who knows about feather dusters?

[percman]

tell me all ya know......im interested in the hawaiin ones especially..........tell me anything you can think of......especially if ya know of any snail,crabs, etc.....that is gonna feast on it, and whats the difficulty level of raising/reproducin these......also how long do these usually live?
thanks
Jon

 

[lionfish]

I got a Hawian duster about 2 weeks ago. Ive been told arrow crabs love to feast on them. Theyre filter feeders so basicly it eats whats floatin around your tank. They're a good choice and they're very hardy.

 

[salt one]

yeah, i bought a nice one the other day, its doing great, one think i know is hermit crabs and feather dusters don't mix! i have a rock with 5 big feather dusters on it and the hermit crab made a feast of them! not cool! so i got rid of him, but i bought a coral-banded shrimp, lol i hope he doesn't murder my new one! but all is fine right now.

 

[laneki]

I have had a couple of large feather dusters for several months now and they have never been damaged by the crabs in my tank. They love the current (not too strong) and look so graceful when they come out of their tubes. In the time that I have had these feather dusters, they have both produced babies. In fact, I have close to 26 little ones throughout my tank!

They have also done what I think of as "molting" in this time. For two weeks the tubes were closed and when they finally opened again, there were new feathers. The feathers are gradually darkening back to the original color.

 

[salt one]

Laneki, where did you place your feather duster? in the substrate or in the rock?

 

[jtoliver]

Mine haven't reproduced yet but, I read that when they do, they loose all there (feathers) so that they don't filter feed on their young.