Feather Duster Concern

[mickeyfish]

So I picked up a feather duster yesterday, acclimated, and dropped him in my tank. After reading a bit more I wanted to bury his foot in the substrate. Long story short, between trying to place him where I wanted, and getting the foot to stay under the sand, I think the duster was severely stressed. He slimed the tank with a lot of strong release (think spider webs), the tube became noticeably softer, and he no longer reacts or opens and closes. Unfortunately as of this morning the current lifted him and I can see now where his foot used to be seems to be a hollow (translucent) area of tube.

Do they typically recover? I don't plan on moving him any more.

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[mickeyfish]

And this is how he is now buried.

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[windlasher]

He will probably be fine. All lifeforms require time to acclimate.

 

[jlmawp]

They don’t take up as much room in the tube as you would think, especially considering how much more room they need to slip all the way back in. Just push down the sand on him to secure him in place and let him be. He’ll be fine after some time.

Mine had a really hard time when I first got it, and it started withering to nothing. Assuming it was dead, I removed the tube. 4 weeks later, he was re-emerging from the rock in a new tube on the other side of the tank. He’s now full grown and healthy again. They are resilient little guys.