Reef nutrition

Feather Dusters/cocoa worms

A_Lee

A_Lee

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I know feather dusters have a pretty dismal survival rate in the long term in captivity -they just starve to death over the course of a couple of months. I am unsure as to whether or not this is attributed to some reefers not feeding their tank anything but food for the fish -no invert specific foods. I've been seeing some nice red and white ones (unsure of their classification), however I do not want to get one if it will absolutely expire in my care. I am just wondering if I should give one a try ... I do feed Oyster Feast every day. I do not target feed though, I just add it to my tank, for what it is worth. Does a feather duster need to be target fed? I do not know if this is enough though; just looking for others' input and/or experiences.
Thanks!
 
I have feather duster about a year now and it's still doing great.. Ofcourse that doesn't mean anything yet but I'm sure it can live a lot longer than 2 months.
 
Cocoa warms really aren't "feather dusters". IN the wild they can live a very long time, and man reefers have been having good luck with them in recent years.

Oyster-Feast is OK for them, but Phyto-Feast would be much better.
 
My hitchhiking feather dusters have been in my tank since it started, I have two decent sized ones now, and a ton of tiny ones. I keep finding them every now and then. They come in some interesting colors too, the two big ones are purple and one is gray, the tiny ones are red, white, and I just found a new one the other day that has a black and gold band in the crown, I hope it grows up :)

I feed flake food, pellets, cyclopeeze, oysterfeast, and sometimes mysis.
 
A_Lee said:
I know feather dusters have a pretty dismal survival rate in the long term in captivity -they just starve to death over the course of a couple of months.
Click to expand...

That's news to me. I've never had issues with keeping feather dusters in the past. I've had them drop their plume of feathers a few times but they always grow back. Maybe when this happens people think it's dead?
 
Nanoguy, he's right about them tradionally not fairing so well fro the majority of reefers... your a minority on this one :)

OK to clear up the confusion. This is a case of common names confusing you all. Feather dusters that are sold typically are they large plumed ones. The large ones don't like to not be fed and do parish quite fast.

The ones that sprout up in your tank, the little one, do well in tanks...

Cocoa worms tend to need to be fed.

The little ones they sell seem to fair well in aquaria as well.

Some tanks are more conditioned for having filter feeders then others. My old tank did not need to be fed and they thrived. Having a fuge the size of my main tank was a big bonus in that dept.
 
Nothing wrong with that :)

At times I want to set-up another "dirty" tank as I love all the stuff that pops up. I just don't want yet another tank to take care of :(
 
This is the big one right?? How long they usually last Gresham? I have this for about a year now..
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YOu don't run a ultra clean tank so they could do very well for you Phong. Macro driven tanks like that seem to allow them to thrive. I couldn't venture to guess how long though. I do know a guy who was breeding them in HI for research, I'll pop him a email and see what he says a typical life span is. FWIW he was using Phyto-Feast to feed them (adults) IIRC>
 
Gresham, I was considering one of the red/white ones; I find them to be very beautiful. I've seen a couple different scientific names thrown up on the internet, and it is hard to tell which one I saw in the store, exactly. And just to confirm, they're non-photosynthetic right?
So, the red and white ones do not need to target fed per se ... but feeding the tank is okay?
I do not mind feeding RN Phytoplankton, in addition to the RN Oyster Feast I am using now. I am sure my SPS would love the variety. Will softies, and LPS take the RN Phyto as well Gresham?
 
Most all corals can not consume Phyto. Some softies will but no LPS or SPS will.

The red/white ones with a calcium based shell are Cocoa Worms. That what you are talking about?

The small red/white ones with a snot case are "feather dusters" and do OK, especially in dirty or feed tanks.
 
Yep, it sounds like I am referring to the Coco worms, which have a red and white plume, and a calcium based tube :)
I always thought corals and other filter feeding inverts fed on phytoplankton regularly in the wild? I know in aquaria the utilization of phytoplankton boosts the population of the micro-fauna in our tanks, and in the process the larval matter from all of the spawning action feeds out filter feeding invertebrates.
Is this why I should be feeding Phytoplankton? Or will feeding "the tank" with RN OF once a day be sufficient?
Thanks Gresham!
 
They do (filter feeders eating phyto), but, LPS and SPS corals don't fall under that category of the classic "filter feeders". They feed upon many things, mainly zooplankton, but really not phyto . Some softies do as do your classic "filter feeders" like clams, feather dusters, etc. You mentioned what IMO is the most important reason to use phyto in aquaria, to feed the micro-fauna which in return feeds the tank - the classic marine food web.

The Reef Nutrition product line is made up of different micron sizes of both phytoplankton and zooplankton that different reef life can utilize. There are overlaps but IMO a diversity in feeds is best. That being said I don't think OF alone is a sufficient diet for a tank. I personally feed very little phyto, but, I maintain a fuge that is always covered in diatoms of which I do scrub to feed the zooplankton. Last month I resumed using phyto as my zooplankton diversity and population was decreasing.

I use Oyster-Feast, Roti-Feast, Arcti-Pods and Tigger-Pods when I do feed. My feeding has been light and sporadic as I tend to use my tank as a test tank for new products and while testing OF I way over did it and paid the price. Recently I've been trying something new so I've cut way down in other feedings when I get around to it.

When I test in my tank I tend to watch my tank for many hours (3-6 hours usually) since my computer is on the other side of the room. I'll do other things but every 5-10 minutes I check up on i to see how the coral is reacting. I wish I had a time lapse set-up like Ben Wiggins.
 
Hm, okay, thanks for the awesome and elaborate explanation Gresham. Things are a lot more clear now. Is micro-fauna, say copepod larva, considered phytoplankton? I would think not because copepod larva is not photosynthetic; or is it common practice for people to refer to things as phytoplankton based on their size?
I'll definitely consider swooping up a bottle of RN PhytoFeast in the near future.
I'll pick up my coco-worm this weekend!
Oh! And last question, very quickly! How much flow do the coco worms like? Should I hammer them with flow, or keep them in a mild area of the tank? And IIRC, they are non-photosynthetic, so does the amount of light they might be receiving matter at all? I am thinking about keeping it in a medium lit area of the tank, where I think its colors would look best, however I want to be sure this is okay.
 
copepods are included in micro-fauna and are zooplankton. Phytoplankton is only single celled phytosynthetic organisms. Zooplankton is all the little "pods" and such, and as large as jellyfish.

Lighting for them doesn't matter. They don't like massive SPS style flow, but flow that is good enough for LPS is just fine.
 
Do coco worms have the tendency to be open all the time (except when they sense danger)? Or do they follow a diurnal open and close pattern?
 
They seem to be open when they need to feed or breath :) The plumage is multi-purpose.
 
Right, I forgot the plume serves as a means for gas exchange as well for these little critters. Gotcha! Thanks Gresham, you've been a great help :)
 
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