Are Sea Cucumbers right for your tank?

[Paulie069]

Where (which bay) did you collect them if you don't mind me ask? I am landlocked in WI so never a chance I can have the pleasure of collecting my own. I used to live in Belize and really missed seeing them in the wild!

Barnegat bay ,, Long Beach island

 

[najer]

Interesting, how large did yours get to before it split?

I guess un stretched about 4 - 5 inches.

 

[Coralsdaily]

I have a Yellow Sea cucumber. After moving him 3 times he finally was happy and feeding regularly. He recently split. It looked like a balloon animal rolled in the middle. The end with the original mouth has fed a few times (often feeds at night) and the back end hasn’t fed yet (that I caught). Haven’t moved too much - still on the same rock just shift positions.

Kudos to you! those are one of the most difficult ones to keep IMO. Not only their feeding habit, but also they tend to get tangled with wavemakers or overflow drains....

 

[Coralsdaily]

From Belize to Wisconsin, that's brutal.

I know that's why I really need a tank to remind myself of my heritage

 

[Coralsdaily]

Yes. It shares the fuge with chaeto, pods and some bristle worms. I had the originals in my 180. In one of my tear downs to catch my fish to treat for ich (that could be a whole other discussion in itself), I removed them from my display tank. They are usually shy and you don’t see much of them, except their head poking out to eat the sand from under a rock, which is why I took that picture. But I wanted the cucumber in a tank I could contain, and not have to tear down 200 pounds of live rock to unbury them. So that’s why I moved it to my fuge. Even now, I can’t find it. But I can see the poop sand piles, so I know which rock it’s hiding under.

Love it. It's really funny how the cucumber can become a mini island of its own. My cucumber has hundres of pods crawling all over it and uses its spikes as refuge!

 

[Coralsdaily]

thank you steven this was a wonderful write up for the community!

Thank you for the compliment! love to have encouragement as I plan to contribute more!

 

[Coralsdaily]

Cucumbers - you pay your money and you take your chances...

I've been in the hobby 45-something years, and I've always had to have a number of echinoderms in my tank. I love starfish, urchins, cucumbers, sand dollars, etc. and had never had a "Cuke Nuke". Until 6/29/20 that is. I had two black cucumbers in my DT for literally many years. At 1PM I fed my fish and all was well. I passed by the tank at 4:30 PM and saw many dead fish. I lost 18 in all, many of which I'd had for many years.

I whacked the tank with a lot of carbon to get the toxicity out. (Three days later many stony corals were burned due to the instant clarity of the water. And, a week later my tank's Aiptasia production was in full swing because I'd lost all my Butterflies.)

What killed the cuke? A powerhead? Probably. Powerheads are capable of shredding anemones, but cukes have no extremities that could get sucked into the powerhead and thus shredded. What does happen is that a cuke gets too close to the powerhead and sucked onto it. If the powerhead is on continuously, the cuke is immobilized there. It can't move or feed and it dies there of starvation. And, you've been Cuke Nuked...

Still want a cucumber? My second black cucumber survived the event. Want it? Let me know and you can come over and pick it up.

Does your LFS or on-line invert supplier care? No, if they'll sell you a cucumber they're just in it to make a buck. Should you buy anything at all from them? Consider their business ethics, and then make your own choice...

Alternatively, find a vendor that can supply you with a nice smallish sand dollar.

@radiata, so sorry to hear your lost. And having kept these creatures for 40+ years I have no doubt you are in the "expert" category. To which, is what LIveaquaria labels cucumber care as- "expert only". I whole heartedly agree with you, that while cukes are cool and all, house them at your own risk and take all advices with a grain of salt. To be fair, cucumbers aren't the only ones who can cause a catastrophic event to tanks, but will certainly be one you'd never forget if it happens. I have my vortec operating in intervals specifically to avoid pulling in creatures, and to allow them a chance to escape in between sessions. I also feel that if it took you this long to experience it, many retailers might have never experienced, or half a clue of the devastation they can cause when they sell them. Just for your story alone I hope this post can capture more fellow reefers' attention and help drive the most informed decision when considering a cucumber for their tanks.

 

[Coralsdaily]

Barnegat bay ,, Long Beach island

Interesting, so do you need to keep them at a lower water temp?

 

[Coralsdaily]

I guess un stretched about 4 - 5 inches.

Glad you throw in the detail about stretched, it's true, their length can easily double if stretched out.

