Tiger Tail Cucumber

[Snorkel in my tank]

I had one of these recommended to me by a guy who works at my aquarium store. He said it would be good for my tank because it will eat detritus, and I have a bunch of it building up. I am worried about the fact they can release a toxic substance into the water if stressed or injured. I read something in a book that says overflows and power heads can harm them. I have very small little Rios, a 50 and a 90 in my tank, so I don't think they would be a problem, but i do have two big overflows.

In general, isn't it a little risky to put a toxic animal in your reef, even if your set up appears suitable for it? Is this a commonly done thing?

Can anyone recommend any better choices of animals that will eat detritus?

Thanks.

 

[Unarce]

http://reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t ... tiger+tail

I wouldn't worry about cuke nuke if you stick with the Holothuria genus. :wink:

 

[Snorkel in my tank]

thanks, that post was informative. So check this out: my sand is a mess, tons of algae and organics. I am thinking either a conch or a cucumber would help. But my corals are not glued down, they are carfeully placed in their locations, and turbo sials used to knock them down, so I took them out.

Will a conch ever leave the sand and climb the rock? Or do they mostly stay in the sand?

Any suggestions as to animals that eat detritus and won't knock my corals down? Thanks.

 

[Baianotang]

I would not trust a cuke nookie (nuke) I like how that sounds. I have put to much money and care in the fish put a time bomb waiting for dissaster.
The conch as I understand dont climb on the rocks unless they are really small (conches).

 

[Juck]

Queen Conchs are great sand cleaners IME but they take their sweet time about it. They don't go onto the rocks either.

I had 2 caribbean cukes in my 75g and they were sand cleaning machines,, sorry,, don't know the exact species.

I banished them to the fuge when I added a capret anemone to the tank (didn't even want to take the chance of the cukes stumbling into it) and they're doing a good job down there too.

 

[Snorkel in my tank]

Thanks for the info.

 

[pcragg]

My fighting conch continuously cleans the sandbed and never climbs the rock. My queen conch continuously cleans the rock and never goes on the sand. They both do wonderful jobs and I recommend them both.

I also have a tiger tail but I haven't seen it since I bought it, so I have no idea if it is still alive or whether it is cleaning.

I do know that the fighting conch does a great job of cleaning my sand bed.