Hawaiian feather duster jumped ship

[masterswimmer]

I was trying to remove a beautiful Hawaiian FD yesterday. Well it attached to a piece of LR. So I gently tried to manipulate it so it would release itself from the rock. It seemed to be slowly letting go. So when I thought it was free I pulled on the tube and out it came.......without the fan worm!! The fan worm remained in the tank but the tube came out :smash: .

Now I've seen feather dusters pop their crown and regrow new ones. However, I've never seen a tube worm without their tube. I placed the worm back in the tank between rocks to try to offer it some protection. Sure enough, a few hours later, the worm had crawled farther into the crevice and left only the feather duster exposed. Just what I wanted it to do.

The only livestock in the tank, other than corals are, one black saddleback clown, one coral banded shrimp and six nassarious snails. Anybody know if tube worms have the ability to survive outside their tubes? Will they grow a new tube? I know they use the tube themselves for protection, and the only inhabitant I have that might be a problem, I think, would be the CBS.

What are its chances?

Thanks,
Russ

 

[Tonyscoots84]

russ is there anyway to put the tube were the hole its in at the moment... maybe glue it down from the sides so it can re enter its home....

 

[masterswimmer]

I actually placed the empty tube next to the worm. I didn't try to put it 'end to end', but that is actually not a bad idea T. I'll see what I can do when lights on tomorrow.

Thanks for the idea.

ms

 

[Tonyscoots84]

im always here for the master.....

or instead of using glue maybe put a rubberband around it and put 2 toothpicks one on each side of the rubberband and stick the toothpick in the rock somehow so you dont have to glue the its home.... just another thought...

 

[masterswimmer]

:bump:

More input on survivability (a word? :lol

Thanks
ms

 

[scarf_ace1981]

if it managed to get into a whole and only the crown is exposed leave it be. it will be fine. it will regrow it's tube on it's own

 

[Reefer420]

i had one that jumped ship too - it lived for a day or two and then i think the hermits, etc got to it...

sorry, that wasn't to bring you down!

good luck

 

[ezee]

Russ,

I am pretty sure that they worm has the capability to survive outside of its tube. I have often heard on tubeworms leaving their tubes to start life somewhere new, building their tubes again from the substrate.

E

 

[masterswimmer]

Scarf, Eugene, Great news, thanks.

420, I know exactly what you're saying. That's why in my first post I mentioned about my livestock. I fortunately don't have a single hermit in the tank. For this reason exactly, they are opportunistic feeders, IMO. The only critter I'm worried about is my coral banded shrimp.

Its been two days now and so far so good.

Thanks guys,
ms

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Naked feather dusters in your tank Russ? Kinda like a Hedo for inverts LOL. Any hermits or snails going shell free? LOL In all seriousness I have a FD living in a piece of rock with no tube and he does just fine.

 

[Quang]

I wouldnt worry about it too much Russ. Usually the bigger the duster, the more chance of it surviving tube-less. I had a big one abandon its tubing in my tank, disappered for a few weeks and then came back somewhere else. My tank doesnt have too many rocks and im surprised it survived. I think with the size of your tank and the many crevices and such, it'll rear its head out somewhere else alive and well.

 

[masterswimmer]

Chief :lol: , Coed Naked Reefing :party:

fbb, it is totally visible (the crown is), the body is hidden in the rocks. This guy is in my nano, not my 75, so there are much less places to hide, but a tremendous amount of less predators. I've got tons of hermits, shrimp, inverts in my 75. Not much in the nano. Thanks

I'll try to get a pic of where it's situated for better reference. I won't be able to get a shot of the body of the worm, just the crown.

ms

 

[masterswimmer]

Naked feather duster! Just for Chief

Here's a shot of the empty duster tube and the FD right next to it. As you can see, he buried himself so that only his crown is visible. Crossing my fingers.

master

 

[Quang]

I'm sure it will be ok.

great pic btw Is this a lil' preview of Russ long-awaited 16g bow? Maybe this whole feather incident is a cover to post the pic and tease us. :Blurp: lol

 

[masterswimmer]

I'm sure it will be ok.

great pic btw Is this a lil' preview of Russ long-awaited 16g bow? Maybe this whole feather incident is a cover to post the pic and tease us. :Blurp: lol

froggie, thanks for the uplifting confidence. I hope you're right.
Yeah, I guess it is a 'trailer' for the pix of the 16 bow. Go check it out, they're up! :lol:

master

 

[DEEPWATER]

Russ .i dont think you have to worry about ,i had a worm actually split his tube and half of him was exposed for a week till it grew another one ,Oh yeah I have lots of inverts(hermits .snails ) fish about 13 ,2 of them yellow tangs those are the biggest ,the rest are small


hope that helps

 

[masterswimmer]

Sounds great Ronen. I needed that. I'm thinking I can remove the empty tube by now. Just something else to 'spoil' the water as it degrades.

ms

 

[masterswimmer]

Amazing......... Great news........
It's only been 3.5 days since the Feather Duster incident and it has already grown a new tube!! :party:

The problem is......he ain't for sale....EVER :lol: It is attached to my LR like I've never seen before! I guess he doesn't want to lose his 'home' again. :Yikes:

ms

 

[Dmitry]

I've read in several places that FD worms build their tubes out of sand. The safest place to put them is bury them in the sand.

 

[masterswimmer]

I've read in several places that FD worms build their tubes out of sand. The safest place to put them is bury them in the sand.

I didn't know that. But inadvertantly that's where I placed it, on the sand between two rocks. Not sure if you can tell from the pic, but the empty tube and the tubeless FD are on the sand.

ms