Id please - Baby star

M

masta

[This critter came up on the glass last night durring my lights dusk (actinic only) phase. Previously a sand sifter disintigrated 2 months ago, but I scooped that thing out and flushed. Now I see this guy, so my theory is a sand sifter, but do those ever climb glass?

Aprox diameter is 1 cm, and this is taken with extreme macro lensing with no flash. Sorry for the poor quality. Click the image bellow to go to flickr for various sizes.



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[Unless you get the kind that eat SPS, likes some of mine. :( Apparently, if they are bluish, they are not safe. I've been collecting them lately.

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@matter1331 wrote:
[if ever decide to get rid of them you could always get a harlequin shrimp said:
[I thought about it actually, but I have a pair of serpent starfish I've had for about 2.5 years that I don't really want to have consumed.]
Click to expand...
 
[Aside from the 2 5-legged ones that Marc has Pictured, we've been referring to them as mutant Stars. I rarely see them get larger than 1/2" in diameter]
 
Here is some great info on these starfish...

http://www.garf.org/STAR/starfish.html

This quote from garf.org really makes these guys look bad!

 
Nice article Bill, Thanks! I recently acquired some from a coral purchase at the last frag swap and they have multiplied very quickly.
 
Asterina's are so cute. But they're all crazy looking with their different shaped legs...

...haven't had any pop up in my tank yet! Did have some itty bitty white brittle stars in my spaghetti algae.
 
I have tons of the astrinas, and they don't harm anything, but eat the algae on the glass.

The only harm is that one got stuck in the skimmer, and the skimmer wouldn't work right!
 
Marc,

What tool do you use to get these out of your tank? (I'm trying to not put my hand in the tank as much :) )
 
Are they blue or white? White ones = good, don't remove, blue ones = bad, remove - but they would be on your corals, and you would have to pry them off.
 
I have some 7" forceps (Premium Aquatics). They look like giant stainless steel tweezers.
 
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