes.. i know its about impossibe to sex them..

[cmyers629]

I have them pretty bad. I will get a pair of shrimp and im taking out all i can by vacum into a filter bag.

[luther1200]

I had a lot of them. And I only have a few now. I actually have to look for them to find any. And I think if I fed the HS less he would get the numbers down even lower. He can smell them or something. As soon as I put in the CC he comes running from where ever he is in the tank. Its pretty cool to watch.