Should I buy feather dusters?

[Pholder]

What up Peep's
Should i purchase feather dusters for my tank? I know most people get them on their LR as hitch hikers. I however did not receive the pleasure I do have a ton of Copods floating and climbing in the rock. ( I think feather dusters use them for food) If the feather dusters do not eat them then should I buy something that will? Or just wait for tank to cycle and get fish that will pick them off?


-----------See my tank at HTTP://WWW.PZPLACE.COM-----------

 

[Mac Inger]

Well if your tanks is not cycled i wouldnt buy them yet. But i did buy two nice ones for my tank. They're cheap, 10 bucks, and i am really fond of them. I have one that is huge and brown and a smaller purple one. I just drop phyto in the tank once every 3 days. They seem happy so far.

What you should do when you put them in the tank, place their attaching end close to a nook or smth between the rock and sand. They will attach to it. They might move around a bit,..mine just aimed a little differently depending on the flow. What they might also do is they might shed the feathery part and get out of the shell and crawl to some other place. Dont worry about this as they will grow new feathers and they can make themselves a shell pretty easy and fast. Nothing much to the care of them,..oh and if you want to target feed them (good luck because mine close when they feel the flow of the baster) do it from the outside base of the feathers. The whole in the middle is not their mouth,..its their butt.

hope it helps

 

[motlot77]

Re: Should I buy feather dusters?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9750422#post9750422 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Pholder
What up Peep's
I do have a ton of Copods floating and climbing in the rock. ( I think feather dusters use them for food) If the feather dusters do not eat them then should I buy something that will? Or just wait for tank to cycle and get fish that will pick them off?


-----------See my tank at HTTP://WWW.PZPLACE.COM-----------

pods are good for your tank.

 

[Pholder]

I know pods are good, but I was thinking that if i add a feather duster I could get something else in there and it would thrive too. You know, "The circle of life"

 

[pottsburg]

The whole in the middle is not their mouth,..its their butt.


quote of the day

 

[Mac Inger]

Well you know that episode of South Park where they start stuffing food up their butts and %$#ing from their mouths ? Thats what the featherduster would feel like

 

[Nano Chris]

I am going to buy a few large ones, i already have a coco worm currently, really beautiful looking red/orange stripes.

 

[am94pm]

I bought a large Hawaiian feather duster and I love it. I feed it a combo of phyto and zooplankton every few days (alternating). They seem to be very hearty and they are beautiful to look at. Definitely worth the $7-14 you would spend.

It's amazing that its butt is so nice looking, eh?

 

[auntbeast]

Not for nothing, but my butt is pretty fabulous too.

I always like the feather dusters. Darn shame we can't train them to actually dust.

 

[uyenk]

featherduster eat copepods????

 

[Reeses]

No, featherdusters don't eat copepods. Copepods are too big for them to eat. Copepods in a blender, though might work. :lol:

Look here for some info...
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/feather.htm

 

[Scoobydude825]

If the hole is their butt then where is their mouth? I always thought that it was weird seeing poop come out of the top.

 

[Slphappy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9766783#post9766783 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Scoobydude825
If the hole is their butt then where is their mouth? I always thought that it was weird seeing poop come out of the top.

:rollface: :lol: :lmao: Now that cracked me up... Not making fun, mind you... But the image you painted in my head is just priceless...

 

[Reeses]

Featherdusters eat from their radioles, the feather like projections that make them so pretty. The "proper" way to spot feed a large (Hawaii) featherduster is to turn off your pumps/circulation, and then using a feeding tool like the seasquirt or an uncut length of rigid airline tubing, gently let the food (which is best blended to reduce particle size) sort of "wisp" out on it's own near the back of the radioles. The featherduster will react, mine usually waves it's radioles a bit. They don't exactly sit stationary. They actively suspension feed, and can often be observed waving themselves around to create a current that helps direct food onto their radioles. They also change color. They flash sort of a greenish color from one half to the other.

They benefit from meaty foods, like clam juice, tuna juice (not canned), and mysis that's been blended to a liquid.

Did I get carried away? :lol:

 

[ugluk]

Really, you feed them clam juice? Like the stuff you steam mussels with?

 

[Reeses]

Right off the grocery store shelf. I also use the juice from the packaged tuna (not canned), and any sort of marine "juice" I can collect when the opportunity arises, like fresh shellfish "nectar". I will add a small note here. IME, you've got to be really sparing when feeding it, or else you'll end up with too many nutrients in the tank.