Astrea Stars?

So I have just become aware that I have about 10 of these guys or so in various places around the tank. Their numbers are not growing, but it was quite staggering to suddenly notice something you have so many of in your tank that you had not previousely seen. They are all about half the size of a dime and the one in the photo here is on my font peice of glass. Observing it, looks like its just eating algea and after doing a bit of searching it seems to be Astrea Stars.

Mixed thoughts on wether they are bad or just ok to have, but it seems like the general concensus is as long as their not over running your tank then its not an issue. Should I be concerned about having 10 of these guys in my 72 gallon?

Thanks!

 

I wouldn't be concerned....I did state this in another post....I think they are cool.

 

I wouldnt be worried unless you start seeing them on Zoas. I had some that would love to munch on zoas which i had to catch and kill them.

 

I have never had a bad experience with them I say keep them until you see them efffff up and then you put a harlequin shrimp in there. That will fix them.

 

I actually just found some in my tank too! But unless they're at the base of your SPS or eating zoanthids or Palythoas you should be alright!

 

For future reference, I believe it's spelled "Asterina" Star.

 

I believe there was some confusion between Astrea snails chance.

If you start to see many more or ones that appear to be missing many legs or some legs you might want to think about population control early and often.

The simple algae grazing ones you see on the glass are usually harmless but can be the most prolific.

They reproduce via lateral fission so once they start dividing in a tank with a good food source it can become a problem.

One of my favorite little hitch hikers.

 

Pick up a Melanarius Wrasse, I had those stars as well as some Zoa eating Nudibranches that I noticed popping up on my glass and Zoas. I picked up this really colorful Wrasse, and within 3 days it ate all the nudibranches and stars

 

On my first tank I built, they started popping up here and there. Some were small and some were larger, but none the less I always picked them off the glass and rocks. Good or bad, I feel safe from them attacking my corals or taking over your tank. You are bound to have some whether you know it or not so why not pick them off when you see them. These suckers do multiply!

 

Thanks everyone for your replies! I picked out about 40 of them and it does seem to have significantly reduce the population of these buggers and the reproduction rate for that matter. It now takes me five minutes to find one apposed to five seconds!