Feather Duster Care

[Aquatic Spendthrift]

I have a 5 gallon pico and i got a dwarf colored feather duster same as the one in this link https://vividaquariums.com/products/colored-dwarf-feather-duster 

I was wondering if there is a way to tell if it is hungry before it pops its crown. I dont want to dose phyto if i dont need to.(nitrates and stuff)

[Zorya]

I have a coco worm, but my tank is rather dirty because it's mushrooms and few lps.  I don't really dose phyto - only really for the copepods to keep a good population for my mandarin dragonet.  I'm guessing you are ok without feeding it directly if you feed something to the corals.  If the crown drops, it won't be the end of the world for the worm, but then you know your tank is too clean.  I think it feeds at a particle size smaller than selcon or vitachem, but I add some drops of those twice weekly to keep my fish healthy also.  Just throwing out ideas 🙂

[Lula_Mae]

I've had those before but never had them drop crowns or jump tubes from "hunger" before, only from stress (moving, hermit harassment, chemical warfare in the tank). I have a slightly larger duster I've had about 18 months with only occasionally throwing filter feeder food in the tank - and the largest it's been in till a couple weeks ago was 5.5 gallons. I don't run my tanks super clean, though, no skimmer and irregular water changes. My little guy just keeps on trucking. 

[A Little Blue]

My Coco pair is fine and growing (hard tubes have grown 2” or more on each). 

No idea what they like. I feed heavy with live phyto and various coral food. I also dose several amino/fatty acids, stontium, iodine and super stinky bacteria. Some say that they love sediment/detritus but I think that they are just falling behind with maintenance. 😉

[Clown79]

I just feed reef roids or aquaforest food 1 time a week. 2 at most.

 

I don't do anything else