duster's feather looks smaller

[SabrinaJean]

DOes anyonhe know y my green feather duster looks like the feather is reducing? I have noticed it keeps getting run over by crabs, and it keep coming out of place in the sand. What do u guys think? WB

 

[bubbly]

He could be getting stressed and losing "feathers". Also, he may be starving to death -- DT's phyto is the best food source that I have seen.

You may want to move him to a place where he will not get run over so much.

 

[BuddhaKiss]

IME if the feathers look "smaller", they are about to ditch their crown of feathers. Don't be surprised if you see you duster closed up from a few days to a week, and happen to see its original feathers floating around. They do this as a response to lack of food (phyto) in your system. They will eventually grow a new set of feathers, but it will most likely be substantially smaller. Lets hope this isn't the case. Let us know what happens.

 

[hawkey992]

when there isn't enough food, a worm will ditch its crown and regrow a smaller one. They will do this several times before starving to death. This is probably a sign that your aquarium doesn't have enough suspended material for the worm, buy some phytoplex and/or zooplex, that should give them enough food.

 

[SabrinaJean]

HUmm.. Alright, I moved the green duster onto a rock. For some reasons I don't want it to be burried in the sand because I think Bristle worms live on it, or by it. And I also added more photoplanktin into the tank. Does anyone else have any ideas for food for my Duster? Does it make a difference if on the bottle it says " Best used before Mar 08" ? U think it a bottle of Photoplanktin can expire? WB FrIeNDs

 

[cmlloveless]

Yes phytoplankton can "expire". If it is live once it has eaten its food source up it dies! If it is dead it will eventually decompose! Everything does! The use by dates are there because that is usually when the product looses its usfulness in what it was intended for and/or goes bad!

Time for new phyto!

 

[SabrinaJean]

I knew it. I should have said something when I bought it, I was just to excited because it was the first thing i got for my tank. Geex... that stuff cost me 19 bucks or so.

 

[TheH]

I believe phytoplankton can expire whether it was live to begin with or not. Live phytoplankton will eventually die and rot, and nonlive phytoplankton will eventually rot (esp. if it is in liquid solution).

Also, some feather-dusters benefit from phytoplankton but some require larger foods like zooplankton.