Removing Sea Stars From Tank

[JJ1234567]

what is the best way to get one of these guys out. Im trying to get 10-20 for a friends tank, but they get in the holes in the rock and I cant seem to get them. any suggestions?

 

[Navarre]

Are we talkging about the asterina stars?

If so then be careful, they can tunr i nto coral muinchers overnight.

 

[JJ1234567]

not sure exactly, they look like baby brittles. The live Rock I got just seems to be producing swarms of them.

 

[Chac]

Have a look on here at the asterina

http/www.xtalworld.com/Aquarium/hitchfaq.htm

As Nav says they are a Pain in the A**

I had to pick heaps out of an old tank on mine

 

[JJ1234567]

Thanks for the link Chac, I hadnt been able to find that one. I have a few of the asternia stars, only one or two. Mostly its the Mini Brittles. I wanted to give a dozen or so to a friend, and I cant figure out a good way to get them out. Ive been using a turkey baster to blow them out of the holes and then trying to catch them in mid air. This doesnt seem like an optimal way to do it.

 

[Navarre]

Drop some food onto the sand and wait for about 10 minutes after the lights go out. Then take a cup of sand where the food is and give this to your friend. Whilst it might not seem that he has anything, i can assure you he will have plenty of these stars to kickstart his population.

 

[bunjiweb]

If they are brittle starts then what you should do is get a small lid, like off a food container. Put a Sinking wafer of some sort in there, or sinking hikari pellets. Pop that in your tank after lights out and then leave it for an hour or so. After this time look into your tank and see how many have collected in the dish. You will probably find bristle-worms aswell. If you dont want them then remove them.

If they are Asternia stars, they are Coral eaters. I've taken 2 of these out of my tank after luckily spotting them on the back-glass. Well worth taking out if you see them but you are unlikely to find a way of "catching" them, you just have to keep an eye out.

Ben