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One of the most common creatures kept in the reef aquarium trade other then corals and fish are feather dusters. Feather Dusters come in many diffrent sizes and colors and the more common ones such as the Sabellastarte indica (shown above) are very hardy and easy to keep. Feather dusters offer the reef aquarist diversification within the reef tank and it is an interesting subject to talk about as most people in my experience don’t realize that it is a marine worm.
Purchasing a Feather Duster
Picking out a feather duster is not an easy task as it may seem. There are several things you should look for when purchasing a feather duster. One of which is if the crowns (the feathers) are still attached. The feather duster should have a full crown, the crown should look healthy and the worm should retract into it’s tube when scared or if approached from the side of the tank. The marine worm should react and retract to shadows as well. When looking to buy a feather duster its best that the feather duster be in the dealer’s reef tank for a while. If the feather duster has been in dealer’s reef tank for some time then it should be well acclimated and well fed. Newer deliveries of feather dusters tend to be hungry from being moved from tank to tank or tank to bag. Make sure that the feather duster you are picking out has a complete tube without any damage.
Feeding and placement of a Feather Duster
Depending on the type of feather duster you acquire you will want to research where the best possible placement is for it. The most common feather dusters as pictured above will feed on live brine shrimp, nuapali, rotifers and finely minced “meaty” foods. They capture the food particles in there crown of feathers and bring it down to there mouths, they may retract after capturing food. Placing a feather duster such as the one pictured is relatively easy for us that have a full blown reef tank. The feather duster prefers vigorous water movement so that it can help with the exchange of wastes and the capture of food. Most common feather dusters prefer to be placed in the sand or if you have a bare bottomed reef tank then between rocks (as long as its not crushing them!). If the feather duster does not like where it is placed then it will abandon its tube and look for another spot. The feather duster above, has moved before and ended up living in a hole in my live rock. Another thing to note is when moving your feather duster its important not to expose it to air if at all possible, captured air bubbles in a feather duster’s tube can spell disaster for the feather duster.
Water Parameters for a Feather Duster
To keep a feather duster in your reef tank it is recommended that you have very good water quality. From my experience, they will loose there crowns if you have an excess in nitrate. I would also assume other water quality issues such as ammonia, nitrite and salinity would also come into play. If you are not sure of what your reef aquarium’s water quality should be at then check my post marine aquarium water parameters.
If you would like to share your thoughts and information on on the marine feather duster please do so with the comments button below.
These corals do not need any additional dosing other then your weekly water change but can be sensitive to to some phosphate removing sponges (the ones that use aluminum oxide). In my experience as with other soft corals they seem to like a little bit of phosphate in the water however so does nuisance algae. You also do not have to directly feed star polyps, they are photosynthetic creatures that do not require additional feeding provided that you have ample lighting.