feather duster

[blennyluv]

i have a friend who says her feather duster is losing its tube, the tube is smaller than when she got it. she also said that it does not retract anymore when frightened. could it be dead? or stressed. what could be the cause? i know very little about these creatures, a link would be nice or some good advice

[essexboy73]

Ive had a feather duster for about 3 weeks now and 4 days ago it lst its crown...so i did some research on them. I found out that if stressed (IE bad water conditions or an unfriendly fish) they can lose their crown, come out of their tube, or begin to react very sluggish or even not react at all!
I also read that they are very sensitive to nitrates. This is where im stuck...my water parameters are all low except my nitrate levels, which are about 15ppm.
If anyone knows if this is too high for a feather duster please let me know. I have several small ones that came along as hitchickers that seem to be doing fine.
Ive been waiting about four days to se if he emerges with a new crown, but nothing so far. Cant figure out if hes alive or dead and cant figure out if its time to just flush him...any advice???

[blennyluv]

those nitrates are too high. i believe that they are really sensitive to trates. the small hitchhikers i think have got to be really tough to make it through shipping with no water on live rock, cyclong the tank etc.. the big ones you buy are different and not near as forgiving. i think i would do water changes to try and reduce that nitrate, as you have work in progress on your tank, i would guess it is pretty new?? i believe dusters like a seasoned tank. hopefully more of the experts will answer your questions!!