Cucumber help

[troyrb]

The other day I got a 3" cucumber brown with black spotted spikes. The LFS where I bought it said they are great for sand beds but failed to mention about the possibility of it getting stressed and killing my fish. I even looked it up in a book at the store and it say they are great additions to a reef tank. I hear mixed stories about sea cucumbers with some saying they are good and some saying they are time bombs. Should I get it out of my tank or leave it in? Is it true that the cukes with not much color are not toxic?

 

[dburr]

Well it's true about the toxidity. The briter the worse it is.
I had one like you described. I had it for a couple years. It died but I never knew it until I looked for it. I never found it. My fish are still living, granted I have a 115 gallon system, but the cuc was about 5" long.
HTH

 

[bheron]

troyrb - its def true that they can be very toxic if they die. basically, if they are injured, stressed, attacked, they can self destruct and turn their insides out. this causes toxic waste to be released into your tank. what dburr is saying is that the more colorful ones are said to maybe be more potent. the one you have sounds like maybe a tigertail or atlantic cuke? yellow/brown/dark spots? i actually had one before that was killed, turned itself inside out, and my tank was ok. lost one peppermint shrimp. IMO I'd stay away from the colorful ones.

 

[troyrb]

I'm pretty sure it is a tigertail. Since I put it in the tank it has been staying tucked up under a ledge on the LR. The other day I noticed what looked like a hole in the side of it. I would imagine it was like this when I bought it but I didn't notice. The only thing in the tank now that I worry would cause it problems would be the coral banded shrimp. I'm debating what to do with it now that I have it. I would hate to flush it but I don't want it destroying my tank. Any thoughts?

 

[bheron]

thats exactly what happened to me. i put it in one day and then never saw it again. i assumed i lost it. then, about 2 weeks later i saw it! it was out all the time. then, one day it had a big whole in it and i realized it was attacked. guess what i think it was?? My coral banded shrimp! just a hunch. anyway, it died.
just a few weeks ago i got another one. much bigger. it, too has stayed hidden in the rockwork for the last 2-3 weeks. finally it ventured out and has found another higding place - probably b/c i kept flashing a flashligh in its hiding spot!
I would say you'll be ok, but its no guarantee! good luck!

 

[promisetbg]

The spotted atlantic cukes{sounds like what you described}are fine.They are great sand bed cleaners..taking in sand,cleaning it of detritus,and replacing it clean!I keep 2 of them.

 

[ophiura]

Please do not flush this animal! At the very least, return it to the LFS if you do not want it. But there is no reason not to want it. They are fine. Many do not venture out from under the rocks, or do so at night. In the wild, they are nocturnal. However, they should not be kept, IMO, with things like triggerfish, puffers, larger angels or thing that might pick at it. But the odds of them wiping out the tank are quite low.
Can you get a picture of the hole?

 

[troyrb]

No I can't get a picture of it because yesterday it went under the rocks and I haven't seen it sense. I think i'm going to keep it but I just pray nothing happens. The only thing in the tank that would bother it is the coral banded shrimp.