hard tube coco worm.....feeding question

[saltyESQ]

I have had mine and he seems to be doing well. But I just read that you are suppose to target feed them. I just dose my tank with cyclopeeze and reef roids daily or every other day (depending on how lazy I am)

How does everyone else feed theirs?

 

[KWoo008]

Tagging along... I got a dwarf cocoworm, but I assume its feeding habits are the same as the regular ones. I also feed the tank cyclopeeze and bioplankton 2 - 3 times a week. Should we be doing more?

Kelly

 

[GTR]

I think your chance of long term success without direct feeding will depend a lot on what food might happen to be available from left over fish food and fish waste. The problem with direct feeding is getting food small enough that they can take in a delivering in such a way they at least get some of it. Direct feeding is a challenge since just getting close to one of these when healthy will cause it to retract.
Here's a couple results from a quick Google search. I used Sabellastarte magnifica as the search phrase.

Organisms that feed on smaller particles such as detritus and its associated components, as well as zooplankton, can either be fed or, in some cases, ignored entirely. It has been my experience that many forms of fanworm will exist quite well in aquariums, where the fish are fed regularly, without any additional feedings. If you find that the crowns of these fanworms decrease in size, then this may be a sign that they are not getting enough to eat and supplemental feeding would then be required. Liquid foods work well for the smaller species while live baby brine shrimp will be accepted by the larger species i.e. Sabellastarte magnifica.

From...
http://www2.hawaii.edu/~delbeek/reefaq5.html

The Feeding of Feather Dusters

A man-made feather duster was a device meant to sweep away tiny dust particles. A marine worm’s feather duster is a device designed to capture small plankton, phytoplankton mostly of about dust size. Small hairlike microscopic structures called cilia are found on the edges and surfaces of the feathers. These move water through the crown of feather-like tentacles from the bottom to the top. This gentle water flow creates vortices on the upper surface of the tentacles and these carry any small particulate material in the water to the upper surface of the tentacle crown.

From
http://www.dtplankton.com/articles/filterfood.html

SteveU

 

[TearDrop]

I've a couple for a year now and they seem to be doing fine. I don't feed my tank any additional besides what I feed the fish. I hope they'll continue to thrive.