Feeding Feather Duster?

I have a 12 gallon Fluval Edge. My friend who works at a fish store just gave me a feather duster and gave me Julian Sprungs Marine Snow and a pipette. Now how do I feed him? How much? How often? He warned me it could be nitrate city if I use too much, so now I'd like to know how much that is.

Marine Snow:

 

I alternate Marine Snow and Reef-Roids each day.

I turn my return pump off so that the water isn't going into the sump and skimmer (thus filtering out the snow), but I leave the powerheads on to circulate it all over the tank for all my filter feeders. I leave the pump off for about 2 hours.

In a Fluval Edge, I don't know how you'd go about turning off the filter and maintaining flow, unless you have a little powerhead in there

As for how much to feed, the bottle has instructions. IIRC, it's 5mL per 20G, so in a 12G, probably around 3mL daily or every other day.

What else is in the setup? i.e. is there other stuff the duster can feed on?

 

I do have a little powerhead, it was free also =)

The daily/every other day was mostly what I was looking for, thanks! I figured I'd use about half the recommended amount but wanted to see if any of you did it differently. I now have a Fire Shrimp, a turbo snail, and some nassas. I put flakes and brine in for the shrimp.

 

The LFS guy said feed the snow once a week. What say you to that? That's quite the differing opinion.

 

Your LFS could well be right. If that's the only filter feeder in your tank, combined with what's already in the tank, once a week could be a little treat for the duster.

I feed daily, but I have a tank full of filter feeding corals, feather dusters etc and an oversized skimmer to catch 'left-overs' along with a nutrient export/management program of carbon dosing.

You can always start with a once a week, and if that doesn't seem enough, increase to twice a week and so on until you find the right balance.

 

Mmmkay, what are some signs of an unhappy or hungry duster? This thing was just given to me so I have had zero time to research.

 

I honestly don't know what the signs are. If it is a coloured duster, then possibly it may loose colour I'm only guessing.

Might be a job for google

 

K, thanks. Fingers crossed I keep him happy!

 

Do yours ever shed their tops oust of the blue?

 

HI Hipster -They can get stressed from not eating, water parameters (nitrates too high?), tank mates like crabs and shrimps picking at them. It may be able to regrow the crown in time. How are your water parameters? Nitrates at 20 ppm or higher can pose problems in a reef tank.

 

Naa, nitrates are at around 3. And he gets fed "snow" once a week. I'm wondering if that sneaky little emerald crab lopped if off.

 

Yeah, definitely possible the emerald may have had something to do with it.