What is the longest you've had a Hawaiian FD live?

[crpeck]

I'm just curious about the life span on these guys. I've had one that has been happy and healthy in the tank for somewhere between 2 and 3 years.

Today his crown just looks kind of ratty and he didn't snap back in his tube or seem as responsive when I bumped things nearby him. I even waved a plastic feeding stick around through his feathers and he didn't retreat.

Early warning of trouble in the tank I wonder or just the natural life span of a worm?

I'll test all my water params in the morning and see if something is up. No one else in the tank looks distressed, although the anemone made an unusually prolific poop or even spawn that clouded up the tank really badly last night.

I hope he's okay. He's big and pretty.

Cathy

 

[kmk2307]

Cathy,

I think feather dusters can live a pretty long time but how long, I really have no idea. Are you sure it was your anemone that clouded up your water? You said you were going to check your water parameters so I assume that includes ammonia which I would recommend.

HTH,
Kevin

 

[crpeck]

Thanks, Kevin

I have no ammonia and my Ca, Alk and Ph are all within my usual range.

Yes, I'm sure it was the anemone because I saw the clouds of "smoke" coming out of him. I put a polyfilter and fresh carbon in the sump and it was clear by morning.

I've been thinking through things that have changed and I have a couple of ideas. I bought a new skimmer a couple of months ago that (I hope) is more efficient. I hadn't been feeding him, but may need to add phytoplankton or invert food if my system is more skimmed.

The other possibility is that I did have a unusual ALK drop that I corrected maybe a little too quickly. My system has been so stable for so long that I don't test Ca and ALK as often as I used to. I tested Sunday and it was much lower than usual and I tried a new product to bring it up that worked a little too well as DkH jumped from around 7 to almost 9 in one day.

I found an old post by Dr. Shimek that said that they will shed their crown if they're stressed or starving. He said that they ought to live at least 5 years and maybe more although no one has really studied the lowly worms.

It's clear that this FD is going to dump his crown. I don't see the worm hanging out and when I do see him, he looks pretty good. He did drop his crown once when I first had him, but he grew it back and has looked good for a couple of years.

Between the anemone, the unusual ALK drop, and possibly the stress of less food for him in my system I can see how he might be stressed, hungry or even both.

I'm just going to hope that he grows back a crown and I get another chance with him. I can see I need to test a little more often again and may need to shoot him a little phytoplankton from time to time to supplement him.

Wish me luck!

Thanks for your help.

Cathy