feather dusters

[thereefman52]

do feather dusters have a purpose or do anything besides look good?

 

[delphinbella]

I think they are supposed to help clean the water. Eat bacteria or something, I cant remember. Does anyone know why they shed their feathers and then grow them back?

 

[nosmada]

they are filter feeders.as far as purpose i wouldnt use them as a means of great filtration for your tank. they are pretty though . they loose there crowns usually when stressed.
chris
[ October 22, 2001: Message edited by: Nosmada ]

 

[von_rahvin]

besides looking pretty cool they filter your water. are they a good basis to build a filtration system on. . . . . . . i would not think on to too long. but . . . . they sure do look cool

 

[thereefman52]

also, on my LR i see these things.. that look like very small feather dusters.. and if you tap the glass, they retract into the rock, then come out again.. they are everywhere on the LR, what are they?

 

[-shawn-]

Those are most likely a form of feather duster. Some people refer to them as cluster dusters, because they grow in cluster all over the rock.
On another note, you shouldn't tap on the glass of your tank it can stress its inhabitants.

 

[thereefman52]

will they grow bigger as do feather dusters

 

[jack the reefer]

no, they dont grow bigger, they are just fan worms..

 

[fishymissy]

I agree with Shawn, don't tap on the glass, really stresses the fish out, it can even kill them if it's done hard enough or long enough!
Featherdusters shed their gills when stressed. They will grow back usually smaller than the originals, but given time they will increase in size.
The small worms on the rock can be the kind that stay relatively small, but if they look like miniatures of the large ones, (with darker color and tubes coming out of the rock) then you have babies from the adults. I have a bunch of babies growing all over the tank after what I believe was a mating dance that I witnessed.
One of the large worms had come out of his tube, about 3/4 of his body was out. He then proceeded to "bow" back and forth. He did this for quite some time, and when one of the peppermint shrimp came by to see what was going on, the worm "focused" on the shrimp and began to bow towards the shrimp. After awhile the shrimp got bored and left, and the random bowing began again. This continued for about an hour, and then the worm crawled back into his tube and disappeared. I never saw any of the other worms react to this, but about a month later, I noticed all these baby featherdusters all over the rock! Weird huh?

 

[@knight]

they are filter feeder, wont do much for your tank that look good. the tube worms are a sign of good water quality as are amphipods and copepods. they are more cosmetic than anything else. If you want better filtration you should concentrate on LR or skimming.

 

[gabbys125reef]

my featherduster was $27 andI brought it home, it was out for a couple days then now it NEVER comes out but is still stuck to my live rock, is it dead???

 

[krustytheclownfish]

To see if it is still alive, just feel the tube. You should be able to feel the worm move in the tube if it is alive.

 

[nosmada]

mine hid for about one month a few weeks after i got him. something in your tank may have scared him and he wont come out untill he feels safe again.like Krusty said feel the tube if he is alive he will move in there. give him some time.
chris

 

[fishymissy]

Did he shed his gills? If so, he won't come out until he regrows them.
It could be that something in the tank is picking on him too. Your fish list sounds okay, nothing that is known to pick on featherdusters, but I'm wondering about the horseshoe crab. Not because the crab is bothering it intentionally, but because the horseshoe is NOT the best swimmer in the world and tends to blunder into things! Does your horseshoe swim around alot?