celacanthr
Active Member
Ok, well I decided to try the IOM (Invertebrate Of the Month). This may not catch on, but at least i hope to answer the many questions i see daily about feather dusters and their cousins.
Lets start out with anatomy
. Feather dusters, Christmas Tree worms, and Coco worms (when i refer to all 3 i will say fan worms) are closely related to bristle worms. Fan worms have developed a few wonderful adaptations including but not limited to: Filter feeding crowns, and a protective tube. The fan worms have developed the feathery crown as a way of collecting phytoplankton from the surrounding water. The "feathers" have many, many "arms" no larger than a hair that they use to carry the plankton from the feathers to their mouth. The fan worms have also developed a leathery feeling tube around them. The fan worms are not attached to this tubing in a way like snails are, the tubing is more like the shells on hermit crabs. This tubing is made from a secretion that the fan worms produce.
Fan worm types.
Fan worms have hundreds of species but usually only a few types are seen in the aquarium trade. These types are:
Hitchhiker fan worms: These fan worms usually look like feather dusters, sometimes like tree worms and rarely like coco worms. These fan worms do not need any special care as long as there is a good amount of live rock in the tank, which there should be anyways since, number one , they arrive on live rock, and number two, most tanks except for a few need live rock for proper filtrarion. The number one question that is asked about these fascinating little guy is "will they get bigger like my feather duster", and the answer almost all of the time is NO, but there are always exceptions.
Feather Dusters: These are the most common fan worms for sale. These are extremely hardy a long as you make sure salinity, ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, and ph are all in the correct ranges. In young tanks these will need to be fed phytoplankton 1-2 times a week. They like all fan worms like medium flow and dont need any special lighting. These fan worms look kinda look like the spokes of a bike wheel without the wheel part.
Christmas Tree Worm: These are also fairly common but often more beutiful than feather dusters in color.They need the same care as feather dusters. These fan worms look like the feather dusters except their are many rings of feathers each one smaller than the last. Often they come in pink but sometimes seen as orange or purple.
Coco worms: The least common of the fan worms in the aquarium trade. As far as i know they require the same care as the feather dusters and christmas tree worms. Coco worms have the same "feathers" as feather dusters and christmas tree worms except the feathers are arranged in a spiral pattern that appears in some of the same colors as christmas tree worms.
"Ailments"
Fan worms like all living organisms are susceptible to ailments. I will attempt to answer the most common ones.
Dropping Crowns - Often caused by stress or mating.It is just what it sounds like, the fan worms drop there crown. This is nothing to be worried about (unless it happens repeatedly in a hort amount of time, which means the fan worm is getting very stressed) it will grow back.
Leaving the Tube -Often times fan worms will leave there tubes because they were placed incorrectly and they need to fin a more suitable area of the tank. If you placed it in th right place according to the guidelines ( medium-low flow and not extremely close to very strong lights) the worm may still move. This is fine because it insures that the fan worm is in the best place for it, which is the most important thing. The fan worm will not bring its tube with it. The fan worm will construct a new tub for itself when it finds the proper place for it. The only time the fan worm leaving the tube is a problem is if there are things that will prey on it like emerald crabs, some shrimp, a few types of fish, etc.
Questions, comments, and pics would be greatly appreciated! I apologize in advance for the poor grammar and spelling (no need to point it out unless you are like my grammar teacher and feel compeled to
:hilarious ), but i hope you find it useful.
Lets start out with anatomy
. Feather dusters, Christmas Tree worms, and Coco worms (when i refer to all 3 i will say fan worms) are closely related to bristle worms. Fan worms have developed a few wonderful adaptations including but not limited to: Filter feeding crowns, and a protective tube. The fan worms have developed the feathery crown as a way of collecting phytoplankton from the surrounding water. The "feathers" have many, many "arms" no larger than a hair that they use to carry the plankton from the feathers to their mouth. The fan worms have also developed a leathery feeling tube around them. The fan worms are not attached to this tubing in a way like snails are, the tubing is more like the shells on hermit crabs. This tubing is made from a secretion that the fan worms produce.
Fan worm types.
Fan worms have hundreds of species but usually only a few types are seen in the aquarium trade. These types are:
Hitchhiker fan worms: These fan worms usually look like feather dusters, sometimes like tree worms and rarely like coco worms. These fan worms do not need any special care as long as there is a good amount of live rock in the tank, which there should be anyways since, number one , they arrive on live rock, and number two, most tanks except for a few need live rock for proper filtrarion. The number one question that is asked about these fascinating little guy is "will they get bigger like my feather duster", and the answer almost all of the time is NO, but there are always exceptions.
Feather Dusters: These are the most common fan worms for sale. These are extremely hardy a long as you make sure salinity, ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, and ph are all in the correct ranges. In young tanks these will need to be fed phytoplankton 1-2 times a week. They like all fan worms like medium flow and dont need any special lighting. These fan worms look kinda look like the spokes of a bike wheel without the wheel part.
Christmas Tree Worm: These are also fairly common but often more beutiful than feather dusters in color.They need the same care as feather dusters. These fan worms look like the feather dusters except their are many rings of feathers each one smaller than the last. Often they come in pink but sometimes seen as orange or purple.
Coco worms: The least common of the fan worms in the aquarium trade. As far as i know they require the same care as the feather dusters and christmas tree worms. Coco worms have the same "feathers" as feather dusters and christmas tree worms except the feathers are arranged in a spiral pattern that appears in some of the same colors as christmas tree worms.
"Ailments"
Fan worms like all living organisms are susceptible to ailments. I will attempt to answer the most common ones.
Dropping Crowns - Often caused by stress or mating.It is just what it sounds like, the fan worms drop there crown. This is nothing to be worried about (unless it happens repeatedly in a hort amount of time, which means the fan worm is getting very stressed) it will grow back.
Leaving the Tube -Often times fan worms will leave there tubes because they were placed incorrectly and they need to fin a more suitable area of the tank. If you placed it in th right place according to the guidelines ( medium-low flow and not extremely close to very strong lights) the worm may still move. This is fine because it insures that the fan worm is in the best place for it, which is the most important thing. The fan worm will not bring its tube with it. The fan worm will construct a new tub for itself when it finds the proper place for it. The only time the fan worm leaving the tube is a problem is if there are things that will prey on it like emerald crabs, some shrimp, a few types of fish, etc.
Questions, comments, and pics would be greatly appreciated! I apologize in advance for the poor grammar and spelling (no need to point it out unless you are like my grammar teacher and feel compeled to
:hilarious ), but i hope you find it useful.
