feather duster lost his feathers....

[Dan Thrash]

so this weekend, my feather duster lost his feathers. i know this is a sign that he might not be happy. i got him a few weeks ago and he has always been in and out of his tube....never stayed out for a real long time. he is in a spot midway up in my 12 gal tank and he gets medium to low flow i think. whenver i feed the tank, he gets plenty of food floating his way...although i've never seen him catch anything.

question is, is there anything i should/could do? move him to a different spot maybe?

 

[charlesr1958]

As long as nothing else in the tank is attacking it, I would not be too concerned since "feather dusters" do drop their crown and replace it from time to time. As long as it is in a fairly decent flow to where food makes it to it, it should do just fine. They are also capable of leaving their tubes and will show up somewhere else with a new tube built as well.

Chuck

 

[tibbs2]

Sometimes feather dusters drop their feathers because they are not getting enough food. They then regrow back a smaller set of feathers that requires less energy to support. Try feeding your duster. I think they only eat very small particles like phyto.

Chris

 

[pufferpoison]

yep when they are starving to death, they loose their crowns. Get some bioplankton (frozen) and try target feeding them or does tank nightly.

 

[RicksReefs]

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-05/rs/index.php

 

[charlesr1958]

Even healthy well fed ones will from time to time drop and replace their crowns. I would not use that as an indication of it starving to death or not. If you feed your "reef" it will also be fed. Trying to target feed it would probably not be of much use since they are constant filter feeders much like clams. Dosing or dripping in a liquified reef food over the course of the day would ensure it and alot of other critters get what they need.

Chuck