Shrimp killing my Featherduster??????

serpentine5

Member
I am pulling out my hair! I just bought a nice big featherduster from my local store. I aclimated it, and placed the sand covered part in a crevice and the opening part protruding out of the live rock. No sooner than I took my hand out of the tank, my shrimp, pepermint and skunk, attacted it. I just thought they were checking out the new addition to the tank. I go back about 15 minutes later and see this white stringy spider web stuff all over and there is this one pepermint who is chewing a hole into the side of the tube! I promptly stick my hand into the tank and chase off the shrimp. I took the FD and placed it on the sand bed and covered him up to the point that was covered in the tank he came from. The shrimp came back and found him and started to eat the same spot. The feathers actually came out of the top.?So I burried the FD above the part the shrimp was intent on eating. The feathers never went in when I burried him this time. Looking at him now, it has stood its self out of the sand to the orriginal bury line, the shrimp is not messing with him, and the feathers are still out.
What is the spider web stuff? And why is the pepermint shrimp trying to eat him? The duster did come from a shop that had a lot of aptasia in several tanks, but I hade sure that I did not see any in this tank. Could there have been an aptasia seed on it and the pepermint smelt it and had to eat it? Whats up?Still no shrimp, and the feathers are still out. I can see feathers through the hole the shrimp made. Do I need to worry, or will it heal its self?
 

serpentine5

Member
I see now this morning that my featherduster looks like he closed up, but a closer look into my tank shows me that the feathers are caught in the intake of one of my power filters. So either the shrimp tore it off, or the duster just let it loose. All the spider web stuff looks like it is gone as well. Is it normal for inverts to destroy a featherduster? You would think that the shop keeper where I got the duster would tell me that I should not put it in the same tank as the inverts.
 

serpentine5

Member
Looking at the FD this afternoon, the top of the tube is closed and all the shrimp have abandoned it. Do you guys think it is dead? or will it make it?
 

clarkiiboi

Active Member
Either from the shrimp, water conditions or from the move, etc. A FD will "pop" its feathers if it is stressed, which seems it is. A pep. shrimp IMO, should leave it alone if healthy, but may be looking for food if not (hince clean up crew, and a natural process). Is the tube still there? If so, touch it, can you feel it move inside?
 

serpentine5

Member
The Feathers can and do pop off? OK, I feed the tank a nice large pinch of flake - and I threw an extra pinch in when they were attacking the FD to get then to leave it alone. I will stick my hand in it touch it after the lights come on and repost it it moves. I did not feel it moving when I put it into the take to begin with.
Thanks for the reply.
 
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