Dusters and stars

[masterzeus]

For a while I have been trying to keep feather dusters. They usually do well for a while and then just die.

I was so frustrated that I gave up on them. Then I saw in a book that I have that brittle stars will eat feather dusters. Since I have two or three (barely ever see them) brittles, do you think this is what happened? Has anyone else heard of this? :notsure:

 

[masterzeus]

Anyone?

 

[viet-tin]

What else is in your tank? Water parameters? There might be other causes of their deaths.

 

[masterzeus]

All the other corals are fine. 0 for ammonia/nitrite/nitrate. 450 Calcium. ~8.2 ph (colors are all so similiar). Can't remember alk, but it is nice and high.
Only fish in tank are a tang, two clowns and a damsel. Many snails and hermit crabs. A few shrimp.
I really think it was something eating them since they don't just die, but disappear. They are doing great one day and the next day they are gone. Part of their tube was still there a couple times.
Anyone else heard of stars eating dusters? Anyone have stars and dusters living together peacefully?

 

[viet-tin]

I guess your right about the stars eating your dusters. CAnt be any other of your inhabitants. GUess youll have to choose between the 2 animals. Stars or feather dusters.

 

[jacknjill]

i know this is a stupid question, but what is a feather duster' purpose? what kind of lighting do they need? also, are they related to/the same thing as an x-mas tree?

 

[viet-tin]

Dont think they really serve any purpose but to please the eyes and add diversity to an aquarium. They dont require any lighting and are filter feeders. I guess they are related to x-mas worms since they both are worms with a feather like crown to help filter their food.

 

[baddlord77]

I have a VERY large green star and 4 feather dusters....never had a problem w/their health......or being eatin'....star gets plenty of food...wanders alot...my perameters are about the same as yours......

 

[masterzeus]

I guess it is the stars then since getting those out would require tearing my whole tank apart to find them. They are black (regular) stars so I don't know if that makes a difference compared to baddlord's green one.
Yeah dusters are just pretty to look at. They require no light and are usually quite easy to keep.

 

[ophiura]

Personally, I think it is very unlikely. Some people do not have long term luck with feather dusters which can just suddenly disappear...though sometimes they turn up elsewhere (they can leave the tube and grow a new one). What are you feeding the dusters? Where do you place them in the tank? What are you feeding the brittlestars? What sort of shrimp do you have? You can also have hitch hiking crabs that may mess with them.

 

[saltymom]

I would also like to add that I have two feather dusters and three brittle stars. Together in the same tank for many months..well, actually since early spring.

 

[masterzeus]

I am not specifically feeding my stars anything. I thought they just ate the junk at the bottom. I was feeding the dusters plankton from my LFS. My tank has been set up for about 5 years and never saw a hitchhiker that would cause problems. I have emerald crabs, coral banded shrimp and peppermint shrimp. Maybe just some individual stars like to eat dusters? The book that said this is called "Reef Secrets: Starting Right, Selecting Fishes & Invertebrates, Advanced Biotope Techniques"
by Alf Jacob Nilsen, Svein A. Fossa. It is a pretty good book.

 

[ophiura]

Out of curiosity, what does it say about your coral banded shrimp?
Brittlestars should be spot fed, IMO, especially if there is little "large" food that makes it to the bottom. In our tanks, we tend to have lots and lots of scavengers that are competition for the bits that make it to the bottom. Animals will, if hungry, eat other things.

 

[masterzeus]

It doesn't say anything bad about them, but I don't remember exactly what it does say. I will check tonight. When I got the book I looked up everything that I own and that is how I saw the thing about stars eating dusters.