 

[RVA REEF]

^thats what she said

 

[Paulie069]

Interesting, so do you need to keep them at a lower water temp?

All my tanks are at 72.5-73 never higher than that

 

[Reefrats]

Kudos to you! those are one of the most difficult ones to keep IMO. Not only their feeding habit, but also they tend to get tangled with wavemakers or overflow drains....

Yikes I didn’t know that. Do they split because they are happy and reproducing or because they can’t feed their whole body so they are getting rid of half? I have heard both.

 

[najer]

Yikes I didn’t know that. Do they split because they are happy and reproducing or because they can’t feed their whole body so they are getting rid of half? I have heard both.

Just my opinion, I think it is food availability so if there is enough food for two they split, I have no facts to support this.

 

[Vette67]

Just my opinion, I think it is food availability so if there is enough food for two they split, I have no facts to support this.

I would agree. It seems that when they are healthy and eating well is when they split. And I too, only have my experience with them to support this thought.

 

[Baby Reefer]

Are Sea Cucumbers right for your tank?
2020-09-29 stevenliu9
Hello Everyone, welcome back to my blog. Steven here! Thank you so much for taking time to enjoy the topics we discuss here.

Feel free to skip the read if you rather watch the video


Today we continue our “Is _____ right for your tank” series by discuss sea cucumber. Sea cucumbers are part of the echinoderm family. Echinoderm means spiky skin. members of this family include sea cucumbers, starfish, and urchins, all of which possess “spiky skin”. But many other marine creature may also contain spiky skins, so what is common among starfish, sea cucumber, and urchins? The answer lies in their cross section. If you are to view these creature from the angle of their mouth and slice their bodies from this view, you’d find them all to possess a pentagonal structure of various outlines.

Urchins & starfish both belong in the echinoderm family

We will discuss starfish and urchins fitness to your tank in a separate chat. Today let’s focus on sea cucumbers. Unlike their urchin and starfish armored relatives, the sea cucumber typically do not have calcified armor deposit above their skin layer, leaving them vulnerable to predators, extreme temperature, and water pressure.

Although they lack the protective armor that urchins and starfishes do, they possess something even more deadly- their internals. When stressed, sea cucumbers can expel their entire digestive tract, which I would assume is nasty tasting, to deter predators. the digestive tract is very potent and can wipe out all creatures in its vicinity. Hence the term “nuke” you may hear some hobbyists call it. Yes, cucumbers possess the potential of “nuking” your entire tank, wiping all living organisms off including fish, other inverts, and corals off.

A Tigertail sea cucumber ingest food from its feeding tentacles

The is only a handful of sea cucumber species that are popular in today’s aquarium trade, and all of them stay in relatively managible size for average aquarists’ tanks. There are two main types: those who swipe, and those who catch. The tiger tail sea cucumber (there are a dozen or more different species with this name) is a good representative of the “swiping kind” as they spill out their feeding tentacles, capture small objects and ingest into their system. The sea apple on the other hand, is a good representative of the “capturer” as it waves its tentacles in the water column in attempt to capture food in the flow.

Sea Apple capturing food from the water column

Given the specific feeding preferences between the two types of sea cucumbers, if you are considering either of them for your tank, I suggest you ask yourself these questions:
For Food swiping cucumbers:

1. Do you currently have a fine-grain sand bed? Yes
2. Is the tank established enough for the sand bed to nurture a good amount of micro organism? Yes
3. Do you have any creature (fish or inverts) with an appetite for sea cucumber? No
4. Do you have powerhead/return syphons close to the sandbed level with any risk of sucking the cucumber in? No

If your answer matches the ones above, then you may consider adding a sand sifting cucumber at your own risk. I will also add- Sea cucumbers do not eat poop, algae, or detritus. In fact, not creature sold in the store eat poop or detritus, there is no nutritional value in either. What sea cucumbers really eat is the micro organisms living on the surface of your sugar grain size sand bed. Hence they ingest the sand to strip the sand clean of it. So if you have another creature in the tank who also does the same thing, such as a sand sifting goby, you may want to think twice as they will be competing for food.

The yellow cucumber is another commonly seen available in the hobby require food dosing in the water column.

