Advice on cucumbers?

[nynikki]

I recently purchased and moved a 90g reef. I've been in the hobby for a few years now, but small potatoes so I now have a lot of new to me equipment and livestock that I am trying to learn about. I started reading up on sea cucumbers and wanted to get some input. The one in this tank I think is a Spiny Sea Cucumber. It's only 2-3 inches at rest it seems, but we saw it stretch out a bit once and it looked longer than that. I thought these guys lived to sift sand? So far I've only seen it cling to the clam for about 6 days. I've begun to do some reading on these things, and I'm beginning to wonder why anyone would keep one in an aquarium. I had no idea they were as dangerous to keep as what I'm reading is leading me to believe. I love this tank, and the cucumber is cool and all, but am I taking some huge unnecessary risk by having this thing in the tank? Could it really kill everything in the tank without warning?

[headless]

Originally Posted by nynikki

I recently purchased and moved a 90g reef. I've been in the hobby for a few years now, but small potatoes so I now have a lot of new to me equipment and livestock that I am trying to learn about. I started reading up on sea cucumbers and wanted to get some input. The one in this tank I think is a Spiny Sea Cucumber. It's only 2-3 inches at rest it seems, but we saw it stretch out a bit once and it looked longer than that. I thought these guys lived to sift sand? So far I've only seen it cling to the clam for about 6 days. I've begun to do some reading on these things, and I'm beginning to wonder why anyone would keep one in an aquarium. I had no idea they were as dangerous to keep as what I'm reading is leading me to believe. I love this tank, and the cucumber is cool and all, but am I taking some huge unnecessary risk by having this thing in the tank? Could it really kill everything in the tank without warning?

I was thinking of getting one but the danger of a cuke nuke discouraged me...plus, like you, I have a 92 gallon tank...if it dies, and you're not there to do a water change or two, or three...and get lots of charcoal in, you'll likely lose everything in your tank.

For those with bigger tanks, it's not as big a deal...for me, I decided it wasn't worth the risk...

[redfishblewfish]

This is timely and I’ll follow along hoping to see responses from knowledgeable members.

Here’s my perspective – I have had friends who have had cuc’s for years and not once did I ever hear of a cuc poisoning their tank. I know when researching you read about their poisoning ability and their ability to “puke” their innards. I’ve never heard of that happening either.

Anyway, here’s why I have an interest in following this thread. I put a yellowish cuc in the tank about three years ago. It disappeared and I didn’t see it again (or any noticeable change in my sand).until about a year later. The little guy was spotted, to my surprise, and then disappeared again, never to be seen, to date. I was eventually told that this cuc was an algae eater, and not a sand sifter. If it is still alive, it hides well.

This past week I pick up a red and black cuc that I know is a sand sifter. I also wanted one a little larger than the original cuc, so I choose one about four inches long. After acclimating, I placed him in the tank right against the front glass.



My expectation was to see him clean my dirty sand, which I had plenty of. I watched him over the next few hours while he raced down the front glass, about six inches. When I woke up the following morning, he was gone. I searched in all the cracks and crevices, and could not find him. And again, no noticeable signs of my sand being clean.

Bottom line for me is that I have not seen a benefit of having a yellow and a red & black. Now it's only been a week with the red and black, but I'd still like to see him on occasion.

[nynikki]

I would really like to hear what the old hands have to say about this topic... should I consider trading this little guy in before he disappears? It's still attached to the clam so he would be very easy to pick off now.

[Whisperer]

I have 2 in my 120G, got then really small (2 inches). They ingest dirty sand and leave a pile of clean sand pelets that crumble easily. They cleaned every bit of spilled fish food pellets (there was a lot on the substrate, I was afraid I was going to have algae bloom). They are even active at night. They like to hang out in between rocks. I think because they get so big that they pollute the tank when they croak. Just like a dead big fish that is not removed.

[syrinx]

Cukes vary greatly in their ability to poison a tank. Some are as bad as sea apples- and some are as whisperer said, simply a rot risk. All that is needed to be done is ID and research the ones you have or want.

[yeldarbj]

I've got a large purple and black one, like in the picture above. It's a great sandsifter and out and about probably 90% of the time. We call it "Mr. Hanky".

[JMartin104]

Originally Posted by syrinx

Cukes vary greatly in their ability to poison a tank. Some are as bad as sea apples- and some are as whisperer said, simply a rot risk. All that is needed to be done is ID and research the ones you have or want.

Excellent response. I have the yellowish/brown (turd) that's about 3" that I picked up as a hitchhiker about 4 months ago. Cleans my surface sand regularly. In my research, this is supposed to be one of the safer ones.

[disciple]

I bought a pinktiger cucumber about 2 years ago about 4inches I'd say. For a couple of months I saw little pellets and then it vanished. My sand bed was and is still dirty so it had plenty of food but i think it just didnt like my water conditions. At the time I had plenty of fish in my system, none that would have killed it, and no signs of shock. If it died there were no problems noticed, my bristleworms probably had a cookout tho.

[ataller]

I have a tigertail in my 120G. When I put him/her in, it was maybe 2.5", now the thing extended at night when it is feeding is easily 8".

I hear when they get big enough they split.

Anyways, I expected the cucumber to move around a lot. It does not. It anchors itself under a piece of live rock, and cleans all the sand within its reach. This takes a couple days. Then it will move, anchor itself just out of reach from the last spot, and clean again. The thing poops clean sand, literally.

I have 3 rock piles in my 5 foot 120, I have never seen it leave the right rock pile. I think I may buy another and drop it on the other side.

++ in my books. Go for the tigertail.

[nynikki]

Can someone help ID this Cuc?

[3D-Reef]

Looks like a spiny cucumber(Pentacta),one of the more toxic ones,and is NOT a sandsifter,but a filter feeder.I would remove him.

I have had several cucumbers for years,one,a pink and black one,has been in the fuge for ~8-9 years.The Floridana's have split 4-5 times for Me.

Tigertails tend to stay next to the rock work.The big black ones and the splochie brown/solid brown ones will go all over the tank regardless of the rock work.

[cjdevito]

Holuthuria edulis (the pink & black ones common in the hobby, and incidentally also on sushi plates) are excellent sand cleaners. They don't grow quite as large as the tiger tails, wander freely around the tank, are often out in plain view, are relatively hardy (like all echinoderms they aren't the best osmoregulators and so don't do well with salinity swings), and I've never heard of one self-eviscerating in a tank so no poison worries.

I had one for six years until I moved cross country and tore down that tank, and have no trouble at all in recommending them to any tank with enough sand surface to sustain them.