Feather Duster in Nano

[Durbelethwen]

I am thinking of getting a feather duster for my six gallon nano. My local fish store has at least one feather duster for sale as of yesterday. I could not tell much about it because all I could see of it was the top; the rest being either under the gravel or it is very young and has not grown a very long tube yet. Also unfortunately the person waiting on me did not know very much about the salt water aquariums. The sign said that it will grow to eight inches which I am assuming will be its height not how far it will spread out its head. My question is: does anyone know if this feather duster will be comfortable in my nano? I would greatly appreciate any thoughts on the subject. I am hoping to transplant it into my tank on Tuesday.

I just remembered. Can anyone tell me the proper way to acclimate a feather duster. Is it to be treated like a coral and should be taken out of the bag as soon as possible after temperature acclimation; or should it have some sort of drip acclimation as with motile invertebrates? Thank you.

 

[KeMo]

I would say it would be fine. I drip acclimate everything and that's how I did my feather dusters .
But then for the feeding of this . I dont think such a small tank would have the natural plankton in it for it to feed off of , and with such a small tank you prob dont want to feed because it will fowl the tank .
Its a hard call for me..

 

[89Foxbody]

I think it would probably be alright. You will have to feed it though.

Most of the doses on the liquid foods that aquarists use are to be used in fully stocked reef tanks. In a 6g tank I highly doubt more than a drop or two would be needed to keep it fat and happy. Just keep an eye on water quality when you first start feeding.

Also I've always used drip acclimation for mine as well.

 

[mscarpena]

I would not do it. I just think your either asking for the duster to starve and die or to trash your water quality. Also depends on your personality. If your going to keep up on the feeding and water changes you'll be fine, but if your not that type of person dont do it.

 

[SethSPST]

I kept 3 small ones in a 5 gallon cube for 6 months before I moved. I acclimated them just like any other coral, and they were fine. I will add however, that I did 1/2 gallon WC twice a week, changing the water out with my 75 gallon FOWLR, and was also using NSW whenever I did WC's on the 75, evry 2 weeks. HTH.

 

[mscarpena]

I kept 3 small ones in a 5 gallon cube for 6 months before I moved. I acclimated them just like any other coral, and they were fine. I will add however, that I did 1/2 gallon WC twice a week, changing the water out with my 75 gallon FOWLR, and was also using NSW whenever I did WC's on the 75, evry 2 weeks. HTH.

Adding the water from his FOWLR added a lot of food for the dusters and also kept up on water changes. I think that was the key to his success. Also did the duster die after 6 months? If so I would not consider that a success. I have had some for years.