feather dusters

[russ-iv]

tell me about them.

i saw some pretty exotic looking dusters and never really had an interest in them in my last tank. especially with a CBB and an army of peppermints pretending to go commando on anything that looked squishy. not sure what other popular fish to avoid tbh. (maybe a rabbit?)

ive got this one in the sand next to LR getting some low flow and he is digging it. just curious if there is anything from your experiences i should avoid, pitfalls to keep this lil guy rocking. (and others)

 

[picoreefguy]

id avoid putting him anywhere you dont want him stuck to. they tend to "glue" their tubes to any and everything that they are near. so if you stick him in a crack in a rock make sure thats where you want him cause after a few days he will be attached. in the sand is probably your best bet as hell attach sand to the tube and you should be able to move him unless you have shallow sand in which case he may attach to the bottom glass. oh and they can handle and do well in pretty high flow. im not saying to blast him with a powerhead but dont be afraid to stick him somewhere the he gets blown around a little.

 

[camellia]

Hate to say it but I would put it in the trash!

IMHO they can multiply to fast and are ugly on live rock.

 

[russ-iv]

Picoreefguy;1037948 wrote: id avoid putting him anywhere you dont want him stuck to. they tend to "glue" their tubes to any and everything that they are near. so if you stick him in a crack in a rock make sure thats where you want him cause after a few days he will be attached. in the sand is probably your best bet as hell attach sand to the tube and you should be able to move him unless you have shallow sand in which case he may attach to the bottom glass. oh and they can handle and do well in pretty high flow. im not saying to blast him with a powerhead but dont be afraid to stick him somewhere the he gets blown around a little.

thanks for that bit of info. didnt realize they "glue" themselves down.

Camellia;1038023 wrote: Hate to say it but I would put it in the trash!

IMHO they can multiply to fast and are ugly on live rock.

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i guess we all have our opinions dont we ?

 

[picoreefguy]

Russ-IV;1038027 wrote: thanks for that bit of info. didnt realize they "glue" themselves down.

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i guess we all have our opinions dont we ?

i thought you had the larger ones. im not sure if those glue them selves down or not but i would assume they do.

 

[tbub1221]

I personally like cluster dusters like those in the picture.

 

[russ-iv]

Picoreefguy;1038029 wrote: i thought you had the larger ones. im not sure if those glue them selves down or not but i would assume they do.

i have one. but im ordering those online with a few different other ones. seems lfs only carry the hawaiin ones and they are kinda bland.

 

[camellia]

Russ, that is nice in a cluster.

They also multiplying randomly and die off leaving their hard crested shell.

I just think the rock looks cleaner and nicer without it.

You asked...

 

[hzheng33]

just difference in opinions. however, I do find feather dusters without their crowns very disturbing

 

[russ-iv]

Camellia;1038059 wrote: Russ, that is nice in a cluster.

They also multiplying randomly and die off leaving their hard crested shell.

I just think the rock looks cleaner and nicer without it.

You asked...

good to know. is there a way to extract whats left behind?

when i touched it, it felt like wet newspaper. not a calcerous shell.

 

[picoreefguy]

Russ-IV;1038068 wrote: good to know. is there a way to extract whats left behind?

when i touched it, it felt like wet newspaper. not a calcerous shell.

if its the calcifying kind you can just crush the tubes that are left over to get rid of them or if its the soft tube kind you can just suck them out with a hose when you're doing your water change. the ones in the picture look like they will be soft shelled. so it shouldnt be hard to remove them. if they dont come off when you siphon just scrub at them with the end of the hose and they'll come right off

 

[jennm]

There are different types of fanworms.

The large Hawaiian (and Caribbean) feather dusters have a soft rubbery tube. Most cluster dusters also have a soft tube.

Cocoa Worms make a calcareous tube, which is rigid and sharp. There are smaller fanworms that can also make a calcareous tube, such as Deb described.

The little hitch-hiker fanworms don't grow large like the bigger feather dusters you see for sale, they stay small and do multiply.

I've never seen the larger fan or cocoa worms reproduce in captivity.

They used to be a bit tricky to keep but with the variety of tiny particle suspension foods available now, they are pretty easy to keep as long as you don't have any fish or inverts that will eat them, or clowns that decide they look like a good host.

Jenn

 

[russ-iv]

i appreciate all your experiences and sharing them with me. im a newb with these kinda guys but it is something different and wanted to try em out.

many thanks for the suggestions as well. helps me a ton

 

[russ-iv]

man. i cranked up the flow and let him have it for a few days and now he is pulling his tube around to a lower flow area near some LR.

not sure if i should park him in the LR or watch him drop his crown. advice?

 

[jennm]

I'm not sure I understand the question. Did you deliberately blast it to make it move? If so, just move it to where you want it to be (carefully).

When they drop their crown, they can't feed. They will grow a new crown. Forcing it off with flow is not a good idea, when they do drop, they drop on their own - sort of like a molt.

Jenn

 

[tbub1221]

Russ I've seen where people put those small soft ones in there sand bed and they do good just plant it like a flower somewhere it won't blow away

 

[russ-iv]

Tbub1221;1038612 wrote: Russ I've seen where people put those small soft ones in there sand bed and they do good just plant it like a flower somewhere it won't blow away

yeah well i did that before and he actually uprooted himself and crawled to a less-flow area near my LR. i mean he uprooted himself hard and somehow grabbed stuff to get there. crown still intact, so i did as you suggested and covered his body with sand. seems he likes the lower area of flow.

he is out and about, just freaked me a little seeing how he could grab at the crown area (not feathers) and position himself somewhere else.

 

[russ-iv]

JennM;1038609 wrote: I'm not sure I understand the question. Did you deliberately blast it to make it move? If so, just move it to where you want it to be (carefully).

When they drop their crown, they can't feed. They will grow a new crown. Forcing it off with flow is not a good idea, when they do drop, they drop on their own - sort of like a molt.

Jenn

yeah jenn. was just trying to avoid that kind of trama. no he uprooted himself out of the sand and drug the whole cacoon to the edge of LR.
was really weird to see. he has some sort of grippers near his crown that were exposed as he pulled himself somewhere else

 

[jennm]

Interesting. I've seen the results of them moving themselves but never observed how. I figured they just wriggled like any worm does. Did he vacate his tube or did it move with?

 

[russ-iv]

JennM;1038647 wrote: Interesting. I've seen the results of them moving themselves but never observed how. I figured they just wriggled like any worm does. Did he vacate his tube or did it move with?

no he just drug that tube to his spot, crown and all. was about as fascinating as watching an anemone move. he crawled like a mofo to this deadish corner and set up shop.