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MrViper 
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 Topic: Starfish
Posted: April 02 2015 at 9:18am |
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I have a bunch of little starfish, bluish gray in color....are they a problem...I see them around many of my corals....if they are bad guys...what's the best wat to get rid of them
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Vipers look cool at a distant, but be careful of the bite..its a killer!
Still to many cool stuff not enough money
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Jeremyw
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Posted: April 02 2015 at 9:19am |
Probably Brittle Starfish. Not bad at all. I actually used to by them off people to put in my tank.
Are you going to the meeting tonight? Forest is an expert on Star fish.
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DMower
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Posted: April 02 2015 at 9:51am |
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If they are bluish gray asterinas, kill them, kill them as fast as you can! That color has been eating my zoanthids along with the beneficial cleaning they do. Easiest way is to pull them out one at a time.
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150 gal reef with 50 gal sump. Reef Octopus DCS-200 Skimmer. AI Sol Blues.
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: April 02 2015 at 4:04pm |
Both the short, thick arm Asterina Star and the long, thin arm Brittle Star reproduce in our tanks.
Here is an Asterina Star on the glass doing it's main job. 
Here is a Mini Brittle Star doing the spawning thing. 
BTW, Sea Stars are not fish.
Aloha, Mark  |
Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks:www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
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Will Spencer
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Posted: April 02 2015 at 7:35pm |
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Typically Asterina Star like the ones in Mark's pic are good to have in your tank. From the reading I have done the bluish colored ones are the most likely of them to become problems by eating corals. I used to have MANY Asterina's in my tank and never had a problem, but if found blue ones instead of white ones I personally would start pulling them out.
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ReefdUp
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Posted: April 02 2015 at 7:39pm |
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There's really no way to tell if those Asterinas are good or bad until it's really obvious which they are. I've had bad white ones, good blue ones, and horrid speckled ones...in addition to the good white ones, bad blue ones, and every other color and temperament.
Please don't get a harlequin shrimp to eat them, unless you're willing to supplement its diet with large starfish. Manual removal is best if you don't want the starfish.
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Diving since 2009, reefkeeping since 2007, & fishkeeping since 1987
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ReefdUp
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Posted: April 02 2015 at 7:41pm |
 Mark Peterson wrote:
BTW, Sea Stars are not fish. |
Oh good luck with that uphill battle. That's worse than trying to get kids to stop calling every clownfish, "Nemo". Kid: Nemo, Nemo Mommy! Mommy: No hunny, that's an ocellaris. Can you say ocellaris? Kid: NEMO!!!
Edited by ReefdUp - April 02 2015 at 7:42pm
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www.reefdup.com
Diving since 2009, reefkeeping since 2007, & fishkeeping since 1987
200g, 75g, & 15g Systems
PADI Advanced Open Water
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: April 03 2015 at 4:58am |
 Yeah, last night Forest Gahn, the Echinoderm specialist, talked about "Starfish". Not once do I remember hearing him use the term "Sea Stars" or "Stars". Oh well. 
Forest was an informative and entertaining speaker. His recounting of the voyages in the DIY submarine were hilarious.
Aloha
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Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks:www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member
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MrViper
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Posted: April 03 2015 at 11:00am |
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They are not brittle...i like them...these are more like the asterna's but are not white...
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Vipers look cool at a distant, but be careful of the bite..its a killer!
Still to many cool stuff not enough money
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MrViper
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Posted: April 03 2015 at 11:04am |
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And I agree...no harlequin i didnt want to have to feed it more star fish...i been pulling them out as i see them...
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Vipers look cool at a distant, but be careful of the bite..its a killer!
Still to many cool stuff not enough money
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ctreeftank
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Posted: April 06 2015 at 1:38pm |
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Mark i did a paper on the effect of finding nemo on the marine ecosystem my senoir year in marine bio class
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