treesprite June 7, 2014 Share June 7, 2014 I bought a couple nice frags of zoas from a LFS about a week ago. The next day they were fine. But then next morning guess what I was picking off of them? Every time I look at the tank, those nasty asterinas are on those zoas, and I keep having to pick them off. Most of the zoanthids are destroyed now, and the rest looking bad. This is in spite of the fact that when I took out my rock, I took out about 95% of the asterinas with it. It seems no matter how few of those beasts there are, they still gang up on zoanthids, so no one can convince me that they don't purposefully seek out zoanthids on which to prey. It is the ones that are slightly puffy and have gray backs. The ones that are all white and have more pointy legs have never done anything questionably bad. I need to get a nardoa star to eat them. I have been trying to find one in a LFS for years and still haven't. If anyone knows where to get one, let me know please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildcrazyjoker81 June 7, 2014 Share June 7, 2014 Why not a harlequin shrimp or two? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treesprite June 7, 2014 Author Share June 7, 2014 I have a serpent star in my tank and would rather not have some shrimp trying to eat it. I also don't want to keep harlequins because they will eventually run out of food and starve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k June 7, 2014 Share June 7, 2014 I have Nardoa stars in 3 tanks and if they are eating Asterinas, they are the least efficient at doing so. They seem to be eating algal films more than anything. Harlequin Shrimp pair is your best bet- sell them when the Asterinas are gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami June 7, 2014 Share June 7, 2014 The harlequin shouldn't bother the serpent star. Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treesprite June 7, 2014 Author Share June 7, 2014 (edited) The harlequin shouldn't bother the serpent star. Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk From what I was reading about them, they don't care how big the starfish is, they will try to pick at it. Rob, do you know where those folks got the nardoas? Edited June 7, 2014 by treesprite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami June 7, 2014 Share June 7, 2014 I had some years ago. They took out the Asterina and left the brittle star alone. Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 June 8, 2014 Share June 8, 2014 They will eat any tube feet they can get, which could include other echinoderms like urchins or ophiuroids if they are hungry enough. Since serpent and brittle stars do not have tube feet in their arms (at least not to the extent that a seastar does) they are probably not a preferred prey item for a harlequin. That said, if they are hungry enough, they will probably attempt to eat it, but since harlequins feed by flipping a seastar over and then eating the tube feet as the seastar tries to right itself and exposes and extends its tube feet, ophiuroids are better equipped to escape since they use their arms to move very quickly and won't expose their tube feet to escape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami June 8, 2014 Share June 8, 2014 That said, it's probably the reason why many people, as myself, have kept brittle stars in the same tank with a harlequin. Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkey18 June 8, 2014 Share June 8, 2014 I also have an asterinia problem. they are at plaque proportions, although my zoas are doing fine. What kind of predators do I have to worry about eating the harlequin shrimp? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 June 8, 2014 Share June 8, 2014 Anything that actively eats shrimp is a possibility. They are rather small, slow moving, and would rather dance around than flee or attack. That said, most common reef fish will leave them alone. I had mine with a large Imperator that would eat shrimp that were introduced too quickly (if I didn't get them directly into the rock work when they were introduced he would nail them as they drifted down) but he had no interest in them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami June 9, 2014 Share June 9, 2014 ^^ That reminds me of a trick that I'd use to introduce shrimp to my tank with a bit more protection: I'd take a 1-1/2" or 2" length of PVC pipe, direct it towards the bottom of the tank behind the rock work, and pour the acclimated shrimp into the tank. This way, they had protection all the way to the bottom where they could scurry off into hiding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treesprite June 9, 2014 Author Share June 9, 2014 (edited) Have you guys had them in a tank with skunk cleaner shrimp and/or fire shrimp? Also, how hard would they be to catch when they run out of food? Edited June 9, 2014 by treesprite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 June 9, 2014 Share June 9, 2014 They are fine with both. I have also had them with coral banded shrimp (which have never been problems for me) and they would often cross paths. In terms of ease of removal, if you need to get them out the easiest way is at night. They will spend most of the day hidden away. You can also use a chunk of seastar to catch them by getting them out in the open. They are not very fast and don't flee with much urgency, either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sen5241b June 9, 2014 Share June 9, 2014 I had the same asterinas -hteones with a bluish grayish patch. I picked every one out using tweezers until they were gone. Haven't seen any in a couple years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami June 9, 2014 Share June 9, 2014 They didn't bother skunk cleaners or peppermints in my tank. Insofar as removal is concerned, I fed it arms taken from a stock of chocolate chip stars when its job was nearly done. It learned to take the arm from tongs when I presented it. It made it easy to capture this way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treesprite June 11, 2014 Author Share June 11, 2014 Ok, thanks for the info guys, I will think about it some more. One of the stars I picked off the wall yesterday was actually black on it's back instead of just gray. It was one of the biggest I have ever seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newfishgirl June 11, 2014 Share June 11, 2014 The harlequin shouldn't bother the serpent star. Sent from my ADR6425LVW using Tapatalk I have a brittle star and my harlequin doesn't go any where near it. To be honest my shrimp generally stays in one spot. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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