Who has experience with Black Sea Cucumbers

[dnreef]

I have an approximately 2" long black sea cucumber which came out of the sand bed in my old tank. He's been living there for months and seems well. I want to put him in my new setup but I have a few questions.

1. What are the member experiences with these animals in general? The general information I got off of the web is kind of scary, but yet it pops up for sales here and there.
2. Should I keep it my my fuge or display tank? I'm leaning toward the fuge because it has an older sandbed but was wonder if it might be more beneficial in my display tank.
3. Has anyone ever had one of these spill their insides? If so, how much damage could a 2" creature create in a system with 90 gallons of water?

I am attaching a picture from a thread from masteswimmer. Thanks for the input.

 

[NYreefNoob]

ive had mine for a year plus, i keep mine in main tank, never had one die so cant answer anything along those line, they only clean top of sand, must have fine sand, if that is yours pictured and your gravel then move it to sump if it has fin e sand, they intake the sand and clean it and poop clean sand back out

 

[2slo4me]

never had a cucumber die... i did have a mudusa worm die in my 75 gallon took out most of my zoas and killed 4-5 fish.... yea ishh happens... i learned my lesson..

 

[prattreef]

I've had mine for probably a decade. Started with one and it split in half. A few years later those 2 split in half again. I wouldn't worry about keeping these at all. I see no advantage to keeping them in your fuge as what you want is for them to turn your sandbed in the display. If they die in the fuge it isn't going to protect the display as they are linked anyway.

 

[Simon Garratt]

Similar to Randy, Ive used these guys for years in my tanks to keep fine substrates clean.

Ive never seen any evidence to imply they are detrimental to critter populations as imo they feed mainly on bacterial coatings that are ground off the sand as it passes through them. This imo, is a major bonus as it makes way for new colonisation of the bacterial mass in the substrates.

Same as well with regards to splitting. I currently have two which origionated from a single individual i got about 8yrs ago.

personnaly i think you need to factor in the amount of space (substrate area) available to them becouse they basically never stop feeding so Id say a maximum of 2 in a tank with a footprint of 6x2 with at least 1/3 to 1/2 the base having exposed fine substrate. (having fine enough substrate is crucial imo to long term success)

The one thing i have noted is their tendency to climb the walls of the tank if the temperature gets much above 78f. This is something ive noted and diagnosed in my own and various systems over the years, with the Cuke commonly settling back down to the substrate as soon as the temp is lowerd back to more acceptable ranges.

I have a hunch that this is a defence mechanism that kicks in so the cucumber doesnt get land locked in drying rock pools the wild.

Regards

simon.

 

[Domboski]

The one thing i have noted is their tendency to climb the walls of the tank if the temperature gets much above 78f. This is something ive noted and diagnosed in my own and various systems over the years, with the Cuke commonly settling back down to the substrate as soon as the temp is lowerd back to more acceptable ranges.

I've also noted this when there is a lack of available "food" within the substrates and rocks (usually new set ups).

I've had one spill out its guts and die in a 24 gallon holding tank when I was treating my main tank with copper. It caused some damage but it was not detrimental like you read on the web and that was a small tank. I have over a dozen of them. They are all Florida sea cucumbers.

 

[House of Laughter]

I have one and had it for alomst 2 years - I put it into a 150g display within a month time of starting the tank from scratch - no live sane or live rock when the tank began

Still kicking

House

 

[dnreef]

Thanks for all the input. I put it in my display tank.

 

[Will C]

I like the decision. I had 1 in my old 54 corner and when I upgraded to my 90 I couldn't find him (her?). I did not have any problem in my 54 when it apparently died (they don't jump!). I now have 1 in my 90 reef and it is constantly is eating, turning the sandbed. Good Luck