Feather duster

[MadReefer]

I would like to add some feather dusters to my tank in the near future. I hear most people don't quarantine or dip crabs, snails, shrimp, etc. Does the same hold true for the Feathers?

 

[9supratt4]

I never QT'd mine that I had.

 

[AJ1080]

I did find something that looked similar to colonial hydroids on a hermit crab shell that I got recently. I made sure I didnt put that one in the tank. Since you can't really dip them I would just give them a quick look over and look for anything out of the ordinary.

 

[NikkiT]

I would not qt or dip a feather duster worm. It is a filter feeder, qt and it will likely starve to death in the qt system. That is if your qt system has never been treated with copper- which may also kill it depending on the residual levels and the amount of time the animal spends in qt. I would not dip it. Many dips kill inverts, and none of them are going to be good for this animal, and some might break down the tube that protects it. A feshwater dip would be very harmful, so dont do that either. If you want to examine it to be sure nothing hitchhikes in on it, you should be able to do that in a large, shallow container filled with saltwater.
To the best of my knowledge, it cannot be a carrier for diseases that would harm your fish, or parasites that attack your corals, so observation should be sufficient.

 

[MadReefer]

Nikki, thanks for the info and that is my concern. I may setup a 10g QT tank since the last 2 fish I have perished and not sure why. There is another thread on that.

 

[NikkiT]

I saw your other thread, I am sorry for your loss.
I would not QT the feather duster, it will do more harm than good. If you are truely concerned that it will bring in a parasite, more than one of our sponsors sells feather duster worms, and keeps them in separate tanks from coral, and sometimes separate tanks from fish. I can think of two offhand.
Nikki