starfish everywhere

peanuts183 · 01/21/2008, 11:39 AM

I have dozens of small white starfish is my tank. They are probably 1/4 to 1/2 inch is size. There are alot of them in my sand bed. Can any one tell me what they are, or if they are harmful or not? Sorry no pic.

phenom5 · 01/21/2008, 11:46 AM

First guess would be Asterina starfish.

Do they look like this?

Common hitchhiker, generally harmless.

peanuts183 · 01/21/2008, 02:57 PM

No, they are all white, but the have a very definate round body and small fine legs. They look a lot like miniture brittle stars to me. That is why I am concerned. I have never had a star fish in my tank. They would have had to hitchhike in on something else.

OranguTang · 01/21/2008, 02:59 PM

I had probably hundreds if not more of those in my old tank. Up for 3 years no problems....(the small brittle stars I mean).

peanuts183 · 01/21/2008, 03:03 PM

cool thanks

jlt23 · 01/21/2008, 03:33 PM

Don't mean to hi-jack but if you had a lot of asterina stars would they cause a problem. I would love to get a harlequin shrimp to take care of them but once they are done, i think feeding them starfish will really make my water funky.

Dubbin1 · 01/21/2008, 04:33 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by phenom5

Common hitchhiker, generally harmless.

Keep in mind that some do eat corals.

01/21/2008, 11:39 AM	#1
peanuts183 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Anderson, IN Posts: 13	starfish everywhere I have dozens of small white starfish is my tank. They are probably 1/4 to 1/2 inch is size. There are alot of them in my sand bed. Can any one tell me what they are, or if they are harmful or not? Sorry no pic.

01/21/2008, 11:46 AM	#2
phenom5 Unregistered Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Arizona Posts: 5,096	First guess would be Asterina starfish. Do they look like this? Common hitchhiker, generally harmless. __________________ Rob Current Tank Info: DSA 155 Pro \| ATI Sunpower \| ATB 840 v2 \| Apex \| Wav

01/21/2008, 02:59 PM	#4
OranguTang NULL Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 977	I had probably hundreds if not more of those in my old tank. Up for 3 years no problems....(the small brittle stars I mean). __________________ -Marc

01/21/2008, 02:57 PM	#3
peanuts183 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Anderson, IN Posts: 13	No, they are all white, but the have a very definate round body and small fine legs. They look a lot like miniture brittle stars to me. That is why I am concerned. I have never had a star fish in my tank. They would have had to hitchhike in on something else.

01/21/2008, 03:03 PM	#5
peanuts183 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Anderson, IN Posts: 13	cool thanks

01/21/2008, 03:33 PM	#6
jlt23 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Tustin, CA Posts: 712	Don't mean to hi-jack but if you had a lot of asterina stars would they cause a problem. I would love to get a harlequin shrimp to take care of them but once they are done, i think feeding them starfish will really make my water funky.