Spiny sea cucumbers?

Gdbyrd

Gdbyrd

life's a beach
How bad of an idea are one of these? I run some carbon in my tank, about 1 cup for the 47 gallons. There's one of these for sale locally, they look awesome! And they are filter feeders if I understand it right.

I don't think my clowns would harass it, and my sureflow pumps should stop it from getting cut up.

Was just curious. I have some oyster feed for filter feeders and am looking for a reason to use it..lol.

The local one is about 2" long.
 
Well, they are toxic... If one dies in your tank, you can expect your water quality to get quite nasty. I had a bad experience with the one and only cucumber I ever tried to keep. It was one of the burrowing ones, it died and I wasn't able to find the body, so it gradually polluted my tank.

That said, they are excellent at keeping the sand clean. Some are filter feeders, and some are detritivores.
 
David and Yote, you 2 are such ssissygirls.No risk no glory, you keep saying that about my sea aplle but david I think you have one and its no diffrent then that
 
I have a black cucumber in my 55 reef, and it is doing very well, keeps the sand clean as heck, but like stated, they could wipe out the tank if it died, so if you get one...keep your eyes on it. Rule of thumb, the more colorful they are, the more poisonous they are also.
 
Smitty I think you are right about the more colorful being more deadly, that's usually the way it works.

From the little bit of reading I've done, they say this one climbs around and anchors himself to a rock and just filter feeds. It's not really a sand burrower. I know you guys are right about it being a bad idea..but damn they are so unique looking.

Hmm..probably going to just pass on it unless I walk in there and get impulsive. It's too bad there's that much of an issue keeping them. Definitely neat looking.

Out of curiosity..how much carbon do you need to run if something like that does die in your tank? Or does it not really help?
 
If it were me then I would do a large water change say 30% followed by 10-20% twice weekly and run a couple of cups of carbon changing it twice weekly. I don't think there is a formula on exactly how much to use though. The more the better on the carbon.
 
I am confused on what kind of cucumber you are talking about, do you know what it is or just know it by spiny cucumber??

i have a pink sand cucumber in my 180 and love it, keeps my sand free of detritus. I also keep a sea apple and medusa worm in the 850 (1200)
 
ltljoker said:
David and Yote, you 2 are such ssissygirls.No risk no glory, you keep saying that about my sea aplle but david I think you have one and its no diffrent then that
Click to expand...

Cause with my luck,something would pick on it and cause it to release its toxins and kill my corals.:grumble: And I'm tired of startin over:frustrat:
Lost 9 out of 10 big SPS colonies to a hiking anemone.Over 900 bucks worth turned into white stick over night.
Recovered from that.
Then had a dino out break that killed all but a couple of soft corals.
So I aint takin no chances:death:
 
yote said:
Cause with my luck,something would pick on it and cause it to release its toxins and kill my corals.:grumble: And I'm tired of startin over:frustrat:
Lost 9 out of 10 big SPS colonies to a hiking anemone.Over 900 bucks worth turned into white stick over night.
Recovered from that.
Then had a dino out break that killed all but a couple of soft corals.
So I aint takin no chances:death:
Click to expand...

I hear ya Yote Ive had to do a lil starting over myself :grumble:lost alot of coral when i upgraded to the bigger tank:frustrat: so I know where you are coming from:bowdown:
 
Gdbyrd said:
Hey winy, here's the link to one exactly like it. Saltwater Aquarium Inverts for Marine Reef Aquariums: Spiny Sea Cucumber, Green w/Pink & Yellow

I googled the little critter and read that a lot of people say they don't dig in the sand that they kinda kinda find a spot with the proper flow and just stay there.
Click to expand...

You are right these ones are not sand sifters. They are filter feeders and will find a spot by some flow and hang out there. I had one once that attached to my glass brace at the top of my tank and didn't move for 3 years.

These guys are pretty hardy, your tank might be a bit small unless you want to supplement feed it. I would run carbon in there to help just in case it was stressed and released toxins.
 
Well, what do you think Winy? Think it's worth buying? I don't mind supplementing with something every other day. I'll go with your advice on this one.
 
well that webpage does say it could be difficult to keep. seems like a risk to me. a beautiful risk but still a large risk. Beautiful looking cucumber. How long has your tank been up and running?
 
I am in the same boat with alexander, how long has your tank been established:shock:, I have a sea apple and I have been up and running for over almost 3 years:frustrat:. The lfs wouldnt even sell it to me if i had a new tank. so if your tank is young it would be a dangerous risk.:bowdown:
 
Why risk it ?
If something could go wrong it does! That's the way this hobby seems to work. So why put yourself in that situation? There are plenty of beautiful things you can add to your tank that aren't risky. Yes some of us have some types of these things, but our tanks are a lot larger too.
 

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