Asternia w/Photos.

Squatch XXL

Squatch XXL

Well-Known Member


Im curious as to if these things on the left side of this frag rock are hydroids.


I've not seen asterina stars before. They get mixed reviews as hitchhikers.... I am wondering if I will have to take action or not.....not that there is too much I could do aside from locate these to a tank that has a harlequin....
 
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Squatch XXL

Squatch XXL

Well-Known Member
frisbee said:
+1 on Hydroids. (to the left)

I'm not seeing the Asterina starfish either
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/hydrozoans.htm
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In the first photo look at the "stalk" of the polyps. One of the stalks has more than a few on it (Or so I think they are. They are white fluffy star shapes. I have plenty more photos. This coral is around 2 weeks in my tank. I Had kept reefs as large as 75 gallon for over a decade....NEVER did I see either of these hitchhikers even with using live rock......Should I Ice the hydroid? If the Asterina develop taste for coral, will they jeopardize future corals?

I HAD a small clean-up-crew (past tense), one chromis, one stomatopod and a pair of zoa corals. This is the total of my stocking. I Had a few pieces of rubble rock that were from a LFS (different store) but I have yet to see a single hitchhiker

The bummer on my end is that I am certain that I will now always have these buggers in my tank. Can they be starved out in any way? I have no natural way to kill them.
 
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Squatch XXL

Squatch XXL

Well-Known Member


Anyone know what these are. I am not thinking starfish anymore. There is one/some on the stalk of the zoa that is closed up.
 
DianaKay

DianaKay

Princess Diana
RS STAFF
I don't know from the photo what it is....but,
I would get my handy-dandy needle nose tweezers and remove it from the tank ASAP. Either that or remove & dip that frag plug of Zoas in coral dip.
It's better to remove it--it shouldn't be on your Zoas. :rocket:
 
Squatch XXL

Squatch XXL

Well-Known Member
DianaKay said:
I don't know from the photo what it is....but,
I would get my handy-dandy needle nose tweezers and remove it from the tank ASAP. Either that or remove & dip that frag plug of Zoas in coral dip.
It's better to remove it--it shouldn't be on your Zoas. :rocket:
Click to expand...

There are more than a few of these things. At times they have a "Star" shape, and the most recent photo looks much like a nudibranch or a slug of some kind. It would be a real exercise to tweezer. My only option would be to dip and q-tank.

However what is odd to me is that there has been no damage to this coral since I added it 3 weeks ago. I had watched this particular coral rock for almost a month while at the LFS, and it was quite healthy and grew out in short order. It has not shown any signs of slowing down either. Nothing seems irritated by them on the stalks, and they only seem to close up when their tenticle things are touched.

However, IF this HH/Intruder got into my tank no less than 3 weeks ago I can assume that the tank is essentially harboring these things.

I will have to run out for a dip later this evening after reading up. Im a bit bummed about this as I was going out of my way to keep the tank "clean" for a bit longer. Any suggestions on a brand of dip?
 
Squatch XXL

Squatch XXL

Well-Known Member
My first stop AND only place within an hour drive does not carry dips, though they sell coral. I will refrain from future purchases there. Coral RX dip has been ordered.
 
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Oxylebius

Oxylebius

Well-Known Member
You have several things there: yes you have a couple of asterina mixed in there, but what also looks like pycnogonids to me, but zoa nudies also came across my mind. And as frisbee pointed out, those are hydroids. You are probably asking, what's a pycnogonid, they are anthropods and are carnivores that eat corals, anemones, sponges, etc..

All these can be manually taken out. Dips may work, but find one that doesn't harm your zoa's, I haven't had any zoa's so I can't recommend dips to you. I do know that some corals should stay away from some dips, so you should look into it.
 
Squatch XXL

Squatch XXL

Well-Known Member
A freshwater dip @ 2 minutes did not solve the issue after 36+ hours. I expect my reef dip today/tomorrow in the mail. If that does not work, this coral will be getting the pressure cooker treatment for 20 minutes. I guarantee that will kill any hitchhikers...
 
Squatch XXL

Squatch XXL

Well-Known Member
Arriving in the mail today: Reef Rx.

One application at 4 pm this evening: Results will be revealed in the next day or two. Reason being, I simply don't know. Its too soon to tell.

I mixed up a gallon of this product per the instructions. I may have a bit strong on the mix, but I used a cut up gallon jug to "apply" the "medicine". It was less than a gallon of water.

