Black sea cucumber

[joeyttk]

Hi,

I read somewhere in SRC that black sea cucumber can be used to fight diatom and algea growing on sand bed. I saw a 8" selling for SGD4. I did not buy coz not sure if they will harm those mushroom and corals that I put on my sandbed.

anyone knows if it is safe to keep them ?

thanks

joey.

[ZeRoC00l]

Hi,

I read somewhere in SRC that black sea cucumber can be used to fight diatom and algea growing on sand bed. I saw a 8" selling for SGD4. I did not buy coz not sure if they will harm those mushroom and corals that I put on my sandbed.

anyone knows if it is safe to keep them ?

thanks

joey.

If I'm not mistaken... A LOT of us here using the black sea cuke AKA sea cucumber..

As long as it doesn't get into the PH to become a mix then safe....

[kareen]

8" is very big..... get a smaller one if u have a small tank.

[dleecool]

Hi,

I heard that when the black cuke died, it will cost toxic to the tank, can anyone here clarify?

[Nickel]

Ya, my sea cucumber very hardworking and effective on the seabed. However, you must ensure it have enough to eat, else it will start climbing up your LR.

Mine don't touch my corals, except pushing them around when the cuke crawls among them.

Ya, try to get the smaller ones. Either they grow fast or extend to very long.

[kareen]

heard that when the black cuke died, it will cost toxic to the tank, can anyone here clarify?

If the sea cucumber is sucked into the power head, maybe..... I don't know for sure 'cos it NEVER happen to me before. To me, they are pretty hardy 'cos initially when I put in the tank, some fish tried to bite/eat it. I thought he will surely died but amazingly he survived till today.

[ocellaris_clownfish]

Hi,

I heard that when the black cuke died, it will cost toxic to the tank, can anyone here clarify?

Yes, the toxic released are dangerous to fishes.

However, if your tank is made up of peaceful inhabitants then it should not be a problem. In ocean, sea cucumbers release their internal organs which are toxic when they are attacked or threatened by predators and they will eventually regenerate their organs. But in tank, most likely they cant recover.

If your tank has fishes that will typically pick on feather dusters then maybe the chances of attacking the cucumber will be higher, eg. butterflies and angelfishes. Frankly these are from my read-up, I have not kept them before and I am also interested to get a very small one to clean the sandbed.

[joeyttk]

So what does it eat on the sandbed ? Mine sand are turning brown, does it eat those[as in clean it up] or is it expecting real solid algea food ? Will it hurt to have both sand shifter starfish and black cucumber together ?

[ocellaris_clownfish]

It mainly feed on organic food, detritus and algae that it can find on the sand. So there is a need for a good supply of sand that it can feed on.

If your tank is big enough for both the starfish and cucumber to co-exist, should be alright. But IMO, better to buy only one of them first, see how well it is doing its job. No point buying both and found that they don't have enough to feed, then you will end up having to supplement their diet

[ah_d3x]

yeap.... it happened to me once... in my 3 ft tank... tat was like 1 year ago...

the cuke was aright for around 3 months... then i think my butterfly pick on it... and it began to vomite its organs... those worm like white stuffs... then i though it was alrite... but to my horror the next morning i found all my fish dead... lucky my corals where unharmed.

[joeyttk]

hi,

in that case, I think i should just stay contended with my 2 sand shifter.

thanks