For Food Catching cucumbers:

1. Do you dose microscopic food into your water column to supplimental feeding daily? Yes
2. Can your filtration system handle the frequent, and heavy feeding into the water column? Yes
3. Do you have any creature (fish or inverts) with an appetite for sea cucumber? No
4. Do you have powerhead/return syphons anywhere in the tank with any risk of sucking the cucumber in? No

If your answer matches the above, then you may consider adding a food catching cucumber like the sea apple. Please note, you will NOT be having any wave maker in your tank. Sea apple + wave maker = disaster for your tank. Unlike the other type of cucumber who typically don’t venture far off the sand bed. The food catching type will travel all over the place.

Some sea cucumbers can become massive. But most of the ones available to purchase won’t get to that level.

So, are sea cucumbers right for your tank? Well, if you are well equipped with all the nutritional needs describe above, I think you will be well rewarded with a very cool, alien looking creature that when in the open, is definitely an attention grabber. Please just make sure you have all the safety precautions in place to prevent the cucumbers being trapped or sucked into any water moving machines.

Have you ever had, or currently owning sea cucumbers in your tank? Comment in the bottom if you like to share your experiences with them!

I had a small one like the last picture you have in your post a few years ago. When I saw it at the store it reminded me of an ugly old man which for some reason I thought was cute...lol At the time I didn't know anything about them and the clerk in the store didn't feel the need to share the dangers with me. He acclimated to the tank pretty well, but after about 2 months he disappeared. I thought he was on the back side of the tank and I just couldn't see him. The next thing I know, the whole tank started changing. I couldn't get the water parameters to balance, the coral were definitely not happy and two of my fish disappeared (died). I called the guy who does my water changes and he said that the sea slug I bought probably died and was basically poising everything. I have a 180 gallon tank and it is full of coral, I panicked. He came out and did a water change for me, gave me some ideas of things I could do to help the recovery process and together we managed to get the tank back to it's normal self. These creatures are not for amateur reef tank owners. My advise, research before you buy.

 

[Jon Fishman]

Dripping now:

 

[Jon Fishman]

Any suggestions for protecting it until it gets firmly established somewhere? I have a ton of flow and it’s open/eating, but hasn’t firmly latched on anywhere yet.......... Worried it’s going to be like a giant bomb headed towards my anemones

 

[Lost Aussie]

Are Sea Cucumbers right for your tank?
2020-09-29 stevenliu9
Hello Everyone, welcome back to my blog. Steven here! Thank you so much for taking time to enjoy the topics we discuss here.

Feel free to skip the read if you rather watch the video


Today we continue our “Is _____ right for your tank” series by discuss sea cucumber. Sea cucumbers are part of the echinoderm family. Echinoderm means spiky skin. members of this family include sea cucumbers, starfish, and urchins, all of which possess “spiky skin”. But many other marine creature may also contain spiky skins, so what is common among starfish, sea cucumber, and urchins? The answer lies in their cross section. If you are to view these creature from the angle of their mouth and slice their bodies from this view, you’d find them all to possess a pentagonal structure of various outlines.

Urchins & starfish both belong in the echinoderm family

We will discuss starfish and urchins fitness to your tank in a separate chat. Today let’s focus on sea cucumbers. Unlike their urchin and starfish armored relatives, the sea cucumber typically do not have calcified armor deposit above their skin layer, leaving them vulnerable to predators, extreme temperature, and water pressure.

Although they lack the protective armor that urchins and starfishes do, they possess something even more deadly- their internals. When stressed, sea cucumbers can expel their entire digestive tract, which I would assume is nasty tasting, to deter predators. the digestive tract is very potent and can wipe out all creatures in its vicinity. Hence the term “nuke” you may hear some hobbyists call it. Yes, cucumbers possess the potential of “nuking” your entire tank, wiping all living organisms off including fish, other inverts, and corals off.

A Tigertail sea cucumber ingest food from its feeding tentacles

The is only a handful of sea cucumber species that are popular in today’s aquarium trade, and all of them stay in relatively managible size for average aquarists’ tanks. There are two main types: those who swipe, and those who catch. The tiger tail sea cucumber (there are a dozen or more different species with this name) is a good representative of the “swiping kind” as they spill out their feeding tentacles, capture small objects and ingest into their system. The sea apple on the other hand, is a good representative of the “capturer” as it waves its tentacles in the water column in attempt to capture food in the flow.

