small star fish

Question
Hello,

Small star fish are appearing in my 55 gallon tank. I have to pick out 30-50 every week. How do I get rid of them?

Thanks
Steve

Answer
Hello Steve,

I am not sure what kind of starfish you are having in your tank, but, if they are ASTERINA starfish, they are okay, and usually a good sign things are going well.

But, if you want to get rid of them, you can do several things;

First off, reduce the food source.  They eat algae.  Work on reducing nitrates, and phosphates.  Skim more, or skim wet, and do more water changes.

You can buy a predator, but it will eat all starfish, not just the small ones, so if you have cleaner starfish or other critters, they will not stop till they are full, and they eat a ton...

The shrimp you would want to eat the starfish is a Harlequin Shrimp.  They are pretty, but voracious eaters, and not for the faint of heart as they pluck the 'feet' out/off the starfish.


I have tons of the starfish in my tank, and 'paint' them on my glass, but cleaning the glass but leaving the algae in certain areas, like painting a tree, or the ying/yang sign.

The starfish will migrate to the areas i DIDN'T clean..


So, if you want to reduce the starfish population you could just clean your glass more often.


Please let us know how things work out for you.




Mr. Bill