Cucumber, myth or reality?

[texasreefrat]

Ok people, Im dying to get a Sea Cucumber that I have been eyeing for months, it is a beautiful Red White and Blue. Being as patriotism is at an all time high it seems fitting. I have heard horror stories about these things killing everything in a tank because they were upset, or died. However, I have seen them in some very nice high dollar setups, so whats the deal? Im looking for experienced as well as hearsay, so post!
Also. Sea Apples any different or safer?

 

[up north hermit]

Not to mention that some of those beautiful colors you mentioned are brought about by injecting dyes.......yes, I said injecting them with dye. (Pure coincidence that they have a patriotic cucumber right now...hummmmmmm)
Stay away from the sea apples, these beautiful creature rarely last in captivity. When people stop buying them, they will stop harvesting them.
Sometimes this hobby takes my emotions from angry to just plain sad.
HTH
My humble .02
Hermit

 

[djnphoto]

Watch out for these guys i had one and it killed everything in my tank the water conditions must be perfect
Originally posted by TexasReefRat:
<STRONG>Ok people, Im dying to get a Sea Cucumber that I have been eyeing for months, it is a beautiful Red White and Blue. Being as patriotism is at an all time high it seems fitting. I have heard horror stories about these things killing everything in a tank because they were upset, or died. However, I have seen them in some very nice high dollar setups, so whats the deal? Im looking for experienced as well as hearsay, so post!
Also. Sea Apples any different or safer?</STRONG>

 

[predator]

It is true that sea cucumbers can kill everything in your tank but only if something is really tormenting it. if a fish or type of invertebrate is messing with them they release a toxin to deter the animal which, yes is powerful enough to kill everything in your tank. Me and my girlfriend have had one in our tanks for a while and they have in no way caused any trouble. I would not mess with sea apples though. They are extremely delicate and most of the time don't live over a month, they are one of the ones that people should just leave in the ocean.

 

[bradsmack]

First of all that idiot that said they injected the Sea Cucumbers with dyes is just plain stupid...
I myself had a sea Cucumber in my 29 gal. for 1 year.. it did perfect it just moved up to the top of my tank where the skilter put water back in and it would stay up at the top of the tank all the time so i really couldnt see it much. It is true that if they do die they can release a toxin that will in turn kill all of your fish! but i got rid of mine because i wanted to change the tank to Reef Tank and didnt want the worry.. they are neat though.. mine was orange and yellow and had neon green tentacles with orange branch things. I brought it back to the pet store i work at and we have it for sale for 15.00 so if you want one!

 

[bhav_88]

Ive gotten a lot more info from Up North Hermit than from you, bradsmack. I wouldn't talk until you at least have proven that you aren't some random freak trying to mess up a bunch of people...

 

[adrian]

Bradsmack, They dye coral and fish, why not cucumbers as well? not a very nice first impression
Stay away from sea apples, they can kill everything in your tank if they release their toxin, a buddy lost his 75 just over ther summer because a 2 year old Australian cuke died. They can also kill fish if they release eggs in your system and the fish ingest them. Its a good rule of thumb to stay away from the really colorful ones, bright colors usually represent toxicity. The sand mopping type are said to be pretty safe, and they sure do clean up a diatom bloom. HTH
"We would like to know ourselves, yet we succumb to the playthings of our technology and ignore the sound of silence"
[ December 13, 2001: Message edited by: Adrian ]

 

[jess]

I used to have a sea apple in my reef tank. It was from FIGI and it was the most AMAZINF blue color with red tenticles. I fount it very cool to keep and easy and when I see them I want to buy them. But maybe what people are saying here is right. If something is that beautiful it should be left in its home.

 

[fender]

I have had a cuke for some time without any probs. I have heard the brighter the colors the more likely they will be toxic should something go bad.
Mine is a very ugly brown.
And yes there are stupid people who dye fish, anenomes, corals and other items so people will buy them. That is another reason why you should always research before buying.

 

[simmy3]

Have had a sea apple for about one year now,have no problems with it, infact i enjoy it very much,it moves around the tank every once in awhile, feed it once a week, brine shrimp, or invert food.

 

[gabbys125reef]

after reading all this I FLUSHED my cucumber (looked like a furry brown turd anyway)

 

[ironreef]

I wouldn't kill an animal= bad for the hobby or its rept. but in a well running tank the sand cukes are safe. i've had them die and decommose in my tank no harm. The filter feeders are the killers. sea apples don't live long cuz our tanks don't provide enough food for them. You can't feed them. but most cukes are safe just not the filter feeders. If you have a sand cuke nuke your tank= your ttank probally wasn't as stable as you thought.

 

[adrian]

I totally agree with Iron, please dont flush your animals, the brightly colored cukes, such as the sea apple, are the ones that cause problems. The sand moppers, probably the the turn looking one, are really benificial, I just added one to my 75, and already have on in my 55, they work great with diatoms.

 

[saltydog]

I have two sand sifting cucumbers in my 75. The sand has never looked better. So far NO problems.

 

[fish fry]

I had a tiger tail cuc in my reef for about a month. Conditions were good and stable yet one day there he was with his guts hanging out.
I found him when I came home from work and I hadn't seen him that morning. He was probably dead for at least a couple hours. When he died there were no problems with anyone else in the tank.
Later
Fish Fry

 

[goofieones]

Quote: "First of all that idiot that said they injected the Sea Cucumbers with dyes is just plain stupid..." Actually this is true, and you should probably not call people stupid, just because you don't know. As far as the sand shifting cucumbers, they are okay, I've had one for about seven months now and he is fine. Like stated in above posts, if it is pretty=posin whole tank, if it looks like a turd=safe and probably won't posin whole tank.

 

[marley]

I bought a really nic mushroom rock that had a cucumber on it that the guy didn't see. It looks like a long brown slug with dull spikes all over it. Is this a sand sifting cucumber? I asked a guy at a LFS, who really knows his **** and he said not to worry. Would you agree?
[ December 18, 2001: Message edited by: Adrian ]

 

[adrian]

Marley, sounds to me like a sand mopper, both of mine resemble turds with spikes.

 

[vkesu]

I had a reef safe pink and black cucumber...ugly thing. He wondered all over never hurt anything. Yesterday he got caught in the power head intake. He walked around for hours with that stuck in him. It would have been funny if it hadn't been so sad. We cut the plastic to get it out of him. It did nothing ...so far...to the main tank. Took him out but he is starting to fall to pieces .

 

[marley]

Adrian,
Are they safe to have though? Will they release toxins once they die?