Infestation of Feather Dusters!!!! ARRGGH! - Page 2

Jeremy Blaze · 07/01/2011, 08:21 AM

Yeah the only systems I've seen like that were ones running a turf scrubber and no skimmer.
Definatly got a lot of food floating in that water.

Sport507 · 07/01/2011, 09:30 AM

Those spaghetti worms are highly beneficial to a tank. They remove nutrients from the water column that would otherwise turn into algae. I have lots of them in my tank and wished I had more. They are members of the good guy team and are there for back-up in case the team captain overfeeds.

Sohal Tang Tim · 07/01/2011, 11:10 PM

Awesome input people
They stay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I will put up with them......
and... I guess I have no choice but to reduce feedings a tad....I definitely feed quite a bit... I have 9 tangs! and a wack of sand gobies and stuff....

in any case....I will reduce it...

I do get carried away with the spectrum pellets...they are so easy to feed. lol

I have been feeding all kinds of coral food and...thus the dusters also....

I will just slow it down....

Copper band sounds neat...I have never owned one......
but I heard they are so hard to get to eat...but yes..with the feathers it wouldddddddd give me time to aclimatize them to mysis etc....good idea!

Thanks again everyone!

Tim

JuliusJames · 07/02/2011, 12:16 AM

I had the same problem. My 150 was infested with them but I loved it. When I introduced an adorned wrasse into my tank, within a week, they were gone. Bummer!

Jeremy Blaze · 07/02/2011, 07:07 AM

SO, does your tank have a skimmer?

sbshady · 07/02/2011, 07:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwoyshnar

Its funny what some people dislike is the same thing that some would die for. Id love to have all of those!

+1

piercho · 07/02/2011, 11:05 AM

IME a yellow longnose BFF (Forcipiger flavissimus) will graze on fanworms preferentially. Also the only effective grazer of vermitilid snails I ever had, it actually cleans them out of their hard shell. My one was very easy to keep and Scott Michael lists them as a fairly easy fish compared to a Copperband. I was also keeping Tridacna in that tank and I had to give away the yellow longnose BFF when it learned to try to eat tender bits of clams by going in the intake siphon holes, causing the clams to stay closed all the time.

If you decide to get this fish make sure you don't get the very similar F. longirostris, which doesn't have the tearing/ripping mouth that flavissimus has and can only eat very small food items. Mine did not target coral polyps or zoanthids but these ARE a BFF so others may.

Other than that a brush and a siphon hose worked where I could access them. The BFF nips the worms out of their soft tubes so deftly that it will leave the tubes intact, unfortunately. So you may wind up cleaning out the tubes with a siphon anyway. I had to clean these off of the intake screen for the return pump monthly, so I know how quickly these can spread. A lot of particulate food in the water is not a bad thing, IMO, but may result is some animals like these multiplying very quickly.

bob lloyd · 07/02/2011, 01:35 PM

the complete left hand side of my tank is covered in these tiny feather dusters ,they have a blue tinge to them , and yes they are good for the filtration system, and as been pointed out in this thread natural looking.i like them , but why only the left side ?

Digitalelectric · 07/02/2011, 01:42 PM

I always thought feather dusters were cool. Its fun watching them shoot closed when a fish swims by.

Pallobi · 07/02/2011, 01:46 PM

i once had a problem with small feather dusters in my first softie reef... i added a sally light foot crab, and he destroyed the entire population... literally, every last one of them

jus a thought if it hasnt been mentioned yet as i didnt read much of the thread... GL

Sao870 · 07/02/2011, 01:59 PM

yea i have the dusters EVERY PLACE as well and im 100% sure its from over feeding lol but i really love them i have brown ones white ones lol
mine even pop up out of the sand but they are not hurting anything so imma keep them

Digitalelectric · 07/02/2011, 03:25 PM

Unfortunately my 6 line spends every waking moment ensuring that I dont get to have featherdusters.

jim.l · 07/02/2011, 04:27 PM

They are cleaning your water for you. Clean up the water and they will die back. My guess would be that it's either too much food or carbon dosing with too small a skimmer. Either will feed filter feeders.

dwd5813 · 07/02/2011, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RichConley

Rather than adding more fix, you could fix the problem that this is a symptom of : overfeeding/poor nutrient removal.

They're filter feeders. You have so many because there's plenty of food floating around.

ding!

i was getting worried a whole page would go by before someone pointed this out. cut back on the feeding a bit. they're flourishing because they have the food to do so.

