Ever seen an inverted feather duster???

[kayaaandjaden]

Has anyone ever seen an inverted feather duster? It was the wierdest thing...last night there was a strange alien like creature where the head of the feather duster should be. I freaked out and my husband said it must be the bottom part turned around. Has anyone ever encountered this? I haven't seen his feathers or the alien -ike thing out today. I took a phot but can't load it for some reason. The other duster is fine. Fish fine. Zoas look awesome, so I don't think it is the water params. ???

 

[Salamander]

They'll drop their crown when stressed. Sometimes they can grow in back if everything's ok. Sometimes if the stressing agent is not remedied they'll bail out of their tube. NOt usually a good sign but I've hear of them living when they do that....but not often.

 

[kayaaandjaden]

What kinds of things stress them???

 

[kayaaandjaden]

Shouldn't the "plumes" be floating around the tank?

 

[Salamander]

I'm no expert here but they can be stressed by many things. Water chemistry, changes in temp, alk, Sg, Ph etc. They can also be bothered by flow, other fauna, bad diet or a myriad of other things. Its hard to say IME.

I've never seen the "feathers" floating around when they've been dropped. Never seen them anywhere. I don't think there is really too much mass to them and they may likely be pretty tasty to others. I've heard of native people in the S pacific going out into the waves with baskets during lightning storms to catch the crowns lost as a reaction to lightning. I guess its a delicacy.

 

[LeslieH]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9440552#post9440552 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Salamander
I've heard of native people in the S pacific going out into the waves with baskets during lightning storms to catch the crowns lost as a reaction to lightning. I guess its a delicacy.

Curious..... I'd love to know where you heard/ read that. It seems very strange - feather dusters don't grow that abundantly or lose their crowns during storms. On the other hand, people in the tropical Pacific harvest palolo worm epitokes a couple times a year during episodes of mass spawning.

 

[lifesworksataol]

mine have done the same thing - i dont worry about it - atleast my peppermint didnt eat it stupid pep

 

[kayaaandjaden]

The "stalk"/tube, still looks healthy. It is upright, not loose or falling over. I am hoping it will grow back. Stll unsure as to what the problem could be. At what point would I know if it is dead and should be removed from the tank?? Will the tube start to deteriorate?

 

[kayaaandjaden]

Ok, he bailed. Where did he go?!?
To make a new tube somewhere else, or under a rock to die? Will he contanimate my tank and cause it to crash? How worried should I be?
The other feather duster looks fine.

 

[kayaaandjaden]

bump

 

[gillianandjoe]

I had one die in a ten gallon tank, I never saw anything of it. Might have been eaten, but either way, no tank crash. And that was a ten gaalon. You'll be A-OK

 

[amike5]

I've had one bail before. A few weeks later I found my pepermints decimating it, wasn't even dead yet. It was sad, I tryed to save it, but the damage was already done.