New zoas, new problems...

MHG · 05/07/2013, 07:19 PM

So my reef has been up and running for about 20 months now. I have mostly sps and a few frogspawn and some zoas. Aside from the hundreds of mini brittle stars I have, there has been a steady increase in some other type of small star. I forget the name but I was told these are good ones and bad ones. They have a little orange spot on them and are kind of a speckled black spots on grey... Anyway they have been there from the beginning and other than eating my coraline I have never seen them hurt anything. I see them on my zoas once in a while but they seem harmless.

So at the latest frag swap I bought some orange navels from Jason fox and some fire and ice and fire and ice on steroids from pacific east aquaculture... One of them only opened for a couple of days and has been closed now for over a week. Today the closed one seems to be covered in those stars all day.

I guess could I have had the bad kind of these stars all this time and they are just now attacking things?

greech · 05/07/2013, 07:24 PM

Asterina stars?

I don't think they are eating your zoas. I think they are cleaning the closed polyps. Are the new zoas in an area of the tank where other zoas are doing well?

Ross33 · 05/07/2013, 07:29 PM

They sound like asterina stars and yes they are very likely eating your zoos. I lost lots of zoos to them before I figured it out

greech · 05/07/2013, 07:36 PM

I have never seen asterina go after any of my zoas and I have plenty of them. Good to know.

I would much rather deal with those than other pests. Conventional dips, siphoning and/or harlequin shrimp should rid them pretty quickly.

Ross33 · 05/07/2013, 08:14 PM

They are also very easy to remove by hand if they are big enough. Good luck. I removed about 5 a day for a couple months and now i very rarely see one

MHG · 05/07/2013, 08:29 PM

all my new and old zoas are near each other and all but one colony are doing fine. I get 3-5 of these stars splitting on my glass every morning...

MHG · 05/10/2013, 06:21 AM

Well they ate the one colony that was not opening clean off the plug. They also ate some of the new heads off of a colony that they have not touched in almost two years....

SaltWater226 · 05/10/2013, 07:12 AM

I have Asterina stars for over 4 yrs and never saw them eat my zoas. I do see them go on the zoas and clean algae off them but never harms them.

TankStudy · 05/10/2013, 07:54 AM

Might possibly be dead zoas. When my zoas die, my hermits will smell it and go clean out the dead zoas. They don't harm healthy frags but when a frag dies and balls up, the hermits will clean the frag out completely. My tank is heavily loaded with zoas so if they were zoa hungry it would be easy to tell. Might be what those stars are doing, cleaning out the dead frag.

mclevenger10 · 05/10/2013, 08:15 AM

Sometimes I find asterinas on my zoas, I am not sure if they are eating them or not, however, if its a small enough colony the asterinas keep the zoas closed while on them. Those not allowing them to feed. This is how I view it. I have tons of asterinas and have not had a problem. I just knock them off the corals!

MHG · 05/10/2013, 04:59 PM

Definetly eating zoas. Heads are missing.... Gonna get a harlequin shrimps tomorrow...

05/07/2013, 07:19 PM	#1
MHG Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 2,919	New zoas, new problems... So my reef has been up and running for about 20 months now. I have mostly sps and a few frogspawn and some zoas. Aside from the hundreds of mini brittle stars I have, there has been a steady increase in some other type of small star. I forget the name but I was told these are good ones and bad ones. They have a little orange spot on them and are kind of a speckled black spots on grey... Anyway they have been there from the beginning and other than eating my coraline I have never seen them hurt anything. I see them on my zoas once in a while but they seem harmless. So at the latest frag swap I bought some orange navels from Jason fox and some fire and ice and fire and ice on steroids from pacific east aquaculture... One of them only opened for a couple of days and has been closed now for over a week. Today the closed one seems to be covered in those stars all day. I guess could I have had the bad kind of these stars all this time and they are just now attacking things? __________________ MHG (LIRA Member) 60G Cube, Kessil 360's

