I just got my live rock and found <15 seastars the largest of which are just smaller than a dime, does anyone know what they are, if and what I should feed them, or should I try to get rid of them?

If they are tan, they are good and will eat diatom algae. The bad ones are red or blue speckled. They are only bad though if you have corals for they will eat them.

I dont know that I would call them tan, they are a dirty color, with a military camo color. They blend in almost perfectly with the rock and I dont think I see any red or blue specks on them

They'll spread like crazy. I have tons of them and they don't create any issues. I actually got to see a spawning event a few nights ago. I saw at least a couple dozen climb up to the highest nearby spot and stand up on all 5 (sometimes 6) legs and squirt out their reproductive juices.

Just an extra bonus to live rock.

Sounds like asterinas. No problem.

Doh I was thinking of tiny brittles and serpents.

Its impossible to tell really without a picture. :grin:

Don't asterinas often have 6 or 7 legs?

Yes, very plump legs, sometimes very short legs, sometimes both.

only a select few asterinas will eat corals..especially acroporas. However at the aquaculture facility i work at i have seen the speckled ones as well as the tan/off whiteish ones and haven't really seen them pose a large problem. At least not as large of a problem as some other pests like AEFW's or montipora eating nudibraches. However we still deal with pests as a potential danger and try to rid the systems of all undesireable pests. The acro eating asterinas we deal with by manual removal and we also have harlequin shrimp trained specifically on asterinas. The thing with the asterina eating stars that i have noticed in my own experience is that they dont only eat coral and they are also ditritivores. This is why they arent as large of a threat as most of the other pests you would find in a reef tank. Im sure others have different opinions on them but i am just speaking from my experience.