feather duster lost her head
- Thread starter otisforme
- Start date
Rhodophyta
New member
They can replace the head several times, but there may be some need we can't supply in the aquarium. If the head gets smaller each time, eventually it will die. Feeding them zooplankton and phytoplankton may keep them around longer since it does seem they starve either from not enough or the wrong kind of food.
There are miniature calcarious-tubed feather dusters that grow and reproduce in the aquarium. Usually they prefer to grow on the underside of rocks and in unlit parts of the sump and inside reverse sand bed filters. In some systems they will take off, but they seem hard to get started. You are more likely to succeed with them if your live rock is the Florida cultured type. They are probably Carribean. They are quite different from the sessile snails although the tubes and shells bear a passing resemblance.
There are miniature calcarious-tubed feather dusters that grow and reproduce in the aquarium. Usually they prefer to grow on the underside of rocks and in unlit parts of the sump and inside reverse sand bed filters. In some systems they will take off, but they seem hard to get started. You are more likely to succeed with them if your live rock is the Florida cultured type. They are probably Carribean. They are quite different from the sessile snails although the tubes and shells bear a passing resemblance.
itZme
New member
I had mine drop its head about 2 months ago and thought it was a goner but left it alone. It seems to have grown back a larger one. I didn't think they needed to "shed or molt" to grow but maybe if there is a problem they can drop their head and it might be a survival type of thing.
I'm no expert but if I were you I would just keep an eye on it for signs of life.
I'm no expert but if I were you I would just keep an eye on it for signs of life.
Rhodophyta
New member
The worm itself reminds me of a polychaete worm to which they are somehow related. If they leave the tube, they do have to loose the feather headdress so they can travel and pick a new location. I don't think they regularly molt the head, it is more stress or inadequate diet. This is an animal that we don't have a handle on yet. I believe the consensus is that it lives for many years in nature, but it is hard for us to keep them alive for more than two or three years. It is at a point like corals were decades ago when we knew little and what we knew was often wrong.
If you have been in this hobby long enough, you will remember when some biologists accused aquarists of a hoax and flatly declared corals could never live for long in an aquarium. When photos documented the growth of coral frags, the scientists were sure the dating had been reversed and the corals were shrinking. We need to learn more about these worms and in some ways the reef keeper has an advantage over researchers on this kind of problem. There are small ones that propagate in the aquarium. Maybe that is a start to understanding them.
DiscoReefRover
Active member
not totally true I have kept a scallop for over two years now still alive and growing ... guess it depends on yout tank ?mey its the 30 some odd fish i have in my tank ??
the budman
New member
i have a coco worm. is it similar? had for over a year and my yellow watchman/pistol shrimp buried it. siphoned the sand from the tube and moved it now it comes out but with only a tiny head, hoping it will grow.
