Feather duster lost his shirt

[40g]

my beautiful purple and yellow worm :(
Hadn’t come out of his tube for days, I wanted to feel him squirm at least so I squeezed the tube gently. Nothing, so I thought he was done for and pulled out the tube. Then I see this weirdo left behind, the actual worm. He’s not strong, but still moving a tiny bit.

Is he as good as dead? Remove it asap? What killed him? Is it contagious?

Sucks. He was my favorite :(

Rip

 

[vaguelyreeflike]

I wouldnt remove it until its visibly decaying, try not to touch it much and watch for hermits and such picking at it.

I had one leave its tube and re-establish under a rock, it seemed very weak at first and eventually secured itself to the rock, re-built a tube and grew a new feather back within 2 weeks. Seems to be doing well so far.

It may be dying, but if left alone I find they can recover from a lot

 

[vetteguy53081]

my beautiful purple and yellow worm :(
Hadn’t come out of his tube for days, I wanted to feel him squirm at least so I squeezed the tube gently. Nothing, so I thought he was done for and pulled out the tube. Then I see this weirdo left behind, the actual worm. He’s not strong, but still moving a tiny bit.

Is he as good as dead? Remove it asap? What killed him? Is it contagious?

Sucks. He was my favorite :(

Rip

Leave the tube in place as often a new head will emerge suddenly

 

[NaCl addict]

I wouldnt remove it until its visibly decaying, try not to touch it much and watch for hermits and such picking at it.

I had one leave its tube and re-establish under a rock, it seemed very weak at first and eventually secured itself to the rock, re-built a tube and grew a new feather back within 2 weeks. Seems to be doing well so far.

It may be dying, but if left alone I find they can recover from a lot

Hope it winds up being ok. I had one jump ship and leave it's tube. Looked like it was going to regrow near a rock. I lost sight of it. The tube started to decay so I pulled it. I think they live 2 years and who knows how old they are once we get them. I have a cinnamon feather duster on the way to replace the old one.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

With regards to what caused this:
How long have you had the worm for?
Have you been feeding it anything?
Has anything in the tank been harassing it?
Has anything changed in/around your tank recently?

I wouldn't worry about this being disease or contagious at all.

To my current understanding, featherdusters generally drop their crowns from stress, predation, and/or starvation.

Agreed with the above not to give up on it unless it's visibly decaying, as most feather dusters can regrow their crowns:

If the feather duster gets enough good food and good water quality, and if it isn't being harassed by something in the tank or dying for some reason (like old age), then it should regrow the crown in time.

 

[40g]

I wouldnt remove it until its visibly decaying, try not to touch it much and watch for hermits and such picking at it.

I had one leave its tube and re-establish under a rock, it seemed very weak at first and eventually secured itself to the rock, re-built a tube and grew a new feather back within 2 weeks. Seems to be doing well so far.

It may be dying, but if left alone I find they can recover from a lot

Thanks for this, it is extremely weak but it is moving around. I’ll give it some time! Appreciate it :)

 

[40g]

Leave the tube in place as often a new head will emerge suddenly

too late.

 

[40g]

With regards to what caused this:
How long have you had the worm for?
Have you been feeding it anything?
Has anything in the tank been harassing it?
Has anything changed in/around your tank recently?

I wouldn't worry about this being disease or contagious at all.

Agreed with the above not to give up on it unless it's visibly decaying, as most feather dusters can regrow their crowns:

He's about 3 months new. I dose phytoplankton three times a week. And I also spot feed a bit of reef roids when I'm feeding my coral. Nothing's been bugging it. Really random and sudden. Not much as changed, although I'm reading high Mg and not sure if that can do anything? This forum tells me Mg tests are notoriously faulty.

 

[40g]

Hope it winds up being ok. I had one jump ship and leave it's tube. Looked like it was going to regrow near a rock. I lost sight of it. The tube started to decay so I pulled it. I think they live 2 years and who knows how old they are once we get them. I have a cinnamon feather duster on the way to replace the old one.

I wondered that too. Maybe it's just old age.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

He's about 3 months new. I dose phytoplankton three times a week. And I also spot feed a bit of reef roids when I'm feeding my coral. Nothing's been bugging it. Really random and sudden. Not much as changed, although I'm reading high Mg and not sure if that can do anything? This forum tells me Mg tests are notoriously faulty.

Yeah, I've seen these occasionally drop their crowns without any apparent reason; the last one recovered, and - assuming your water quality is fine - I'd guess yours will too.

 

[40g]

He wasn’t going to make it I could tell. I fed him to the anemone

 

[40g]

Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust.