feather duster came out of shell??????

[saltwaterrocks]

i bought my feather duster about 5 days ago and ever since its been losing its feathers. then once all of its feathers were gone he decided to come out of his tube home thingy. is this normal???? what do i do? is he dangerous or pousionous? will he die????
:oops: :cry: :?: :?: thanks


thanks
:wink:

[Sugar Magnolia]

Dropping their crown is an indication that something is wrong. The worm actually bailing out of it's tube means that something is very wrong. The worm is stressed, and it could be due to improper acclimation and/or poor water quality. How was it acclimated? Also test your water and give us the results for pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, salinity and temp.

[Doctor_Reef]

Ditto's with Sugar Magnolia....Most of the worms that bail out of there tubes don't make it...And it is a sign that something is wrong...Could have been something wrong at the LFS… or your tank…Check water parameters…they are very sensitive to high nitrates…and of course water quality in general…

[saltwaterrocks]

well i guesse its probably the acclimation b/c i was late for football practice and i had to put him in the tank faster than i wouldve. im not sure what the parameters are yet.

thanks

[Doctor_Reef]

Acclimation is key with anything you add to your tank…especially inverts…DO you have testing kits for your parameters???? If you don’t man don’t add anything else until you are sure your water parameters are spot on!!!

[albert]

I wanna tell you an unbelivable story :)

I had, and now after 18 months still have, two Sabellastarte feather dusters.

http://hepatus.mine.nu/aquarium/pics/dsc00435.jpg

Then once I found a new baby worm growing between the two others. His color was not that bright but the fact itself was quite remarkable.

http://hepatus.mine.nu/aquarium/pics/050107-013.jpg

Recently for some unknown reason the baby bail out of its tube and moved into an empty Astrea snail shell nearby. It reconstructed a new tube in this shell and is still happy living there. :roll:

http://hepatus.mine.nu/aquarium/pics/dsc03335.jpg

[Doctor_Reef]

Yea, you are right Albert....that is unbelievable...and it just doesn't happen!!!! :) With the exception of your tank!!! :lol:
You have some of the most incredible critters that you find in your tank...And now you have supper worms!!!! Feather duster worms can leave their tube and survive... but that isn't the norm!!!! Most substrates that we have don’t accommodate with the same materials that their original tubes are made so they are hardly ever as strong as their original tubes…Any way - great story and I want ONE!!!! How neat is that anyway!!!! :thumbsup: