feather duster care

[rocket7653]

I have, or possibly had a beautiful feather duster for about 2 months. He quickly found himself a nice spot in the tank with good flow and has looked very happy since. Water chemistry has not changed. pH=8.2, sg 1.025, phosphate, ammonia, nitrate and nitrite all 0. Havent checked anything else. The tank is 30 gal and 5 months old. I do a 10% water change every 2-3 weeks. I have been running a protein skimmer about a week. Heres whats happened:

Yesterday morning I noticed the guy lost his crown. I read that is normal from time to time even for healthy worms but it could be stress or starvation if it happens frequently. He also started inching his way out of the tube. By last night he was a good 2 1/2 inches out and by this morning the tube looked empty and he was nowhere in sight. I read that leaving the tube is also normal from time to time. So my questions: Is losing his head and running away from home a coincidence or abnormal? If he was hungry what should I feed him? If he is still alive and rebuilds his home should I let him relocate to where ever he wants or bring him back to the same neighborhood he chose in the first place?

Thanks

Bill

 

[Blown 346]

I would leave the duster go where it wants. You are right about them moving etc. Were you feeding anything liek Phytoplankton etc?
What type of lighting do you have?

 

[dendro982]

Are you sure that at least ammonia is zero and nobody died in the tank?
The only time when my feather dusters' crowns became looking like a wet hens (it was the worst case) when the tank nuked because of serial deaths of some toxic habitants. Recovered in a couple of weeks in normal conditions.

The good articles about care are:
Shimek , Sprung.