07/01/2011, 08:21 AM	#26
Jeremy Blaze Former Reef Addict Join Date: May 2003 Location: New Washington, IN Posts: 5,864	Yeah the only systems I've seen like that were ones running a turf scrubber and no skimmer. Definatly got a lot of food floating in that water. __________________ Trust me my friend, the names are not important at all. I've own hundreds of different zoas and palys and don't know the name of a single one. In my opinion, they are a waste of valuable time. Mucho Reef

07/01/2011, 09:30 AM	#27
Sport507 ~Just a Farm Boy~ Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Central Indiana Posts: 1,651	Those spaghetti worms are highly beneficial to a tank. They remove nutrients from the water column that would otherwise turn into algae. I have lots of them in my tank and wished I had more. They are members of the good guy team and are there for back-up in case the team captain overfeeds. __________________ Sport If you do not test for it, DON'T dose it. Indiana INDMAS Member

07/01/2011, 11:10 PM	#28
Sohal Tang Tim Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Collingwood , ON, Canada Posts: 928	thanks for the input...amazing! Awesome input people They stay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I will put up with them...... and... I guess I have no choice but to reduce feedings a tad....I definitely feed quite a bit... I have 9 tangs! and a wack of sand gobies and stuff.... in any case....I will reduce it... I do get carried away with the spectrum pellets...they are so easy to feed. lol I have been feeding all kinds of coral food and...thus the dusters also.... I will just slow it down.... Copper band sounds neat...I have never owned one...... but I heard they are so hard to get to eat...but yes..with the feathers it wouldddddddd give me time to aclimatize them to mysis etc....good idea! Thanks again everyone! Tim __________________ "My God Reefs are Gorgeous!" Current Tank Info: 25 gallon reef

07/02/2011, 07:07 AM	#30
Jeremy Blaze Former Reef Addict Join Date: May 2003 Location: New Washington, IN Posts: 5,864	SO, does your tank have a skimmer? __________________ Trust me my friend, the names are not important at all. I've own hundreds of different zoas and palys and don't know the name of a single one. In my opinion, they are a waste of valuable time. Mucho Reef

07/02/2011, 11:05 AM	#32
piercho Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Puget Sound Posts: 2,194	IME a yellow longnose BFF (Forcipiger flavissimus) will graze on fanworms preferentially. Also the only effective grazer of vermitilid snails I ever had, it actually cleans them out of their hard shell. My one was very easy to keep and Scott Michael lists them as a fairly easy fish compared to a Copperband. I was also keeping Tridacna in that tank and I had to give away the yellow longnose BFF when it learned to try to eat tender bits of clams by going in the intake siphon holes, causing the clams to stay closed all the time. If you decide to get this fish make sure you don't get the very similar F. longirostris, which doesn't have the tearing/ripping mouth that flavissimus has and can only eat very small food items. Mine did not target coral polyps or zoanthids but these ARE a BFF so others may. Other than that a brush and a siphon hose worked where I could access them. The BFF nips the worms out of their soft tubes so deftly that it will leave the tubes intact, unfortunately. So you may wind up cleaning out the tubes with a siphon anyway. I had to clean these off of the intake screen for the return pump monthly, so I know how quickly these can spread. A lot of particulate food in the water is not a bad thing, IMO, but may result is some animals like these multiplying very quickly. __________________ Howard Current Tank Info: 65G reef shut down 2007. 25G planted.

07/02/2011, 12:16 AM	#29
JuliusJames ReefB4H**s Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Hayward, CA Posts: 623	I had the same problem. My 150 was infested with them but I loved it. When I introduced an adorned wrasse into my tank, within a week, they were gone. Bummer!

07/02/2011, 01:35 PM	#33
bob lloyd Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: bristol Posts: 27	the complete left hand side of my tank is covered in these tiny feather dusters ,they have a blue tinge to them , and yes they are good for the filtration system, and as been pointed out in this thread natural looking.i like them , but why only the left side ?

07/02/2011, 01:42 PM	#34
Digitalelectric Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Jacksonville, Fl Posts: 422	I always thought feather dusters were cool. Its fun watching them shoot closed when a fish swims by.

07/02/2011, 01:46 PM	#35
Pallobi CTARS, BRS & OSRAS Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 7,001	i once had a problem with small feather dusters in my first softie reef... i added a sally light foot crab, and he destroyed the entire population... literally, every last one of them jus a thought if it hasnt been mentioned yet as i didnt read much of the thread... GL __________________ Zoas & Palys

07/02/2011, 01:59 PM	#36
Sao870 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Posts: 125	yea i have the dusters EVERY PLACE as well and im 100% sure its from over feeding lol but i really love them i have brown ones white ones lol mine even pop up out of the sand but they are not hurting anything so imma keep them __________________ Step On MY Field And Get Laid Down!! UNIVERSITY OF TOLEDO ROCKETS!!!! O-LINE!!

07/02/2011, 03:25 PM	#37
Digitalelectric Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Jacksonville, Fl Posts: 422	Unfortunately my 6 line spends every waking moment ensuring that I dont get to have featherdusters.

07/02/2011, 04:27 PM	#38
jim.l Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: SE. Florida Posts: 608	They are cleaning your water for you. Clean up the water and they will die back. My guess would be that it's either too much food or carbon dosing with too small a skimmer. Either will feed filter feeders. __________________ Jim Current Tank Info: 150 reef, soft, hard, SPS

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