My 29 reef is teeming with tiny starfish. They are mostly all smaller than 4mm (1/4"), some larger, up to about 11mm (1/2"), white with bluish grey centers. There are hundreds of them. They don't seem to be doing any damage, since they've been in there for about a year now. My girlfriend loves inverts, shrimp especially. Would a Harlequinn shrimp eat these? They seem to reproduce rapidly, so do you think that they would keep up with a hungry Harlequinn shrimp? I really don't want to have a mess in there by feeding the Harlequinn with larger starfish.
Tiny starfish explosion, Harlequinn shrimp?
- Thread starter manowar669
- Start date
They sound like asterina starfish too me, as they are the most common star to explode in this manner in the tank. Harlequins are a good choice to keep the population under control. However, once the population is under control, you will then have to ensure that a proper diet exists for the harlequin shrimp...
And to follow-on to what Reefscape stated...when your out of Asternia, it will be time to buy some Chocolate Chip Starfish as the supplemental food source.
I choose just to pick them out of the system. I have a 125 DT and I pull at least 20-30 every three weeks and still can see quite a few remaining.
I choose just to pick them out of the system. I have a 125 DT and I pull at least 20-30 every three weeks and still can see quite a few remaining.
hmmm, i wonder if you could set up some kinda safe haven for a dozen or so stars to keep the population up...
You would need WAY more than a dozen. I have one in my 10 gallon. Every sunday when i work I grab as many as I can find (about 30-40, perhaps?) and throw them in my tank. But I am harvesting out of a lot of tanks. Granted, not all of them are completely infested, but still.
How long do you think it would take for a single Harlequinn to eat about 100 little starfish? I'm sure there's several hundred or thousand in this tank.