Look at this starfish...

[Putty]

Showed up in my tank today. Haven't added anything new and have not seen it before..it's so small..I zoomed way in here.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v640/CLovaR1/7b86ea2c.jpg

[Deacon]

cool....

How big is it?

[Teddynola]

It's an asterina starfish, basically harmless but some say they eat coral. They can multiply into large numbers. I had quite a few after buying some new coral, but they went away on their own. Every once in a while, one will show up, but my harlequin shrimp makes quick business of them. HTH.

[PRDubois]

+1 - Asterina

[Putty]

cool....

How big is it?

Ya! It's smaller than a button on a shirt.

[girlygears13]

Be careful with these, a friend of mine had them taking over his tank. They were literally clogging his overflows...

[tebstan]

Like most "pests" they tend to bloom when there's a food source and die off when there's not, so people see them for a short while in new tanks. I think it's a nice surprise when one survives long enough to be seen on my glass, but it never lasts long.

[aleonn]

Asterina starfish were a pest in my old tank. I started off with a few hitch hikers, which bloomed to hundreds within a few months. I also noticed they often sat on top of zoas, preventing their polyp expansion, as well as munching on coralline algae. After manual removal and nutrient control, I finally eliminated them after a few months.

[Putty]

If I see it again, I will remove it.