Feather duster.....help!! :)

[txbrittany]

My feather duster has a hole like one inch from the base. Like the tube has a hole in it and I can see all the feathers in it, and some of the feathers are coming out of that hole instead of the main one at the top. No one is picking on him or anything. Anyone have any idea what's wrong with him? Is this normal? Thanks for your help!!

 

[symon]

I have 3 large feathers and have never seen that before!

 

[txbrittany]

Nooooo, something's wrong with him

 

[fishboy091]

It could just be that the feather duster had a problem building the tube.

 

[corally]

or is he trying to attach it to something?

 

[mudplayerx]

I'm sure it will be fine. Feather dusters are pretty resiliant. They can even live for a period without any tube at all. If your water parameters are good and it has adequate substrate, it will repair the tube or construct a new one.

 

[txbrittany]

The hole just kind of appeared today, and a few feather's are sticking out of it. I don't think he's trying to attach to anything, because there's nothing around him at all.

 

[txbrittany]

Originally Posted by mudplayerx
I'm sure it will be fine. Feather dusters are pretty resiliant. They can even live for a period without any tube at all. If your water parameters are good and it has adequate substrate, it will repair the tube or construct a new one.
I'm going to check all my parameters right now just to make sure. I'll keep ya'll posted! Thanks for the help!

 

[txbrittany]

Ok, here are my readings:
Temp-78
pH-8.2
Ammonia-0.25
Nitrite-0
Nitrate-0
He looks like he's trying to push more feather's out the bottom hole.

 

[corally]

Originally Posted by TXBrittany
Ok, here are my readings:
Temp-78
pH-8.2
Ammonia-0.25
Nitrite-0
Nitrate-0
He looks like he's trying to push more feather's out the bottom hole.

You need to get the ammonia down to zero. My duster has jumped out of his tube before when he's stressed.

 

[txbrittany]

Originally Posted by corally
You need to get the ammonia down to zero. My duster has jumped out of his tube before when he's stressed.
How do I do that? A water change?

 

[corally]

Yes. How big is your tank? Hopefully someone else will chime in because I'm not sure exactly how much you should change for that level of ammonia. I was having an ammonia spike and I had to do 50 % water changes but my level was 0.50 and it was a seahorse tank, they are more sensitive.

 

[txbrittany]

It's a 72 gal.

 

[mudplayerx]

You need to find out why you have ammonia in a cycled tank. That is a very bad sign. You may be overstocked, overfeeding, or not doing frequent enough water changes. Your beneficial bacteria could have undergone a dieoff for some reason as well.
Try taking a sample of your water to the pet store and having them test for ammonia... your test kit could be expired or erroneous.

 

[wbilton]

My water test kit always says my ammonia is at .25, I've brought a sample to a couple different lfs to test it, they say its fine, it could just be your test kit.

 

[txbrittany]

Originally Posted by mudplayerx
You need to find out why you have ammonia in a cycled tank. That is a very bad sign. You may be overstocked, overfeeding, or not doing frequent enough water changes. Your beneficial bacteria could have undergone a dieoff for some reason as well.
I have 3 true perculas, one foxface, a purple psuedo, a cleaner shrimp, and a feather duster. Am I overstocked?
I feed them 2 cubes of Prime Reef, 1 cube of Formula 2 and a little chuck of brine shrimp every 2-3 days. Is this too much?

 

[mudplayerx]

What size tank? Do you have a skimmer? How much water do you have flowing per hour? As far as feeding, don't feed more than your fish can eat in 2-3 minutes.

 

[txbrittany]

Originally Posted by mudplayerx
What size tank? Do you have a skimmer? How much water do you have flowing per hour? As far as feeding, don't feed more than your fish can eat in 2-3 minutes.
It's a 72 gallon, no skimmer, and the only water flow right now is from my filter. I'm buying 2 Maxijet 900's tomorrow though. Do I need more?

 

[wbilton]

You really should get a skimmer.

 

[mudplayerx]

Originally Posted by TXBrittany
It's a 72 gallon, no skimmer, and the only water flow right now is from my filter. I'm buying 2 Maxijet 900's tomorrow though. Do I need more?
I agree, you definately should get a skimmer, especially if you have no live rock. How much live rock do you have? You simply MUST get more water flowing in your tank. For a reef tank you need about 18-25 times the volume of water flowing an hour. For a 72 gallon tank this is 1,296 - 1,800 gallons per hour! If you look at the boxes of the powerheads while shopping, they will give you the estimated gallons per hour (gph) that they pump.