More coralline on glass than on rock

[Hoosier daddy]

Anyone know why there is more coralline on my glass than on the live rock,I am constantly scraping it off the glass,and there is hardly any on the rock ,this rock has been around along while and most of the purple fades out on it that did grow on it before.Or am I just being paranoid?

[tgillespie]

Are your rocks green? Coraline comes in many different colors. I have several shade of purple on my glass and a lot of green and small bits of purple on my rocks.

[Hoosier daddy]

Mine is purple but it just doesnt get that dark color looks faded alot(on some rocks barely any),but on the glass it is thick purple and pink,I have alot of tiny starfish that i see all over the rocks and am beginning to think they are the reason.Anyone have this problem?

[roguemonk]

FWIW: Personally I wouldn't worry about it. If you've got coralline growing that's a good thing wherever it finds the environment most conducive. Certainly there are critters that feed on it (urchins, for example, and maybe some stars too?). I imagine it'll gain a foothold somewhere. But even if it doesn't I wouldn't try to alter the ecosystem too much. My view: let nature run its course!

Brad

[tgillespie]

The star fish you are talking about are most likely brittle stars and shouldnt be eating your coraline. You don't have an urchin do you?

[fishetcinc]

Some species of Asterina starfish

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/EchinodermPIX/Asteroids/asterina_id_wwm_1.jpg

will eat coralline as documented in this thread:

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=4623035#post4623035 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Sugar Magnolia
Asterina eating coraline in my 30 gallon cube.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v513/stanton4/asterina.jpg

Also, certain species of chiton will eat coralline (particularly off rocks):

http://oceanica.cofc.edu/photo%20gallery%20underwater%2002/live%20rock/chiton.jpg

Note the white patch where the chiton has eaten the purple coraline off the live rock.

Furthermore, in the absence of detirus, micro algea or any other prefered food source, scavenger hithikers such as keyhole limpets

http://www.reefs.org/hhfaq/img/faq_keyhole.jpg

and Red Sea conchs (aka spiny snails):

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/MolluscPIX/Gastropods/Lambis_truncataRSTopView.jpg

will eat coralline as a last resort.

K.

[herefishyfishy2]

Great info K..........I have the small white starfish......at least 1 keyhole limpet, and a Chiton I just discovered last week. After looking at ID picts.....I believe the Chiton I have is a Cryptoplax Larvaeformis. Do you know anything about that particular Chiton?

[Hoosier daddy]

K,that is exactly what is in my tank as in the first photo,what can I do to get rid of these guys,I have a mass quanity of them :(.Thanks for the reply.

[Deeparchae]

I know that MR LIZARD was looking to aquire some of the asterids, try pming him.

[Hoosier daddy]

Deeparchae,

Does he want some to do some experimenting with? I really would not recommend them in a reef if you want coralline on your rocks,I think I read that the Harlequin Shrimp or one of them eat these but will eat other starfish as well.Anyone want to jump in and verify it.

[fishetcinc]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6481672#post6481672 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by herefishyfishy2
Do you know anything about that particular Chiton?
Nope ... except that the big ones with bright pink centers sell for $30 on ebay as jewlery :D

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6481708#post6481708 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Hoosier daddy
what can I do to get rid of these guys
1. Fast/easy method: add a pair of harlequin shrimp

PRO: all asterinas will be gone within a few months in a 220g
CON: the harlequins will only eat live starfish so you need to keep feeding them with feeder starfish OR remove them from the tank once all the asterinas are gone otherwise they starve to death.

2. Slow/consciencious method: Starve them out. These guys reach plague proportions in high nutrient systems (usually from excess food/deitrus). Decrease feedings, due more frequent water changes, overskim and pick off as many as you can out of your tank ... one guy on ebay even sells them as food for harlequin shrimp. Of course, another guy sell thems as "rare albino dwarf starfish" :rolleyes:

PRO: it will make you feel good for taking the high moral road
CON: it will take a LONG time and a lot of hard work for the asterina population to go down to managable levels. You will always have some in your tank.

K.

[Hoosier daddy]

I think I will take both approaches as they are not out of hand but when I start looking on my live rock there are quite a few on the rock,I will definitely start changing my water more often,will the Harlequins eat the brittle stars as well and linkia's?

[fishetcinc]

Absolutely .. but you could move those guys to the sump during treatment.

K.

[Hoosier daddy]

Awesome,now where can you get the Harlequin's online or does any LFS stores get them in?BTW thanks for all the info K.

[jdallred]

What about his original question, why more coralline on the glass than on the rock?

[tkeracer619]

I think we determined his animals were eating it. Thats why he needs to get them out os the coraline can grow on the rocks again.

[jdallred]

So why aren't they eating it off of the glass?

[fishetcinc]

Asterinas prefer to eat off rocks and stay hidden rather than be out in the open or on the glass. Only when they reach plague proportions are they actually forced to come out to the glass in search of food. This is usually the time when the hobbysist first notices the infestation.

In Hoosier daddy's case, his asterina population has not gotten this bad and the rocks still provide the asterinas with enough nutrition so as not to require them to wonder out in the open.

K.

[Skinwatch]

That's good that you've got it growing on the glass, i just let mine go.

[drock59]

update, just ran acrosst his thread and i have lots of Asterina and very little coralline growth. Are these guys a big problem? And how much coralline can they devour.

[Trex420]

"where can you get the Harlequin's online or does any LFS stores get them in?"

South Broadway Tropicals had one or two last week. They were pretty cheap if my memory serves correctly. Good luck.