How come nobody told me how cool cucumbers are!?

[JoJosReef]

Meet Harold, my new yellow sea cucumber.

Don't know why I named him Harold. It's just the name that immediately flashed in my brain when I saw him. It was an "Oh, hi Harold!" situation. Harold is a yellow sea cucumber (Colochirus robustus) from Salty Bottom Reef Company. He arrived today with the rest of my group order.

My tank has plenty of planktonic food floating around. He wasn't in the tank for 5 minutes and was already rearing up to filter feed:

He's a cool dude.

 

[jcmjoe]

He looks very cool! Congratulations!

 

[VintageReefer]

I like it! I never considered one before

Are they tank crashers if they die?

 

[kilnakorr]

I like it! I never considered one before

Are they tank crashers if they die?

Yes. There can 'nuke' your tank if you're unlucky.
I believe this is the reason not to many keep them.

 

[Reefering1]

"Is that a cucumber in your tank or is it just happy to see me?"

Lol

 

[Chrisv.]

Yes. There can 'nuke' your tank if you're unlucky.
I believe this is the reason not to many keep them.

Yeah I have come close to buying one many times, and this has always kept me from doing it. We go so far out of our way to spend thousands of dollars and countless hours on these tanks and the idea that a cool $20 invert that is considered "expert only" could die and nuke the whole thing.... Nah.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

@littlefoxx has a sea cucumber story to tell you

 

[JoJosReef]

I like it! I never considered one before

Are they tank crashers if they die?

@ISpeakForTheSeas has a few good links on this topic.

 

[kevgib67]

I put a carrot in my tank and it didn’t crash.

 

[littlefoxx]

@littlefoxx has a sea cucumber story to tell you

Awe heck no!! No cucumbers allowed in my tank. Murderous little b-words!!

 

[timmyrules]

They only crash the tank if they get caught in a power head, wave maker, filter, etc. but if they just die, without being shredded to pieces, your tank will be fine.

 

[Poshangcun]

I used to have a tiger cucumber in my 40-gallon tank, but it never appeared again.

 

[littlefoxx]

They only crash the tank if they get caught in a power head, wave maker, filter, etc. but if they just die, without being shredded to pieces, your tank will be fine.

Yep thats exactly what mine did. Everyone says its super rare and mine did it within 2 weeks of having the dang thing in there

 

[timmyrules]

Yep thats exactly what mine did. Everyone says its super rare and mine did it within 2 weeks of having the dang thing in there

That’s a bummer. I’m sorry to hear that.

 

[Poshangcun]

They only crash the tank if they get caught in a power head, wave maker, filter, etc. but if they just die, without being shredded to pieces, your tank will be fine.

Agree. I think mine has died, but my tank is fine.

 

[reefing1]

Agree. I think mine has died, but my tank is fine.

How do you know if its dead? I have one its not flaring up for a while now. Not sure if its alive. Its just sitting there.

 

[Crabby48]

Because you never asked lol. Harold is handsome.

 

[Poshangcun]

How do you know if its dead? I have one its not flaring up for a while now. Not sure if its alive. Its just sitting there.

Honestly, I haven’t seen my cucumber’s dead body, but I also haven’t seen it at all for about a year, and my tank is only 40 gallons. The last time I spotted it, I noticed that it tended to hide inside the rocks.