Yellow Cucumber

[superfirefly]

I was just wondering if a yellow sea cucumber is a good or bad idea for a 10G tank. Everything I have read says they should be fine but I am a little worried about what happens if it dies and poisons the water.

Thanks
Steve

 

[incysor]

Unless you just think they're nifty I'd skip it. They're not much of an addition to a clean up crew like some people think they're gonna be. They do NOT clean your sand, detritus or anything else, they're filter feeders, and will simply stick someplace and wait for food. I've had a yellow one and a pink-knobbly one. I've decided against having anymore of the filter feeding kind. It was kind of cool, but when it croaked I definitely saw some impact on my corals. And it was a small-medium speciman in 125g system.

B

 

[superfirefly]

Thanks for the reply, I actually had not heard that they were part of a clean up crew. I just recently saw one that was pretty cheap and I thought it was an interesting animal but when I heard they could be poisonus I figured in a tank as small as I have that could be very dangerous. I have only had my tank a short time (3 weeks) and would hate to destroy everything I have worked so hard to setup. Plus when a $10 cucumber kills $200 dollars worth of live rocks fish and corals that is no longer very cheap.

Thanks again

 

[incysor]

I don't think I've lost anything due to the cuke dying, but even running carbon on the system I saw an impact. I wouldn't really recommend them for a small system. They are kind of neat, but in my opinion, not worth the risk.

B

 

[skipm]

I had one in my 75 before, they are kinda neat when you can see them but they aren't really worth putting in your tank. Mine tended to stay hidden someplace out of sight, as long as they can get food they are happy and don't care if you can see them or not. Skip

 

[superfirefly]

but even running carbon on the system I saw an impact.

What do you mean by that?

 

[incysor]

Carbon helps to trap/remove chemicals from your system...This includes the chemicals that we don't test for....Lots of critters in our system use chemical warfare against their neighbors...Sea Apples, cucumbers, anemones, box fish, are just some off the top of my head.

B

 

[superfirefly]

I have been in the FW hobby for over 13 years now and when dealing with FW tanks I only use carbon after I have medicated the tank otherwise I leave the carbon out. With SW should I be running carbon 24/7.

Thanks
Steve

 

[incysor]

There's plenty of debate about it. Especially in the SPS circles. Normally I'd say if you've got things set up properly, and are not medicating the tank, and don't have animals that are known for releasing toxic chemicals, or suspected of releasing chemicals, then I don't think it's necessary to run it all the time.

B

 

[mihkaail]

Hi there,

Just some input on keeping yellow cukes alive longterm. The LFS lady kept hers alive for ages, they even spawn regularly in the tank but very few babies survived to 1.5cm size. How does she do it? She just feeds; and feeds; and feeds. She feeds something called JBL Korall Fluid daily with once-twice weekly feeds of BBS. She also keeps coco worms and christmas tree worms with Dendro corals in the same way. There's no marine snow or phyto around here to try.

Well, just my tuppence worth,