relocating feather duster

I picked up a beautiful duster today at the lfs. huge tube about 1/2 diameter how should i anchor it into my tank? will a duster relocate themselves if need be?

 

A duster WILL relocate themselves, but only if they dont like where they are and it can be a stressful experience for them, they actually leave the outer tube and build another outer coat once they relocate. I have my feather duster sitting in between 2 rocks, where there is a whole between the rocks, you dont want to actually wedge him under or between a rock. My LFS just has them sitting on the sand, but i would think that is only temporary

 

i thought it would be stressful, good to know about the anchoring. my lfs had them on the sand as well.

i'll probably put this new one near my 5 existing ones are (little tiny hitchhikers on lr).

 

+1 on Blue Falcon

try and find a gap in the rock work that allows the tube to be gently fed into
the worm will excrete a glue like substance and secure itself firmly tp the rocks
this sometimes means you dont see much of them for the 1st week or so

when locating them, be aware of water flow - to little or in the wrong direction and they try moving, re orientate themselves to maximise the fishing opportunity

if the feathers get to ruffled by the flow, they become less effective at capturing food IME and sometimes when this happens ( feathers get crinked or bent) they will drop them and it takes a couple of weeks or so for a new stubby crown to re grow - eventually (sorry cant recall how long it was when it happened with one of mine) grow to former glory


Steve

 

i'm worried that it lost its crown when the clerk was trying to catch it as i saw a crown floating in the tank (hind-site being 20/20). i've seen the mouth so far near the top but it has not came out further

 

They can regrow the crown.

Ours is currently sitting between two rocks with the end of the tube under some sand. Crown is around 2 in across and tube has some halimeda growing on it (was like that when we bought it).

Actually, here's a pic.

 

looks great with the halimeda growing on it,.

I think mine may be the same species with the brown / white stripes, it wasn't labeled at the lfs what is yours?

 

Was labeled "Feather Duster" at LFS. After some googling I think it may be Sabellastarte sp.


We were going to trim the halimeda and attach to a rock, but at the moment I'm not sure. Shouldn't hurt the worm so I may leave it there.

 

It's definitely a Sabella family; that's the soft tubed dusters. I have the same one as you, and it was called a Hawaiian Giant Feather Duster. Mine is about 7 inches across. I think it's a sabellasarte indica.

 

how many days did it take for yours to come out after the move?