Feather dusters stop dusting...

[Congaken]

I have 3 feather dusters...one was open all the time...the other two less often...water params. all good...10 gal reef...now, they've essentially stopped opening..before I turned the light on this morning, they were open...lights on=closed all day...I've tried different positions for them...softees all looking good...I'm dosing with No3-PO4-X...any clues?...Thanks...

 

[reef lover]

They're filter feeders might not be enough food for them to survive .try phyto or zooplankton.

 

[Congaken]

They're filter feeders might not be enough food for them to survive .try phyto or zooplankton.

using both...but they have to open up to eat (don't they?)...my spot tail blennie sits near the big Hawaiian...perhaps its him but the others?...I understand that they don't sense light, so probably dark would not help...advise (please)...

 

[reef lover]

Feather dusters are a type of worm and the feathers you see are akin to feet that they use to capture fine particles and direct towards the mouth. I've had great success with the smaller dusters but never managed to feed enough to keep the large fancy ones alive. But generally they'll drop the feathers if they're starving so maybe In Your case it is being bothered by something . are the tubes buried/ protected by something?
On a side note they are light sensitive if you swipe your hand over them they'll quickly hide in their tubes.

 

[Congaken]

Feather dusters are a type of worm and the feathers you see are akin to feet that they use to capture fine particles and direct towards the mouth. I've had great success with the smaller dusters but never managed to feed enough to keep the large fancy ones alive. But generally they'll drop the feathers if they're starving so maybe In Your case it is being bothered by something . are the tubes buried/ protected by something?
On a side note they are light sensitive if you swipe your hand over them they'll quickly hide in their tubes.

 

[Congaken]

The only thing that I can think of is the blennie who tries to sqeeze in next to two of them....one is in the sand but doesn't seem to be bothered...opens best in the dark...?

 

[reef lover]

I would try burying them all deep the the sand so only the top of the tube is exposed and try feeding at night. See if that helps at all...

 

[Congaken]

I tried burying one of my FD in the sand...actually not that much sand in my 10gal...anyhow, this guy is now out most of the time...I have one more to remove from the rock and he's small and weakish...I'll try him too...thanks for the advise...seems like its working...