Want to add a Feather Duster

[guppy74]

How long should I wait until I can put a Feather Duster in my Tank its a 29 gallon with a Coralife compact fluorescent 55 watt 50/50 bulb I have a GSM Clown, Blue Damsel,2 Turbo Snails ,2 Peppermint Shrimp and 10 Red Legged Hermit crabs. The tank is about a month and a half old Water Params are PH 8.0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 5, and Ammonia 0. I think they look cool and I want one just don't want to add it too soon. Oh yeah later I want to add a Bulb tip anemone for my GSM Clown. Any advice would be great.
Charles

 

[Guygettnby]

feather duster are filter feeders and the light has nothing to do with them. they are also a very dificult invert to keep long term, best left for the expirenced hobbiest and the hobbiest who has the time to feed them often. with that said i would wait awhile before one is put into a tank. i would say they should be put into a well established tank of a year or more. can it be done on a young tank? yes it can but the survival rate is very low to begin with, so why not wait and give it a better fighting chance.

 

[Lolas_boy]

I agree with Guygettnby, wait until you are more experienced. I have one, got it when my tank was relatively new, and it has done fine so far. In fact it was one of the first creatures into my tank. But I think I got lucky. So I would wait.

 

[Danley]

Well,
I remember just starting new like you, and how I REALLY wanted an anemone more than anything. Heres the thing, guppy. To begin with you will receive a TON of advice telling you to not put an anemone into your tank until its been established 6 months or longer. Here's the reason I choose not to add one. First off, when I was new to the hobby, a LFS sold me a bleached anemone, I didnt even have a clue! After battling continuously for the next 3 months, I actually had it looking descent, i decided to give it up. Not only do you have to feed anemones quite often, but they will also move around on you. Lets say you have a buildup of salt ontop of your tank right above the aneomne, it can sense that change, and it just might decide to move on you, and the worst part is, it can and will kill other corals. They are beautiful dont get me wrong, and i still want to add one, but if you decide to put one in, PLEASE take the advice and wait until you know a TON more about them. Stay up a bit and do a massive amount of research, see what they require. Also, its not a garuntee that your clowns will host inside of the anemone, especially if they are tank raised. I tried this, and I had two clowns and neither one decided to host, and I wanted the anemone just to see that symbiotic relationship. A waiste of $40.00 and also, nothing to show now. As for the feather duster, I put one in my tank when I was new, first invert in the tank! Its still alive today, and seems to be growing, i personally dont have a hard time with it, but then again i feed every other day.

 

[guppy74]

Thanks for all of the advice to all of you. What do you feed a Feather Duster? and what does an anemone eat any advice would be great.
Thanks in advance.
Charles

 

[luconi]

How long should I wait until I can put a Feather Duster in my Tank its a 29 gallon with a Coralife compact fluorescent 55 watt 50/50 bulb I have a GSM Clown, Blue Damsel,2 Turbo Snails ,2 Peppermint Shrimp and 10 Red Legged Hermit crabs. The tank is about a month and a half old Water Params are PH 8.0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 5, and Ammonia 0. I think they look cool and I want one just don't want to add it too soon. Oh yeah later I want to add a Bulb tip anemone for my GSM Clown. Any advice would be great.
Charles

Well, it might be a good idea to wait several weeks because water fluctuations might possibly occur, but if they seem to maintain steadily in safe levels, then it should be fine to add one soon. With the anemone, it would probably be good to wait longer until the tank is established for sure.

 

[jchase1970]

I put one in my tank after about 6-8 weeks, but I feed it daily to make sure it is getting food since the tank is now where near old enough. As for what you feed it, I feed mine plankton. I have a 125 tank and 60 sump/fuge. So I spot feed my corals with DT's Plankton that I still have, but for the last 2 weeks I've been using my own plankton culture that I'm growning and just adding it to the water column ever day, like melev shows on his page.