New found worms or star fish eating white star polyps?

[kfeldme]

My white star polyps have been dying in increasing numbers and not so coincidently I have found lots of what I suspect to be asterinas and bristle worms. Everything else in the tank is thriving(xenias, mushrooms, zoa.) I have had people tell me everthing from that I have burnt the polyps from changing my bulbs all at once, to a parasite.

So I suspect that it is either the worms or the star fish. I am inclined to belive it is the star fish. Who should I sacrifice?!?! I am also starting to see some death in my brown buttons

thanks,
Karen

 

[mr_X]

it's not the bristleworms. i have literally hundreds in my tank and they never harm anything.

 

[kfeldme]

Hey, thanks for responding. I am still rather new and have not had to deal with bristle worms or asteroid stars before.

I am inclined to believe it is the star fish but the worms appear to be so much more mobile.

For the life of me, I can't understand how people say that they 'see' the star fish or worms eating anything unless they have some incredible tool to magnify what's going on. You can't tell if something is eating dead tissue or living tissue.

I suspect the worms for the totally irrational reason that I see them on the star polyps, and I have yet to see the star fish on the polyps. But 'literature' indicates that star fish are more predatory BUT NOT the asterinas. The bristle appear to have reddish heads and tails but are dark in color in the middle.

I started to suspect the worms because they appeared first. I also saw a tube being built out of sand granules right where the star polyps first started dying. What do you think the odds are that I got a 'bad bristle'

thx,
Karen

 

[mr_X]

the tube being built is not a bristle worm. that is a tube worm. also harmless to the reef.
my bristle worms eat uneaten food, and dead things. they don't bother with anything alive. on occasion i'll see one crawling over a coral, but not eating it. are you sure you are talking about bristleworms?
it's very easy to see if a bristleworm is eating something. you can see the mouth perfectly. here- check out this mildly sarcastic thread i posted and you'll see plenty of bristleworms eating:
http://www.reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=103664