05/07/2013, 07:24 PM	#2
greech Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Tallahassee, FL Posts: 3,133	Asterina stars? I don't think they are eating your zoas. I think they are cleaning the closed polyps. Are the new zoas in an area of the tank where other zoas are doing well? __________________ ~Graham Current Tank Info: Tank: 40 breeder; 20H sump w/SWC 120; Sicce 3.0 return; Vortech MP-10; Sundial T5, DIY Actinic LED (3W Cree). Livestock: Pair of Black & Whites; Midas Blenny; Firefish; Yasha/pistol; Black Leopard Wrasse; LPS and SPS

05/07/2013, 07:36 PM	#4
greech Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Tallahassee, FL Posts: 3,133	I have never seen asterina go after any of my zoas and I have plenty of them. Good to know. I would much rather deal with those than other pests. Conventional dips, siphoning and/or harlequin shrimp should rid them pretty quickly. __________________ ~Graham Current Tank Info: Tank: 40 breeder; 20H sump w/SWC 120; Sicce 3.0 return; Vortech MP-10; Sundial T5, DIY Actinic LED (3W Cree). Livestock: Pair of Black & Whites; Midas Blenny; Firefish; Yasha/pistol; Black Leopard Wrasse; LPS and SPS

05/07/2013, 08:29 PM	#6
MHG Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 2,919	all my new and old zoas are near each other and all but one colony are doing fine. I get 3-5 of these stars splitting on my glass every morning... __________________ MHG (LIRA Member) 60G Cube, Kessil 360's

05/10/2013, 06:21 AM	#7
MHG Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 2,919	Well they ate the one colony that was not opening clean off the plug. They also ate some of the new heads off of a colony that they have not touched in almost two years.... __________________ MHG (LIRA Member) 60G Cube, Kessil 360's

05/07/2013, 07:29 PM	#3
Ross33 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Texas, Lubbock Posts: 374	They sound like asterina stars and yes they are very likely eating your zoos. I lost lots of zoos to them before I figured it out

05/07/2013, 08:14 PM	#5
Ross33 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Texas, Lubbock Posts: 374	They are also very easy to remove by hand if they are big enough. Good luck. I removed about 5 a day for a couple months and now i very rarely see one

05/10/2013, 07:12 AM	#8
SaltWater226 Registered Member Join Date: May 2011 Location: Hell Posts: 352	I have Asterina stars for over 4 yrs and never saw them eat my zoas. I do see them go on the zoas and clean algae off them but never harms them.

05/10/2013, 07:54 AM	#9
TankStudy Registered Member Join Date: May 2013 Posts: 242	Might possibly be dead zoas. When my zoas die, my hermits will smell it and go clean out the dead zoas. They don't harm healthy frags but when a frag dies and balls up, the hermits will clean the frag out completely. My tank is heavily loaded with zoas so if they were zoa hungry it would be easy to tell. Might be what those stars are doing, cleaning out the dead frag.

05/10/2013, 08:15 AM	#10
mclevenger10 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Fresno, CA Posts: 165	Sometimes I find asterinas on my zoas, I am not sure if they are eating them or not, however, if its a small enough colony the asterinas keep the zoas closed while on them. Those not allowing them to feed. This is how I view it. I have tons of asterinas and have not had a problem. I just knock them off the corals! __________________ 1=.999999 think about it! 55 gallon reef tank, 25 gallon sump, Blue Tang, Clarki Clown, Six line wrasse, brittle star, GSP, trumpet coral, Purple Sea whip, many zoas! Current Tank Info: 55 gallon reef tank, I have 1 clarki clownfish, 1 Purple/Hippo Tank, 1 six line wrasse, 1 Sally Lightfooted crab, 1 yellow watchman gobie and a brittle star...more coming soon!

05/10/2013, 04:59 PM	#11
MHG Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 2,919	Definetly eating zoas. Heads are missing.... Gonna get a harlequin shrimps tomorrow... __________________ MHG (LIRA Member) 60G Cube, Kessil 360's