Dying Featherduster?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

amanda_

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Jul 23, 2007
Messages
47
I just put a featherduster in my tank yesterday. It has come out of its tube and buried itself under the sand. It has a wierd film growing around a section on the feathery part of its body and half of the crown is flowing but the other half is kind of laying on the sand or flowing against the sand. Is it dying? If it is just growing back its tube, what can I do to help it? Is there anything I can do to prevent it from dying?
 
While I don't have a big feather duster, I've heard others with the same experience you're having, and it sounds like it's the worm's "normal" way of dealing with the stress. The crown will grow back.
 
The crown will grow back in about 4-6 weeks .
If the crown is just laying there give it time for him to start to move ...
The best thing for him is to keep water quality high ... If he left the tube there is a 50/50 chance that he will die ...normally they do not survive in an aquarium if they leave their tube... How did you acclimate him ?
feather dusters are susceptible to water chem changes
 
When the guy at the lfs put the featherduster in the bag there was some of its tube coming off. More of the tube has come off since I put it in my tank but there is still some attached at the neck and it has moved into a different spot and buried itself under the sand. It still opens and moves around, but it only opens fully in the morning and closes up about halfway shortly after the tank light is turned on. My concern is the filmy slimy stuff that is partly on the feathery part. Does that sound like it is regrowing its tube? It seems pretty far up on the body to be a new tube growing though. Could it be a disease?
 
The slimy stuff could be a piece of the old tube. I'm not sure if dusters get any diseases or not, I've never heard of that happening but I'm sure they can harbor parasites of some sort. I had one lose its feathers and it did grow them back in a week or so. If the duster is down on the sand, be sure you don't have any scavenger critters like hermits or small crabs that might go after it. Otherwise I'd leave it alone, keep the water quality up and see what happens.

If you do get another one, don't get one that doesn't have an intact tube. The duster should also be able to completely pull back into its tube if disturbed, and should do so quickly (check this before you buy any duster).
 
Back
Top Bottom