Feather Duster Questions

[PinkDamsel]

I just got 2 feather dusters Sunday from LiveAquaria. They’re called “Dwarf Colored Feather Dusters” but are not the tiny fanworms that HH in. Here are the ones:

 

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_di...&pcatid=750

 

I’ll be asking a number of questions about them in this thread. Will pose them one by one.

 

Feeding

First is around feeding. I want to follow altolamprologus’s advice and feed live phytoplankton. I did find this article by Ron Shimek (marine biologist) confirming that they are specialized to eat phytoplankton:

 

http://www.dtplankton.com/articles/filterfood.html

 

Another reference, thanks altolamprologus: “I have seen many online articles about it and live phyto is also mentioned in Reef Invertebrates Vol. 1 by Anthony Calfo and Robert Fenner.”

 

So my first question is how much to feed? The phyto bottle says 15 ml for 25 gallons, which translates into 1.8 ml for my 3 gallon. Can’t even tell I’ve added it, certainly doesn’t turn the water green. Do I need to be adding enough to turn the water green?

 

Also, if a duster has lost it’s crown, can it still eat? One of mine lost it’s crown in shipping & crawled out of the tube, but is moving around & definitely alive. I’d like to save it if possible.

[PinkDamsel]

What’s Wrong w. Consuela’s Fan?

I’m confused. When I put Consuela (the yellow one w. tube & crown) in the tank last night she spread her fan beautifully. See pic below w. Rosaio (the naked one) next to her.

 

Today, Consuela’s fan looks disorganized, almost tangled. But sometimes all to one side. See the next two pictures. Also, a couple of pieces of tentacle have been floating around the tank.

 

Is this a prelude to ejecting her crown?

 

Or is this a sign of being in too much flow? If so, why was the crown perfect last night under the same flow? Haven’t changed anything.

 

I placed both worms next to each other and buried the naked one in sand. Rosario lifted herself out and moved to the side of the tank where she is now; had to travel about 5". She often lifts half of herself almost straight up like a periscope, pretending to be Nessie, the Loch Ness Monster. Waggles one end as if smelling or seaching for something.

 

Should I interpret this as a “No” to the spot I put them in and move Consuela?

 

I want to add as little stress as possible. First they were shipped, then in a holding tank without being fed for a week, then moved to my pico, so I don’t want to start just randomly moving Consuela around.

[altolamprologus]

The directions on the bottle are just a basic guideline for starting out so don't worry about following it exactly. The best way I have found is to turn off the return pump and add just enough phyto to produce a slight green haze when looking through the tank at it's greatest width. If after an hour you still see the green haze, add less phyto the next time you feed. If the haze disappears in a half hour or so feed more. After a few feedings you should be able to judge how much to add. I have found that feeding enough phyto to keep the water barely tinted green for an hour twice a day is enough for dusters, as some phyto is still present even after you can no longer see it. Filter floss doesn't remove live phyto but skimmers can (although I'm pretty sure you don't have a skimmer on a 3 gallon).

 

A duster without it's crown can't eat, but once the crown re-grows, it will only come out at night for the first week or so, so be sure to continue feeding.

 

I'm not entirely sure about the way Consuela's crown looks. Are there any tank inhabitants that could have messed with it? Crabs, shrimp, and some fish sometimes pick at dusters. It could be a prelude to an ejected crown, but I don't know for sure because the only two dusters I've had that lost their crowns did it when I was away from home for an extended period so I wasn't there to see it.

 

Dusters without tubes will wiggle a lot as they try to find a place to burrow so leave it alone. Also don't move the dusters. If they are unhappy with where they are, they move elsewhere on their own.

 

When Rosario grows her crown back, start feeding small amounts of dead filter feeder food. I personally like oyster feast, but anything that's small and dead will work. The duster will use the dead stuff to build a new tube.

 

BTW, don't be surprised if Rosario dies. Dusters use their crowns to breathe as well as eat, so a lost crown combined with moving around looking for somewhere to build a new tube may do her in

 

 

If you or anyone else has any other questions about feather dusters, feel free to post them here and I will do my best answer. Anyone else with knowledge of feather dusters is welcome to reply as well. Hopefully beginner aquarists will read this and learn a thing or two before buying a duster on impulse.

[PinkDamsel]

Now THAT's what I call a very helpful post!

 

I stopped after 16 ml of phyto and the water still wasn't green that I could tell. I'll have to experiment. The bottles of phyto I have are paler in color than PhytoFeast (the last bottle of PF at the lfs was past the expiration date, so I picked up a different brand at a frag swap Sunday). I already feed OF, so it's good to know that can help w. rebuilding the tube.