As of almost 6 hours later, the "things" seem to have abated. My wife double verified me that the remaining "things" looked almost cooked on their sides.

They hydroids vanished right after I posted this thread a few days back. Another popped up, but I will see how it does after this treatment.

Its hard to describe these "things". They peeled off with tweezers, but they were slimy. In the past week, I became accustomed to seeing them on certain stalks They do not seem to bother the zoa in any way UNTIL they touch their tentacle-mcbobs (that is a technical term).

The "things" move very slowly, if at all. I have yet to perceive locomotion. Some look like caterpillars, while some have a distinct 5+ point structure.

I still have yet to see any damage to any of my pair of zoas. Both are still doing well, including the one that is affected with these unknown "things".

My experience is that these "things" are not eating that specific zoa. I am more concerned about what they are (were?) and that I properly killed them dead.
 
Squatch XXL

Squatch XXL

Well-Known Member
Squatch XXL said:
As of almost 6 hours later, the "things" seem to have abated. My wife double verified me that the remaining "things" looked almost cooked on their sides.
Click to expand...
They were killed, and nothing was seen for a day or so.....Then they came back. They seem to be specific to a certain zoa...which is not being harmed.
 
Squatch XXL

Squatch XXL

Well-Known Member
I can't confirm what they are at all. I would guess that it is POSSIBLE that there were eggs that could survive Reef-rx. It smells like straight pine cleaner. I am at a loss for treatments because I simply don't see any damage being done. I want these THINGS gone, don't want to kill the coral.

So to date the "THINGS" and the coral have survived a 5 minute tap water dip AND a strong 5 minute reef-rx dip.
Pat24601 said:
Wow. Pesky and annoying.
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Exactly. I am not far off from setting up a qtank and doing experimental research. I think that If I reef-rx at daily or every other day, that I may be able to nuke these things while they are young.
 
Squatch XXL

Squatch XXL

Well-Known Member
@Oxylebius seemed to have solved the mystery....More like he simply knew what it was and pointed me in the right direction:

<a href="http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forum/index.php?threads/what-do-you-see.95146/page-2#post-1302682">What Do YOU See?</a>

colonial tunicate matches the description perfectly.

It seems to be "reef-safe" though some reports that this species is at times short lived. At this point I figure my tank has been "compromised" by them, so I might as well embrace this hitchhiker and whatever it does.

Thanks again Oxylebius. You helped me answer my first "stumping" in a while. +5 internets for you!
 
Oxylebius

Oxylebius

Well-Known Member
Thanks! Star tunicate or white star tunicate, a Botryllus tunicate. Each colony consists of many small individuals called zooids, that are arranged in circular, oval or star-shaped clusters called systems, within a clear, firm, fleshy matrix. They may be in many different colors.

Tunicates aren't harmful, they are filter feeders and won't prey on your corals. But, what tunicates and sponges do, is they compete for space. As the coral and tunicate grow they will continue to compete for space until one of them looses the battle. You may only loose one polyp though, not the whole colony.

At this point you can either scrape the tunicate off or just let it be and let the coral live with it. I'd let it be and let the coral live with the tunicate.
 
Squatch XXL

Squatch XXL

Well-Known Member
Oxylebius said:
I'd let it be and let the coral live with the tunicate.
Click to expand...
Exactly what will happen. I am a big fan of letting the harmless and helpful hitchhikers live free. I have noticed a few small sponges starting to pop up as well. All is well, and this thread can be closed up.

Off topic:
This has got to be the best web forum for these discussions. How is it possible that EVERYONE on this forum is polite and intelligent? The laws of averages have been upturned, and tossed across the room into the fire place. Thanks again Reef Sanctuary.
 
Oxylebius

Oxylebius

Well-Known Member
Squatch XXL said:
This has got to be the best web forum for these discussions. How is it possible that EVERYONE on this forum is polite and intelligent? The laws of averages have been upturned, and tossed across the room into the fire place. Thanks again Reef Sanctuary.
Click to expand...

RS is a special place indeed. Absolutely agree. Lots of helpful folks on here. And we all work hard so that it continues to be....
 
Squatch XXL

Squatch XXL

Well-Known Member
I wanted to add a bit of a followup.

At one point I had used a reef dip on this colony that smelled like pine sol. It seemed to work for a few days, but they came back.

Last weekend I used seachem reef dip, and have not seen any sign of the Tunicates encroaching on the corals again. Per the bottle I used the most powerful dose @ the longest recommended duration. No ill effects to the corals at all.
 
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