Featherduster

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Jacobsal91

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
May 16, 2012
Messages
753
Location
Northeastern usa
He doesnt look good. Anyone know whats happening?


image-2450997622.jpg

Plz excuse the stuff i belive to be cynobacteria. Im trying to figure out how to stop that from coming back
 
Jacobsal91 said:
He doesnt look good. Anyone know whats happening?

Plz excuse the stuff i belive to be cynobacteria. Im trying to figure out how to stop that from coming back

Sorry your guy isn't feeling well. What size tank, how many fish, how long has the tank been running? What signs/symptoms is he exhibiting? People will be able to help better if there's a little more info.
 
If there is anything wrong with your featherduster, it would probably be due to the nitrates/phosphates that are causing the bloom in your sandbed.

Are you running ro/di water? How often do you feed? Using ro/di and reducing feedings are the first 2 steps to nitrate/phosphate free water. You can siphon that stuff out with a piece of airline tubing to remove it from the system, but until the issue is addressed/solved it will keep coming back.
 
Water tests perfect no hair algae i use RO water been running for about 4 months. 2 fish in a 12 gallon, with 3 types od soft coral. Water changes done once weekly. Had the feather duster for about 2 months. I have a skimmer and live rock and carbon in my filter chambers

He looks slightly shriveld up and still moves in and out of his tube. But doesnt come
Out as full as he used to..

image-2109999701.jpg
 
To help get rid of the brown algae in your sand try getting a sand sifter sea star
 
Yea I have a medium sized one in my BC29 and my sand is pure white now :)
 
To help get rid of the brown algae in your sand try getting a sand sifter sea star

12 gal is too small of a tank for a starfish (20 gal or better is best) I have a brittle he is almost 8 inch in less than a month

As for your duster try putting him up in the rock off the sand putting him in a better flow area they like med to moderate current

the cayno is due to high nitrates and low water flow in the brownish areas

10% water change bi weekly (2X a week) till its under control will help a lot also cut down on feeding

and you'll be back on track in no time(y)
 
54seaweed said:
12 gal is too small of a tank for a starfish (20 gal or better is best) I have a brittle he is almost 8 inch in less than a month

As for your duster try putting him up in the rock off the sand putting him in a better flow area they like med to moderate current

the cayno is due to high nitrates and low water flow in the brownish areas

10% water change bi weekly (2X a week) till its under control will help a lot also cut down on feeding

and you'll be back on track in no time(y)

I tried putting duster on rock he didnt really come out. Dont think he liked it much.. He seems a little better today. But as for higher water flow; should i get a powerhead? If i aim it
Correctly i might not even need to put
Duster in rock.. Water changes to lower nitrate and high flow to make duster happier and get rid of cyano.. Problem solved?
 
power head will help you out a lot no real need for a big one since you have only 12 gal
good to hear you got everything else taken care of
 
I had a stubborn outbreak of red slime cyano, awhile back, tried all the usual methods(water changes, water flow, etc), to eradicate but it came right back( I believe it was phosphate related in my case).. Finally gave one dose of Chemiclean, all traces of cyano gone in two days, water crystal clear and reduced feeding portions and schedule now three times a week and hasn't returned since.....Good luck!!
 
Thanks everyone. Not sure how well the dusters gunna end up being but im doing my best. Im getting my
Powerhead in 3 days so i think ill be all set!
 
I had a stubborn outbreak of red slime cyano, awhile back, tried all the usual methods(water changes, water flow, etc), to eradicate but it came right back( I believe it was phosphate related in my case).. Finally gave one dose of Chemiclean, all traces of cyano gone in two days, water crystal clear and reduced feeding portions and schedule now three times a week and hasn't returned since
I am totally chemical free (my choice of course)
don't touch the stuff it can cause real damage if not dosed correctly so I just use the old fashion method slower but works for me
I had a bad cayno out break when I first set up tank but I think about every tank does
good skimmer and 2 X week a water changes and good water flow was all I needed oh and patients
feed live foods once in am and frozen once in pm and weekends they get pellets or flakes , good rule of thumb is if fish cant consume food in 5 min your over feeding

now I have my weekly water changes 25%
and normal maintenance

I'm happy the tanks happy and most of all fish and coral are happy :)

Oh and 2 of my giant dusters split so now I have 6 , didn't think big ones spread but guess I got lucky
 
54seaweed said:
feed live foods in am frozen in pm so 2 X a day weekends they get pellets , good rule of thumb is if fish cant consume food in 5 min your over feeding

Honestly, with two fish in a 12 gallon I'd recommend only feeding what they can finish in under 20 seconds. Small fish have incredibly tiny food needs. I'm a big believer in multiple feedings a day, though.
 
Honestly, with two fish in a 12 gallon I'd recommend only feeding what they can finish in under 20 seconds. Small fish have incredibly tiny food needs. I'm a big believer in multiple feedings a day, though.

I agree

was talking bout what I do with my tank

(y)(y)
 
CorallineAlgae said:
Honestly, with two fish in a 12 gallon I'd recommend only feeding what they can finish in under 20 seconds. Small fish have incredibly tiny food needs. I'm a big believer in multiple feedings a day, though.

Thats exactly what i do. They literally get like 2 flakes each fish. And a single misis shrimp each. Thats what i at least try to do but my clow fish is a pig!
 
Ok my featuer duster is dead. And i also lost a mexican turbo snail... Fish seem in ok shape, same with corals.. Water change will be done tomorrow afternoon
 
Jacobsal91 said:
Ok my featuer duster is dead. And i also lost a mexican turbo snail... Fish seem in ok shape, same with corals.. Water change will be done tomorrow afternoon

Loosing a feather duster isn't unusual in a young, small system (happens a lot unfortunately). Loosing a turbo snail at the same time means something is off. What's the specific gravity and temp in your tank? I'm guessing the specific gravity is a little off (maybe low). That would be an easy fix so let's hope it's that. Could be lots of other things, though.
 
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