feather duster help!

[arizonaocean]

My 6 inch HA Feather Duster just came out of its tube and has curled up at the back of the tank. He is not moving much, but is still alive. Does anyone know why it would do this? Do they shed their tubes at all?

He is beautiful, and I am worried he is a gonner.

Suggestions? Thoughts?

 

[DJ88©]

[moved]

 

[buzzer]

How long have you had him and what do you feed him?
They need regular doses of phyto like 3 times a week.

 

[fittdog8848]

I have heard they shed their heads but if he is out. I think he might be a goner.....Sorry for the possible loss.

 

[Avi]

Sometimes in an effort to keep nitrates and phosphates, a reef can be maintained with water quality that is good, but at the expense of providing the kind of foods filter feeders like Feather Dusters require for sustenence and longevity. Try doing what buzzer says. Don't overdo it and cut off the waterflow in your tank for an hour or two after you put the phyto, oyter eggs, etc. in the water. Keep the protein skimmer going. That should give the Feather Duster (and any filter-feeding corals you have) time to take in nourishment, and then the skimmer will remove any excessed of it so that you don't have water quality problems.

 

[arizonaocean]

R.I.P.

R.I.P.

He has since taken a place in the back of the tank and curled up. I watched him still moving last night...thought he was regenerating the tube, but when I got home from work today he was hermit crab food. I found that my salinity was high and after some i-research I discovered thats what upset him. It was kind of like a human being out in the desert and shedding their clothes to cool off...but then the sun fries your skin. Thats what happened to him...the salinity affected him worse after he left the tube.

I do have another duster in the tank that is doing quite well after I lowered the salinity. They came from different LFS. I don't think I will be going back to that LFS again. They sold me a creature that probably was not q before putting up for sale. My other duster was q for 3 days and is absolutely gorgeous.

Thanks for the input.