Feather Duster Question

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sauceman

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Sep 1, 2002
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State college, PA
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Hello all,

I recently had my tank crash while i was home for christmas break. I had three feather dusters, two of which were definetly dead when i came back to school. The last feather duster's tube was still in tact, and i decided to leave it in the tank to see if it was still alive. It has been three weeks since the tank crashed, and my tank is almost finished its small cycle again. The question i have for all of you is...The feather duster's tube is still in tact, i just havent seen it out, even without a crown. The only thing i notice is that sometimes the tube is resting a ltitle bit on the sand, and other times it is lifted about an inch off the sand. I only used to notice this when there was a live worm in there...is it possible my duster is still alive? or would you all think thats unlikely? thanks all
sauce
 
Its very possible its still alive, now a feather duster is a Tube worm..

What you want to do to see if its still alive is pinch the tube with your finger and thumb, Not too hard.. but like a worm, if its still alive you will feel it Squirm in the tube.
 
Besides being a worm just what is the feather duster good for? I believe I have some of these in my tank but they are really small. Not much to look at are they or do they get better looking with size?
 
Toolouds got it. Feel the tube. If he's in there you'll know it.

Feather dusters are filter feeders. There several different kinds in many different colors and sizes. If you have the small ones chances are you have the colonial kind of dusters. They stay small and usually have white crowns. They don't serve any more purpose being in the tank than a coral would.

HTH
 
thanks everyone:
this is a nice big hawiian feather duster. it used to have a very large crown, which im sure it shed from stress during the crash. I am going to go in the tank later tonight to do some maintenence, so ill give it a light squeeze and let you all know what happens...thanks again:)

sauce
 
i had a feather duster for at least a week before he ever came out of his hole, thought he was dead for sure, it kinda sounds like the dead ones stay out of their tube rather than inside, just what ive read. but then again im a newbie. hope he's ok...
 
Dead dusters tend to fall or hang out of their tubes and they don't respond to touch. Try the light pinch as suggested and let us know.
 
Tried the light pinch. Felt a semi-solid object inside, however it didnt react to my slight pressure. before when i moved my dusters, they would quickly retract. Any opinions? I still have no trace of ammonia, nitrite or nitrate that would indicate anything is decaying inthe tank. Thanks all for your help:)

Sauce
 
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