featherduster problem

[pfunk]

I have only had this guy for about a month but he is already starting to lose his feathers. His feathers seem to not be as full and i dont see him quite as much. I have a lmb, orange spotted goby and two percs so i dont think anything is picking at it. HELP!!!!!

 

[salty rick]

I am not sure but I think feather dusters can molt. If you don't mind a crew-cut for a while the feathers should grow back.

 

[newreefers]

they usually lose their crown from stress. this can be from a tank mate or from water quality, what are your water params? any major swings in the water lately? How long have you had the duster.

 

[pfunk]

I dont have a tester to test anything other than salinity at this point. My tank has been up for around 3 mos. and all other inhabitants seem to do fine.
I have an old heater that has been giving me trouble. I have a hard time stabilizing the temp. It has dropped as low as 70 and fluctuates from 82-78 or somewhere in that range.
Praying for tax returns to fix the problem, buy test kit and upgrade lights.
Do you think the temperature fluctuation is doing it?

 

[newreefers]

how did you test your water during the cycle if you don't have a test kit?
take some water to the lfs and have them test for everything. You could have something way off in the water. possibly ammonia
that is very possible that is a HUGE temp swing, you are lucky nothing else was effected. generally, you don't want the temp to swing more than 1-2 degrees max.
what size tank is this?
you really need to pick up some books on the hobby and read, this will give you a lot of info.

 

[wrassecal]

My feather duster lost it's crown (feathers) from a week long microbubble attack after we cleaned the protein skimmer. My husband was sure it was dead and gone out of the tube, but I said leave it alone and sure enough it's poking out it's new smaller crown now