Cucumber emergency!!!!!

[Octoberfest]

I came home tonight and looked in the tank to find my Tiger Tail Cucumber curled up in a ball on the substrate. As I looked closer I noticed something didn't look right, and something was wrong with it's skin. I went to get the net and by the time I turned around the Cucumber had moved about 10 inches (this one is only three inches long) so I'm assuming some current moved it, which I figured they were able to hold on to the substrate but who knows. I grabbed the net and pulled it out and found that something has caused damage to it's skin, almost like it's been eaten or worn away. Here are the pictures

 

[Octoberfest]

It is still alive but I've moved it out of my tank and into a container with water from the tank. I just moved my QT tank and it's not set-up at the moment so I can't put it in there. I've heard that if it dies it could kill the fish, weather or not if this is true I don't know. What should I do??????

 

[pitt_prodigy]

Qt'ing it is the way i would go. I dont have cuc's because i have heard that when they die they will emit a poisonous toxin into your water which will decimate your stock. Anyway by QT you prevent this and if there is something that is messing with it like a hermit, etc..... your getting it away from that and allowing it to heal.

I will be the first to admit that i know nothing about cuc diseases/problems but i think your going the right way about things in removing it from your tank. Good luck.

 

[Octoberfest]

yeah see i don't have my QT tank set-up right now and I wouldn't be able to do it until tomorrow, but I don't think it will live in the set-up it's in now (just a container with water and no flow, heat).

 

[reefwick]

Tiger tails aren't toxic enough to wipe out your whole tank. It's the filter feeding cukes that give all the cucumbers bad names. The sand poopers are relatively safe.

 

[Octoberfest]

so would I be safe to put it back in the tank then? I know it won't make it or I'm at least pretty sure it won't if I don't put it back in there. Maybe I can put it in there but inside a glass so nothing can get to it???? Is that a stupid idea?

 

[Octoberfest]

well i woke up this morning to find a large chunk missing in out the cucumber in the same spot as the woundin the picture. The cucmber was lifess and so i put it in another container to see if it would move. Several hours later nothing so I determined it was dead. I don't know if something started munching on it after it had died or if that is what killed it. Needless to say he is now in cucumber heaven.

 

[NCreefwannabe]

something prolly tried to do cleanup on him. Did you have any hermits? Hes a big meal, so they prolly didnt have time to get much done.

 

[Octoberfest]

yeah I've got about 15 hermits or so, but who knows.

 

[YoungReefer06]

Most likely the hermits or another invertebrate or fish did the damage to him. Tiger tail cukes do not have Cuvierian tubules which can wipe out your tank, but they do have the holothurin toxin that they can release. This toxin is not as bad as the Cuvierian tubules such as in sea apples but it could do some damage to your fish population, invertebrates do not seem as affected by the holothurin toxin.
I as sorry that you lost your cukes but you did the right thing in seperating it from the rest of your livestock. Hopefully you could get another one and still enjoy thier wonderful sand cleaning abilities.

-Kyle

 

[Croman]

I used to have cucs until one decided to crawl into a 802 powerhead and got ripped to shreds.

 

[YoungReefer06]

Croman

Did you notice any loss of livestock or degradation in water quality after your cuke took a dive into your powerhead?

What type of cuke did you have?

How long did you have your cuke?

Did it do a good job at cleaning up you sand?

-Kyle

 

[Croman]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6885251#post6885251 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by YoungReefer06
Croman

Did you notice any loss of livestock or degradation in water quality after your cuke took a dive into your powerhead?

What type of cuke did you have?

How long did you have your cuke?

Did it do a good job at cleaning up you sand?

-Kyle

I had the cuc for about a year and it did a hell of a job cleaning the sand. I didn't lose much come to think of it I don't think I lost anything. As for what type I don't know I just remember it was brown.

 

[Serioussnaps]

you got a cucumber-------u asked for it

 

[NCreefwannabe]

/\ dont post if its going to be a stupid comment... Hows everything looking so far?