Feather Duster has left the tube!HELP!

aquaengine

Member
I have a few feather dusters in my 55g aquarium. Last night after cleaning the tank I noticed that one of my dusters dropped his crown. Then as I was leaving for work I noticed he had evacuated his tube and was curled up on the substrate. He looked like he was alive and moving around. I have no idea what to do please help! A few questions come to mind.
-Should I put him in a QT tank?
-An anemone ate the crown. Is that a problem?
-Should I remove the evacuated tube?
-Will the worm live without his tube and crown?
-I tested the water and all is fine. Is there something else I should look for?
HELP!
 

chipmaker

Active Member
I had a fd do the same thing.......It started a new tube elsewhere. I had thought it was history once he evacuated his original tube, but its now doing just fine in its own selected spot in the tank......I do not think that an anenome eating the crown will hurt a thing. I have a blenny that will scarf up pieces of fd crowns that happen to come off.
 

aquaengine

Member
Thanks for the info. How long did it take to build a new tube? I feel bad it seems like a lot of work for the little guy.
 

cda fish

Member
Sorry about your

[hr]
feather duster.
My fd did the same thing.. I just pushed a little cc around him..gently. it took 2 weeks for him to completely encase himself agian.. just today I saw alittle bit of feathering.. so in all it has been about 3 weeks.. this is consistant of all the other post I have read and a really good salt water dealer here in my town after I pushed cc around him I was tempted to do something else..DONT.. just wait and see I wish you good luck
 

keleighr

Active Member
Mine popped it's head off then about 3-4 weeks later it grew back, then it popped it's head off again crawled out and the damsels took him out. Poor baby.
I was told the reason they come out of there little homes is because they are looking for food???? No idea if that is true or not.
 

kdfrosty

Active Member
The reason that FDs will throw their crown is usually attributed to stress. Too much lighting, quick lighting changes, too much flow, and something picking on it are all pretty common reasons for FDs to throw their crown and/or leave their tube.
I have never done supplemental feedings for my FD.
 

keleighr

Active Member
Originally Posted by KDFrosty
The reason that FDs will throw their crown is usually attributed to stress. Too much lighting, quick lighting changes, too much flow, and something picking on it are all pretty common reasons for FDs to throw their crown and/or leave their tube.
I have never done supplemental feedings for my FD.

I throw a little liquid plankton in there every couple of days.
I noticed that my live rocks are sprouting "little beings" much more than when I didn't.
 

celacanthr

Active Member
nope, NOT TRUE
they are filter feeders, that is the reason for their feathers, so they don't need to leave their tubes for food.
It is usually caused by stress, or the duster doesn't like where it is at, so it evacuates to move to better territory
 

keleighr

Active Member
Well this one made a huge mistake and left. Cause the damsels were on it in a flash.
I have two in there now and they are doing great. One has make it's self right at home stuck to the side of the tank. The other one is stuck to a rock.
Does anyone know why the "feathers" towards the middle can turn green?? Algae??
 

celacanthr

Active Member
yeah, I would think algae...or a different variety, their is someone on here who has a completly neon green duster
 

keleighr

Active Member
ooooooooooooooooooo pretty
Our LPS had a blue one but sold it before I could get down there!! Was so :mad:
 
Top