A sedentary segmented worm that lives in a leathery parchment tube and extends a beautiful banded fan of feathery radioles to filter food and breathe. Peaceful and reef-safe, it adds movement and color to mature reefs but requires a well-fed tank rich in fine suspended food. It will shed and regrow its crown under stress.
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Leathery tube 4-8 in (10-20 cm); feeding crown 2-4 in (5-10 cm) across
Lifespan
2–5 years
Social needs
solo
Native region
Indo-Pacific (also Hawaii and tropical reefs)
Origin
Old World
Climate
🌴 Tropical
Water type
🌊 Marine
Family
Sabellidae
Genus
Sabellastarte
Part of the Feather Dusters & Fan Worms
Sessile tube-dwelling polychaete worms that filter plankton with a showy fan of radioles. Peaceful, reef-safe and ornamental, they thrive in mature, plankton-rich tanks and benefit from regular phytoplankton feeding.
More feather dusters & fan worms coming soon.
Habitat & space requirements
From the minimum an animal needs to be kept humanely, up to the ideal setup. Bigger is almost always better — minimums are floors, not targets.
Photo coming soon
Minimum
Established nano reef
20+ gal cycled 6+ mo / NO3 5-10 / phyto feeding
Feather duster (Sabellid worm) is a filter feeder — needs phytoplankton-rich water + LOW flow. Bury tube in sand or wedge in rockwork. Drops feather plume if stressed (regrows).
Photo coming soon
Recommended
Mature 30-gal reef + phyto dosing
30+ gal mature reef / weekly phyto dose
Mature reef with regular phytoplankton dosing (Reef Roids / live phyto). Compatible with most peaceful reef inhabitants.
Photo coming soon
Ideal
Mature reef with cultured phyto
75+ gal mature reef + live phyto culture
Mature reef with home-cultured live phytoplankton supply for daily target feeding. Multiple feather dusters form a 'garden'.
Life & growth stages
How this animal changes through its life — each stage often has its own care, diet and space needs.
Photo coming soon
Egg
Fish eggs are small, translucent spheres, often laid in clutches on plants, substrate, or in a nest — or carried/brooded by a parent in livebearing and mouth-brooding species. A dark eye spot and the curled embryo become visible inside as development progresses.
Photo coming soon
Fry
Newly hatched fry are tiny and semi-transparent, frequently still carrying a yolk sac that fuels them before they feed freely. They lack full fin structure and adult coloration, staying near cover until they can swim and forage on their own.
Photo coming soon
Juvenile
Juveniles look like miniature adults but with developing fins and muted or different markings; many species shift pattern and color as they mature. Growth is rapid at this stage given clean water and steady feeding.
Adult
Adults show the species' full size, finnage, and mature coloration, and are sexually mature. Many fish develop sex-specific differences in size, color, or fin shape, which can intensify during breeding.
Habitat & enclosure
Keep in an established reef tank of at least 20-30 gallons with mature rock and a healthy population of plankton and detritus. Maintain tropical reef parameters: temperature 72-80F (22-27C), pH 8.1-8.4, salinity SG 1.024-1.026, alkalinity 8-11 dKH, and low but not ultra-stripped nutrients (some particulate food must be present). Low-to-moderate, indirect flow carries food to the crown without battering it; lighting is for the tank's corals, not the worm.
Wedge the tube into a rock crevice or sand pocket so the worm can anchor and retract. Slightly 'dirtier', plankton-rich mature systems suit it better than ultra-clean, heavily skimmed tanks.
Substrate
Provide live rock with crevices and/or a sand bed so the tube can be anchored securely. The worm builds and extends its own parchment tube; just give it a stable pocket to wedge into out of strong direct current.
Equipment & setup
Run standard reef filtration but avoid over-skimming away all fine food; a protein skimmer is fine if you target-feed. Use a heater and gentle powerhead flow, and consider a phytoplankton dosing routine (manual or via a small dosing pump) to keep filter feeders fed.
Diet
Obligate filter feeder. It captures phytoplankton, zooplankton, bacteria, dissolved organics and fine detritus from the water column with its crown. Target-feed regularly with phytoplankton and fine particulate foods (live or bottled phyto, rotifers, oyster eggs, marine snow) by squirting near the crown, especially in clean, well-skimmed reefs.
Behavior & temperament
Completely peaceful, sessile and reef-safe; it competes with nothing and harms nothing. The crown instantly retracts into the tube when shadowed or touched, which is normal. Keep it away from stinging corals and aggressive fish or shrimp that may nip the radioles. Some fish (certain wrasses, large angels) and bristleworms may pick at it.
Health
Crown shedding is common and usually a stress, water-quality or starvation response; a healthy worm regrows the crown in a few weeks if fed and water is stable. Permanent failure to re-emerge or an empty, foul tube means the worm has died. It is sensitive to copper, big swings and overly nutrient-poor water; inspect new arrivals for a retracted but intact, plump body inside the tube.
Tips, DIY & hacks
Drip-acclimate slowly and keep the worm fully submerged at all times. Anchor the tube firmly so it cannot tumble in the flow, and target-feed phyto/fine foods several times a week in clean tanks. If the crown is shed, leave the tube in place and keep feeding; it often regrows.
