Sea Cucumbers

[Phang]

Hi All,

I'm looking for Sea Cucumbers for my reef...

Heard about their benefits in regards to DSB maintenence... but also problems with toxicity...

From what I have gathered..

They come in 3 kinds..

1) release toxic when threatened or dead

2) release threads that physically trap predators...

3) excrete internal organs out ...

I'm looking for type 3 or those that will not post any threat to the reef... also want those that consume and breakdown substrate....

Any recommendations and preferbably pictures to help??

[Achilles Tang]

Black 'Donkey Dung' cukes (completely black, looks like black DUNG!)

Tigertail cukes. (haven't seen any in LFS)

Don't get the small colorful ones, they are pretty but poisonous.

The black donkey dung cukes are great sand-stirrers... they eat bacteria in the sand and poop out nice clean sand!

I love my black cuke!

[Stenopus Hispidus]

Howdy Phang, Pic shows Holothuria edulis in my tank. Think its the tiger's tail that AT's talking about. It more or less the same as the black donkey dung cuke only this is red belly black top. Its extremely useful in sifting sand. It takes in dirty diatom covered sand at one end and discharge packages of clean sand at the other. Wonderful "vacuum cleaner". I bought one 15" cuke 1 year ago and ended up with 2X8" cukes today. Dunno what happened. Strange things always happen in my tank. Think they must have split but I ain't complainin'

[Hon]

Tat's not a tiger tail. I got one at home, dunno still around or not...kee..kee.. They are beige in colour with uniform patches of darker brown and they look thorny. You can find them occasionally at Reef World only.

[Stenopus Hispidus]

dunno still around or not...kee..kee..

Er...you mean its a goner? <_<

Any pic to show. Quite interested in how it looks like and are they big?

[Phang]

Hi AT and Hon,

Does the Tiger tail and Donkey Dung Cuk.....release toxins when threatened??? From what I read from RC, this process is known as a Cuke Nuke...haha..sounds cute....

Hey Stenopus,

That sea cuk of yours looks cool.... does it release toxins??

Simply amazed at your corals and now your cukes......

From my understanding, not all Sea Cukes in the Holothuria family are sand sifting, some are filter feeders... wouldn't be much good getting them in the reef if ones aim is DSB maintenance.....

[TanGo]

Small colorful ones are poisonous? How do they affect my aquarium?

I have three of those in my tank.... two of those and one yellow one...

[X_Japan]

wah seh!!

thatt's not a Sea Cucumber!!!

that's a sea slug lah!!

[Hon]

hi Stenopus Hispidus

No pic leh....never cross my mind to snap a pic for them.

I think is a goner liao. They never seem to like my aragonite thou.

It gone thiner and shorter, maybe now already too small to be spot

But my Black 'Donkey Dung' cukes is beri active. Whole day tending to my sand bed. But sometimes I think they dig too deep, might damage my DSB leh.

[TanGo]

wah seh!!

thatt's not a Sea Cucumber!!!

that's a sea slug lah!!

I got one cucumber.. Yellow color one..

[Stenopus Hispidus]

Eh, Tango? What's a sea slug doing in a sea cuke thread?

Anyway, those sea slugs are difficult to keep. Should be avoided at best.

Phang,

My sea cuke's been in there for more than a year already. Its definitely a sifter. It has been occasionally man-handled in the tank...being dragged out from crevices and put into a place in the tank where they are needed more. So far no cute cuke nukes Corals are still healthy. I do not think it is toxic.

Hon,

Maybe aragonite give tiger tails diarrhoea.

Yeah, they might indeed upset DSBs in their sweep and dig routine. Dunno if that's damaging or not? Can't comment cos I have my DSB in the sump.

[TanGo]

Eh, Tango? What's a sea slug doing in a sea cuke thread?

Anyway, those sea slugs are difficult to keep. Should be avoided at best.

Phang,

My sea cuke's been in there for more than a year already. Its definitely a sifter. It has been occasionally man-handled in the tank...being dragged out from crevices and put into a place in the tank where they are needed more. So far no cute cuke nukes Corals are still healthy. I do not think it is toxic.

Hon,

Maybe aragonite give tiger tails diarrhoea.

Yeah, they might indeed upset DSBs in their sweep and dig routine. Dunno if that's damaging or not? Can't comment cos I have my DSB in the sump.

Hehe.. Sorry..

[bawater]

My cuke is skin colour. a pic would be ######.

Tango-its a Nudi, that's a Hypselodoris bullocki, they come in various colouration.

From white to blue to purple.

Just saw them purple ones in reborn 3weeks back.

common in the phillipines.choosy abt the sponges they eat.

Hypselodoris bullocki

apologies to the cuke fans, thought the link was appropriate cause these often for sale in LFS here.

[Achilles Tang]

Nudibranches are not sea cucumbers! LOL!

Nudibranches have very short livespans... 3 mths averagely.

They eat coral polyps, especially the one posted above. Only a few eat macroalgae, like the brown/reddish one in my refugium.

[Phang]

Back to the topic on Sea Cukes....

Anyone got pics of the Tigertail...

So far seen only the Donkey Dung in AT's reef .......

Seen some black small ones at Reefworld weeks ago.... 1 inch little cukes with spikes.... Are they juvenile Donkey Dungs????

Any other good recommendations for Cukes...??

[ZeRoC00l]

Here is what i found

Sea Cucumber, Tiger Tail

Quick Stats

Care Level: Expert Only

Tank Conditions: 72-78°F; sg 1.023-1.025; pH 8.1-8.4

Temperament: Peaceful

Max. Size In Aquarium: Up to 6'

Reef Compatible: Yes

Diet: Omnivore

Origin: Indo-Pacific

Family: Holothuriidae

Halathuria hilla is known as the Tiger Tail Sea Cucumber and the Sand Sifting Sea Cucmber. Halathuria thomasi is also known as the Tiger Tail Sea Cucumber. H. hilla has a long, gray to chestnut-brown body with white spots and numerous spiny papillae. It is cylindrical in shape and has blunt ends. It can grow up to 6 feet in length in the wild, but most will only reach 18" in the aquarium over time.

The Tiger Tail Sea Cucumber is one of the few species that attaches its lower body to the inside of its shelter and only extends its anterior half when searching for food. Its meals consist of whatever algae and bacteria, and meaty items are present in the sand that it can scavenge. Due to its feeding habits, it will require a larger tank with a thick sandy bottom and rock caves for shelter. In general, keep only 3 inches of worm for every 20 gallons of water. It is very sensitive to high levels of copper-based medications and will not tolerate high nitrate levels.

It will need to be kept with peaceful tank mates to avoid potential accidents. If it feels overly threatened, it will retract back into its shelter. It does not have tubules of Culvier, but in the wild, if it is attacked or injured, it will expel its internal organs, which may be toxic to fish.

If the tank is not overstocked, the Tiger Tail Sea Cucumber does not need supplemental feeding.

[B|uEc@rpEt]

Quite diff to find this species...

Have not seen any of recent.

[Creetin]

do cucumbers get on the glass? or they just do sand?

[Achilles Tang]

Depends on species... some climb up glass or LR and extend their feeding tentacles to catch things that float by to eat.

Some spend most of the time on the sand like the black ones.