Feather Duster

[priestfield]

Hi all
I am hoping that someone can advise me on my feather duster. Ive only had it a week and it was a kind of an impulse buy, after being talked into it by the shop. I have only had my tank set up and running for a month. Its 73 gallon+24 gallon sump. with uv, skimmer,trickle filter and tw0 powerheads. It has about 40-45 kilo of mature live rock that came out of another tank which I have been asured was never treated with medication. I used RO water to set up.
levels are.
salinity 0.22
ph 8.2
amonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 10ppm

I believe all within spec.
My feather duster has been fine all week Ive been using seaquariums invert food to suppliment any deficiantcies in the water to feed the FD. today I came home from work and his feathers are halfway out the tube and he isnt reacting to touch at all. the only other pets in the tank are two two hermits and two blue damsels.
What could have gone wrong? and is the FD dead Ive read that they lose thier crown and tube but are not dead. Could it be the case here too.
any advice appreciated.

 

[dthoffsett]

You might try posting this in the saltwater section, I'm sure they can help. Good luck.

 

[Navarre]

Give it another day and see if there are any developments. I prefer to see feather dusters go in a more mature system and they prefer more stable waters.

Yes its possible for it to lose its crown as they do this from time to time if theor crown gets damaged.

 

[steelhealr]

I always post that feather dusters are not as easy to keep as most websites and lfs's lead you to believe. SH

 

[Chac]

My very 1st FD lost its crown & never did recover, but that was many years ago, since then I have had many FD's that have lasted years, my latest, I have had for 4 years and is going strong.

One of my coco worms recently lost it crown, luckily I left the tube in and forgot about, about 4 weeks after losing the crown another appeared

 

[priestfield]

Hi All
Thanks for the good advise. I got up this morning and checked out the FD. The crown was sat in the sand. I will leave him there as long as theres no sign of decay and the crabs leave him be. Hopefully he will recover in time. i'll keep you all posted as to the progress.

thanks again
Priestfield

 

[Eversurf]

What ever happend to it?