Sea Apple capturing food from the water column

Given the specific feeding preferences between the two types of sea cucumbers, if you are considering either of them for your tank, I suggest you ask yourself these questions:
For Food swiping cucumbers:

1. Do you currently have a fine-grain sand bed? Yes
2. Is the tank established enough for the sand bed to nurture a good amount of micro organism? Yes
3. Do you have any creature (fish or inverts) with an appetite for sea cucumber? No
4. Do you have powerhead/return syphons close to the sandbed level with any risk of sucking the cucumber in? No

If your answer matches the ones above, then you may consider adding a sand sifting cucumber at your own risk. I will also add- Sea cucumbers do not eat poop, algae, or detritus. In fact, not creature sold in the store eat poop or detritus, there is no nutritional value in either. What sea cucumbers really eat is the micro organisms living on the surface of your sugar grain size sand bed. Hence they ingest the sand to strip the sand clean of it. So if you have another creature in the tank who also does the same thing, such as a sand sifting goby, you may want to think twice as they will be competing for food.

The yellow cucumber is another commonly seen available in the hobby require food dosing in the water column.

For Food Catching cucumbers:

1. Do you dose microscopic food into your water column to supplimental feeding daily? Yes
2. Can your filtration system handle the frequent, and heavy feeding into the water column? Yes
3. Do you have any creature (fish or inverts) with an appetite for sea cucumber? No
4. Do you have powerhead/return syphons anywhere in the tank with any risk of sucking the cucumber in? No

If your answer matches the above, then you may consider adding a food catching cucumber like the sea apple. Please note, you will NOT be having any wave maker in your tank. Sea apple + wave maker = disaster for your tank. Unlike the other type of cucumber who typically don’t venture far off the sand bed. The food catching type will travel all over the place.

Some sea cucumbers can become massive. But most of the ones available to purchase won’t get to that level.

So, are sea cucumbers right for your tank? Well, if you are well equipped with all the nutritional needs describe above, I think you will be well rewarded with a very cool, alien looking creature that when in the open, is definitely an attention grabber. Please just make sure you have all the safety precautions in place to prevent the cucumbers being trapped or sucked into any water moving machines.

Have you ever had, or currently owning sea cucumbers in your tank? Comment in the bottom if you like to share your experiences with them!

Had one for around two years, it suddenly disappeared couldn’t see it anywhere in my reef tank, just thought it was in the rocks, when it reappeared it was half its size couldn’t believe it I now have two, it split.

 

[Saltyanimals]

Cucumbers - you pay your money and you take your chances...

I've been in the hobby 45-something years, and I've always had to have a number of echinoderms in my tank. I love starfish, urchins, cucumbers, sand dollars, etc. and had never had a "Cuke Nuke". Until 6/29/20 that is. I had two black cucumbers in my DT for literally many years. At 1PM I fed my fish and all was well. I passed by the tank at 4:30 PM and saw many dead fish. I lost 18 in all, many of which I'd had for many years.

I whacked the tank with a lot of carbon to get the toxicity out. (Three days later many stony corals were burned due to the instant clarity of the water. And, a week later my tank's Aiptasia production was in full swing because I'd lost all my Butterflies.)

What killed the cuke? A powerhead? Probably. Powerheads are capable of shredding anemones, but cukes have no extremities that could get sucked into the powerhead and thus shredded. What does happen is that a cuke gets too close to the powerhead and sucked onto it. If the powerhead is on continuously, the cuke is immobilized there. It can't move or feed and it dies there of starvation. And, you've been Cuke Nuked...

Still want a cucumber? My second black cucumber survived the event. Want it? Let me know and you can come over and pick it up.

Does your LFS or on-line invert supplier care? No, if they'll sell you a cucumber they're just in it to make a buck. Should you buy anything at all from them? Consider their business ethics, and then make your own choice...

Alternatively, find a vendor that can supply you with a nice smallish sand dollar.

@radiata I agree with OPs comments that you fall into the expert category with 45 years in. That's about how many years I've been alive. lol. From what I've read on these cucumbers, they tend to stay near the sand which hopefully keeps them from powerhead disasters. The Sea Apples and others would be the ones that are more at risk to PHs given their higher glass climbing nature. Which ones did you have? Haven't read much about the sand sifting ones making the big climbs.

I just put in a 4-5 in red/black Holothuria sp. Looking super cool, but of course now double down on my initial research before buying. I'm a bit concerned about my sand however. I have reef sand which are larger grains. Not gravel, but def not the fine white sand mentioned in this video. Will be watching to see how it moves through the sand.