Starfish

[PaBucsFan]

Hello everyone,

My girlfriend's brother in law has a saltwater tank and discovered a young starfish this morning. I have not seen it but he said it only has three legs or arms. I have never had a saltwater tank and he has never had a starfish so we have no knowledge as to how to take care of the starfish. Does he need to do anything special to help this little guy grow and thrive in the tank?

 

[seffieuk]

to the salty side of TFF

I suspect that what he has is an asterina - if so it is a normal and mostly harmless member of the cuc and will not need to be fed it is normal for them not to have as many legs as you expect or indeed to have little stumps.


Seffie x

 

[PaBucsFan]

Thank you for the quick response! He is looking up photos of it right now to compare. Judging from the pictures I saw off of google images I would assume you are correct. So the asterina just eats stuff already in the tank?

 

[seffieuk]

So the asterina just eats stuff already in the tank?

Yes and some eat a small amount of coraline, which is actually good for the rock there is one type that has been known to eat coral, but don't ever remember anyone having that sort in their tank

Seffie x

 

[-Nemo-]

agree with seffie, they are harmless.
Expect more to come! They multiply like crazy. That's why they have odd amounts of arms actually, they drop off arms to make more starfish.

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Yeah as above really. I have tons in my tanks now and they don't do any harm. As Seffie said there is one species that are coral munchers but I have never come across anyone that has ever actually had this species in their tanks.