Fan Worm hating life...

[simpleman]

One of my green/white fan worms is in the process of loosing/lost a portion of it plumage (head)...seems to open fully but the head plumage is looking rough...stays open a good portion of the day and is still reactive (retracts). The others in the tank look perfect. The tank is dead on spec wise...any ideas/suggestions?

http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/at...chmentid=23386
Corals-green mushrooms, assorted mushroom and yel polyps
Inverts-2 pink/white and 2 green/white fan worms
Critters-5 blue legged hermits, a Mexican Turbo, Magarita and 4 Astrea Snails, (2) Ocellaris Clowns and (1) Cleaner Shrimp...
Specs on tank are...
SG 1.023, Ca 480, PH 8.3, NH3&4 0.0, NO2 0.0, NO3 0.0, Temp 77.9-79.2

[customshopguy]

You can try feeding it some plankton or some other tiny food like that but it is probably just going to die. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but these things don't live forever.
--
Clint

[simpleman]

The green/wht feather duster bit the dust yesterday...it totally lost its head after my original post and yesterday I found it laying on the bottom out of it tube...retested tank and parameters are the same...so...I'll wait a bit and replace it with another...

S-man

[RandyO]

I have one myself and have read a ton on them.

They are not the easiest to keep. They blow the feathers when they are starving. They grow them back a few times only smaller but continue to waste away. http://wetwebmedia.com has some great info on them. Depending on what you read, most do not have the best luck with them as their tanks are just to clean. These worms are from pretty murky waters that are full of food for them. From what I have read, it can take up to a year for them to starve to death.

[simpleman]

For that info...I have access to medical supplies and will construct a syringe/pipette type feeding device to deliver a slurry (target feeding) for the other three that I do have...the other three seem to be growing...the size of the fans have increased in size (their heads are very full, bushy, and healthy looking with no breaks in the fans)...but, I will still initiate the target feeding just to keep these guys happy...

Maybe the fan worm that died was just one of those things that happen...

Thanks again RandyO

Regards,
S-man

[missreeftank]

My tube worm lost his head about a month ago, at first I assumed the worst that my tube worm had died. But when I tried feeding it invert food, the worm stuck its head out of the tube minus its feathers. YAY he's still alive! I continued to target feed him every day with a dropper putting food down his tube. And within 1 week his feathers started to grow back. Now one month on he's bigger than ever.

[simpleman]

Thanks missreeftank...been target feeding them, but maybe not enough...I'll give the invert food a try...my other gream feather has not been showing his head lately and I'm begining to worry about him...the other 2 pink and white ones are beautiful and seem to be thriving...

Thanks again...