 

Does anyone have experience with a naked worm regrowing crown and tube in an aquarium? Rosario continues to be VERY active, often rearing all the way up.

 

No fish or skimmer. Just corals, snails & pompom crabs. Nothing has bothered Consuela that I can see, although part of her fan can touch a paly when extended.

 

I have one of those tiny fan worms on my LR, and when it retracts the crown it does it real fast. I expected the dusters to do the same, but Consuela pulls hers in slowly, sometimes I see it paused half in. Is this normal? I'm worried it might be a sign of letting go of it.

[altolamprologus]

Slow retraction is a bad sign. Dusters should jet back into their tubes in a split second. Keep an eye on it incase it goes south.

 

What brand is the phyto? PF is super concentrated and 1ml would be enough, so it seems like the phyto you have is more typical of home-grown phyto.

[metrokat]

My duster (Babette) from the same shipment is doing fine. Waving about. I'm not feeding her anything special but I do add a couple of drops of phyto in my 14G.

 

When I first put her in, I just placed her somewhere on the sand, the next day I wanted her tush/tail/tube under the sand (she's huge!) and so I dug a little hole, picked her up (at which point she WHOOSHED into the tube at lightening speed and has some strength to her too!) and put her in the burrow, covered her with sand. She's still there.

 

not sure why picassa is not working today, could not add a pic

[altolamprologus]

My duster (Babette) from the same shipment is doing fine. Waving about. I'm not feeding her anything special but I do add a couple of drops of phyto in my 14G.

I highly suggest target feeding with live phyto. Dusters can take months to starve to death, but it is sure to happen.

When I first put her in, I just placed her somewhere on the sand, the next day I wanted her tush/tail/tube under the sand (she's huge!) and so I dug a little hole, picked her up (at which point she WHOOSHED into the tube at lightening speed and has some strength to her too!) and put her in the burrow, covered her with sand. She's still there.

That is the reaction you want to see

[metrokat]

I don't doubt your advice, will do what I can for the duster. After feeding the tank yesterday with a soup of cyclopeeze, mysis, oyster feast, marine snow, roti feast, phyto feast and reef cleaners filter feeder formula, I saw the duster poop. So she's eating.

[altolamprologus]

I don't doubt your advice, will do what I can for the duster. After feeding the tank yesterday with a soup of cyclopeeze, mysis, oyster feast, marine snow, roti feast, phyto feast and reef cleaners filter feeder formula, I saw the duster poop. So she's eating.

Dusters don't poop. You most likely saw clumps of rejected food.

[metrokat]

I saw 2 small skinny short pieces of 'stuff' being ejected from it. did not look like any food I fed it. what could it be?

 

the 'stuff; looked like snail poop, only dark.

[altolamprologus]

I saw 2 small skinny short pieces of 'stuff' being ejected from it. did not look like any food I fed it. what could it be?

 

the 'stuff; looked like snail poop, only dark.

Probably just rejected food. The particles they catch get chanelled down toward the center of the crown and the inedible ones are held onto then ejected en mass

[metrokat]

okay, I'll see if the behavior repeats

[PinkDamsel]

What brand is the phyto? PF is super concentrated and 1ml would be enough, so it seems like the phyto you have is more typical of home-grown phyto.

 

Phyto2. They are a company w. their own methodology apparently. I had reserved the last bottle of live PhytoFeast but when I went to pick it up it was expired. Someone was selling the Phyto2 at Sunday's frag swap so I got that. It's definitely lighter green than the PF, and they put each species in its own bottle. It may be my imagination, but seemed like my clove polyps were responding when I added it and today I see a new baby started; never noticed a response to the dead PhytoFeast I've been feeding for a while.

 

I did use way too much Tuesday, trying to turn the water green. Pest algae has revived again, <sigh>.

 

Both worms are still alive, but I'm concerned whether they'll make it.

 

While I'm at it, I'll record here the sources I know about for LIVE phyto; feel free to add to it:

 

- Reef Nutrition's Live PhytoFeast

- DT's Live Marine Phytoplankton – Premium Reef Blend

- Phyto2

- Bear Phyto from http://beartanks.weebly.com/phytoplankton.html. I believe this is a college student culturing phyto from DT's. It's much less expensive than the others, and I may try it when my bottles are used up. (I just bought a custom-sized frag rack from him; he's certainly prompt & responsive.)

[altolamprologus]

If your phyto is really live, you shouldn't have any algae problems...

 

 

There are a few other online vendors selling live phyto, but your list is pretty good and has all the major ones.