first hitchhiker mini feather duster disappeared.

Discussion in 'Live Rock' started by scorpnat, Sep 15, 2008.

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  1. lotzofish

    lotzofish Fire Worm

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    Aug 25, 2008
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    Ohio
    I am sure that there will be some that disagree with me, but I would reduce my number of hermits (get rid of two), and increase the number of turbo grazers by one (Only if you have enough algae to support them). I realize that your tank is young, and may not have enough algae to support the almost constant feeding of any more turbo grazers. Waiting for more alage after the hermits are gone may be a wise choice. I personally have countless nasarrius snails, four HUGE turbo grazers, two bumble-bee (I haven't seen in months, I hope they are simply lost in the liverock and not dead:)), and three hermits (of various types). I really like the nasarrius snails for clean-up too. Perhaps a couple would be great for your tank as well. Please remember this just my opinion, I have only been taking care of marine fish for about three years, and there are many on here that have OODLES of more experience than I do.
     
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  3. gazog

    gazog Kole Tang

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    Are you kidding me, I have 10 blue and 5 red hermits along with at least 8 nasarrius snails and 5 turbos all in a 20 long plus 1 emerald and 2 urchins. Never had a problem with my hermits bothering the tube worms in that tank and I have tons of them.

    As far as the turbos go if they wipe out your algae as they have in this tank you can do what I did, bought some Hikari Algae Wafers for Plcostomus and drop a couple in my tanks weekly. Not only do the turbos like them so do my Urchins and the hermits.
     
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  4. scorpnat

    scorpnat Astrea Snail

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    Sep 8, 2008
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    Tamarac, FL
    I just went to check on the missing feather duster agani, and lo and behold, he's back, and maybe a little bigger I think too. I guess I over-reacted when I didn't see him. He must have just pulled the crown in. In fact, I watched it pull its crown fully in, then come back out when I took a pic with the flash on.
    I'm attaching some pics and a video. for an idea of scale, the dark ovoid shape behind tubeworm is a hermit crab, and the dark appendages waving around are the hermit's. the Sorry for the poor quality, it's not the right camera for this job. Do me a favor and help me confirm this is actually a tube worm/feather duster and not something else? thanks!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqSgIANGqWQ
     

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  5. 1st time

    1st time Purple Spiny Lobster

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    I live on the Nature coast of Fl
    I have 10 bl hermit crabs, they have been with me for 6 of the 7 months my tank has been here. They do not eat feather dusters, I have too many to count. I have a white one that just pulls into the rock, red tube ones , blue and red horseshoe ones , little red ones etc. There is enough food in your water, you do not need to add anything for the small ones. The white one will probably pop back up and other ones will probably grow later--have fun.
     
  6. 1st time

    1st time Purple Spiny Lobster

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    I live on the Nature coast of Fl
    Yes it is--it's like mine.
     
  7. LittleMermaidWV

    LittleMermaidWV Plankton

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    Sep 14, 2008
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    Morgantown,WV
    thats for sure! it is very hard being patient!!!! im still counting down the days til I can put my first fish in my new tank!

    I have quite a few things ive seen already though. Im a little nervous about the bristle worms, but i have alot of those white feather dusters with the red bristles coming out of the top of them.

    any ideas if these are good or bad?
     
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  9. scorpnat

    scorpnat Astrea Snail

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    does anyone know what the mature size of this little guy is?
     
  10. PackLeader

    PackLeader Giant Squid

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    It looks like the common little white ones. They don't get very big, maybe a few millimeters across.
    They go in and out a lot, so don't panic. Feather dusters will also shed their crowns, so you might even see it "lose its head". Then a few days later a new one pops up. They are very interesting creatures.
    I know the excitement over having your first few hitchiking lifeforms. Me and my girlfriend were actually trying to help some aiptasia along when we first got ours running, before we actually even knew what they were:)
     
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  11. Orion7_11

    Orion7_11 Plankton

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    Sep 6, 2008
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    17
    Location:
    Pensacola, FL
    I too noticed one of these white guys on my live rocks recently... it has no visible body and will disappear up into the rock...

    I also started noticing that I've got some little red tube worms or something showing up in my tank... i've counted about a dozen so far...

    a few days ago i noticed there is now a red one right next to the white one... look at the close up you can see both of them...

    Anyway... you never know what is going to show up...
     

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