featherduster-dead?

my hawaiian feather duster has been shedding his crown a few tentacles a day since i got it 5 days ago. this morning his whole crown fell off! is he dead? will it grow back or should i remove him from my tank?

 

It may just be stressed, remember a lot of feather duster worms come in on live rock, which is sometimes not handled all that delicatley. Another possibility is that it may not have been acclimated properly if it is dead. I have also heard that if a tube worm doesn't like where they are they will move, that may be even yet another possibility. Just give it time and if you notice that the tube itself is becoming somewhat frail and, lack for a better word, not right then investigate it further. At this time just give the animal time.

 

They lose their crown for different reasons, stress, etc. Sometimes they grow back, sometimes I would assume they would die if the cause the problem is not fixed.

 

Just a few weeks ago my duster did the same thing. He shed his crown, but was still hanging in and out of his tube. A week after he crawled out of his tube into the sustrate buring itself. Since then I have not seen him. Don't know if he is dead or not.

 

thanks a lot guys! i guess i'll have to wait a while... just hope it's not dead yet cause my wife won't let me get another one.

 

How old is your tank..??

Larry

 

I purchased a bunch of live rock and a bunch of inhabitants including a feather duster. once we got everything acclimated and in the tank my duster "blew off his crown". I was totally bummed out, then I asked the same as you. It took about a month but it has completly regrown its crown, and I have to say they grow rather quickly.

 

exactly 1 month and 4 days.
here's a recent photo:
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that's a hope for me. thanks for sharing that!

 

That looks like a soft tubed, not a hawaiian to me... have a picture of the crown from when it was still there?



I find these things to be a bit delicate. Your tank might just be a bit young for it. If I have any sort of fluctuation at all, mine will close up for days and days. They stress real easy. Need a stable environment (hence an older tank, in general).


Even if it is dead, a good CuC would take care of it. Just wait it out and see what happens.

Also, I dose DT Phyto in my tank 2x week. They have been opening much bigger since I started doing this... seems to make a difference. I'm not directly dosing, just dropping it in at a PH.