dying feather duster?

[shaybroj]

Does anyone know what a feather duster looks like when it is dying? If it does die in your tank can it harm anything? I had one given to me and was doing fine for the last 2 weeks and this morning all of a sudden just looks like it is trying to crawl out of it's tube. All parameters are good in water.

[scubasteve247]

they do that some times when stressed. they also shed the 'feather' or gills when stressed. although they grow back. usually they will just make a new tube, if he does seem to be dying i would remove him, if he is i dont see a good reason to keep him in there

[Airman]

I wish I could post pics (non-geek). I have a very cool black feather duster (only one). I have so many white ones I have to thin them out.

[Chaotic Reefer4u]

follow your instinct...

[cateyes]

i had one toss his crown within 24 hrs. of being added to my tank, stressed i assumed..
about 2 weeks later i saw some feathers starting to stick out the end of the tube, he's getting better, i thought...
a few days after that, he's hanging out the end of the tube about 2",,, ugly and dead... :(

[shuldaqt]

ive seen a dead one at my lfs, it was just dangling out of the Tube.

HTH

Paul

[SuperNerd]

Shedding of the crowns is a sign of starvation. They will regrow a crown several more times before they die.

They are said to do better in tanks with a healthy sand bed AND additions of phytoplankton (I would personally go with live).