Can sea cucumbers release eggs?

[Lion-o]

To narrow it down even further, can a pink & green cucumber (Pentaca anceps) release eggs? I recently had a 'snow globe' effect in my tank and am trying to pinpoint the source. A couple of hours after the eggs entered the water my fish began to react - but not sure if its just because my tank is only ~40G and the organic matter was too much.

I have tried google, youtube etc but have not been able to find sea cucumbers releasing eggs... i have found something that looks a lot like sperm though. My guess is if there is sperm then eggs should follow, but it is strange how hard it is to find such information...

When purchasing the cuc I knew that if it felt threatened or was dying it could release toxins... but i was not informed that it may release eggs (if that is what truly happened) which would be just as deadly to my fish.

thanks in advance,
danny

 

[Elysia]

I thought that, in your other thread on this same subject, it was decided that your anemone was spawning?

 

[Lion-o]

Sort of - that is the general consensus but as I did not witness the source I was hoping someone had more experience with the cucumbers. Amazing how difficult it is to find information on them.

 

[mscarpena]

No egg release should be deadly to your fish. Think about it a lot of times species release a lot of egg and sperm together so they would be a huge fish die off in the ocean. If your fish are negatively effected it is not egg or sperm unless you do not have a protein skimmer and your tanks water quality is out of wack. I have had nems release egg and sperm many many times in my tank with no negative effect except my skimmer went nuts. I could not see an inch or two into my tank because I had 9 huge BTA and my tank was just fine.

 

[Lion-o]

How big is your tank? I'm thinking the size of mine made a difference. In the ocean, the eggs are dispersed over a huge area so that wouldn't cause any issue. I do have a skimmer.

We had two clowns in poor shape and lost a goby because we couldn't remove him. Didn't want something like that to happen again so we returned the nem.

 

[slapshot]

No egg release should be deadly to your fish. Think about it a lot of times species release a lot of egg and sperm together so they would be a huge fish die off in the ocean. If your fish are negatively effected it is not egg or sperm unless you do not have a protein skimmer and your tanks water quality is out of wack. I have had nems release egg and sperm many many times in my tank with no negative effect except my skimmer went nuts. I could not see an inch or two into my tank because I had 9 huge BTA and my tank was just fine.

Clams have wiped out a few tanks spawning. I don't know if I agree with you. Total and quick pollution. Next comes the ammonia spike.I don't think you can compare the ocean's reaction to pollutants to a tank.

 

[mscarpena]

I know what you are saying, but I would not think you would see the negative impact in a few hours. It would be that the organics degraded and polluted the water. It seems like his fish reacted negatively almost instantly after the release. My tank is 75 gallons. I would actually think this is a sea cucumber releasing toxins or something else. There are a lot of factors that could influence this.