Cucumber ID help

[Reeses]

Hi all,

I need help trying to ID this cucumber. The LFS employee said that it was a black/brown Atlantic species, but I can't find any info on it. My other (and more trusted) LFS told me that it is a species from Hawaii, and I've found info on them, but I can't find a pic that looks like it. The reason for my (now) urgency is that it has sustained an injury, and I am trying to figure out if I should put it back in my tank or not. It is still active, and wants to feed. It seems to prefer to browse the rock, although it's excrement looks as though it has been eating off the sand. I have not seen it actually on the sandbed as of yet. It has tube feet, like that of a starfish, and seems to have a modified tube feet for feeding. I don't want to have to get rid of it unless I absolutely have to, but I obviously don't want it to poison my tank.

As you can see in the third pic, something picked at him. Hopefully, someone can give me an ID on this creature so I can figure out what I should do.

Thanks all

 

[Reeses]

Sorry, I messed up. This wasn't an intentional bump.

 

[Paintbug]

it appears to be in the Holothurai family, possilbly a Holothuria atra http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=16&cat=1899&articleid=2114

 

[Reeses]

That's what I thought it might be. Unfortunately, said cuke decided to expell all insides to outside. The good part, I suppose, is that it didn't do it in my tank. The tank seems fine, nobody is acting strange, and I am running carbon and chemi pure. I don't think I am going to try cucumbers again.

 

[reefD]

can be a potential issue but once you have a stable constant chemistry they do well and can be beneficial. i seen many in established tanks do just fine but in any case they can get angry and expell. i stay away from them 4 sure. my reef has too much $ invested for a cuke to ruin everything!lol

 

[Reeses]

reefD,

I agree, cucumbers seem way too much of a risk. I got the cuke with one of my LFS's "cleaning packages" and I expressed concern over it. The LFS employee tried to assure me that the species in question probably wouldn't do harm. Although they are very cool creatures I did constantly worry about it, and I suppose that's a good thing because from what it sounds like, I may have saved myself from a disaster. I've spent the last week or so researching it more because I couldn't be sure of the species I had. I am far to inexperienced to have attempted this, and I went against my better judgement. I feel really crappy about the whole thing.

I have a rabbitfish (siganus doliatus) and I have a feeling that the cuke may have gotten stung by her. She was using the space where the cuke was residing to hang out.

 

[reefD]

that is possible! any strees on them can cause them to react with poision expoultion/death. very possible...again when happy they are great but stock is something u must consider as a possible threat if attacked or unhappy due to conditions

 

[Paintbug]

just so you know the Holothurai family is one of the few cukes that wont wipe out your tank if it dies. the flesh is toxic to anything that eats it. if someone has a wipe out from one of these cukes, its often where the cuke is sucked into a powerhead, and the flesh is wide spread through out the tank. they dont just release toxins. i had a Holothuria floridana that spit its guts out for some reason. i left it in the tank hoping it would recover. 3 weeks later, he had not moved from the same spot in 2 days, so i assumed he was dead. i removed him from the tank, and noticed some movement, but not much. so i froze him, and chunked him in the trash. it didnt look like he was going to make it. these cukes often dont survive once the spit their guts from being attacked or stressed. i didnt loose any livestock from the cuke, and if i can find another bright yellow one like the one i had, i will get one again. this has just been my experiences with one. im not a scientist by no means . but i have done a lot of reading on them.

 

[mfp4073]

I am not sure of the species I have, but I am sure that its not the "kill the tank" kind. I went to pick 2 of them up from a local hobbiest who was breaking down a tank. In the midst of it all a rock pile fell over and landed on one of the cukes. It did nothing and is still healthy as can be. If crushing it with a rock is not enough to stress it to puking then nothing will!

 

[bigcdc]

I just got a tigertail this weekend and he's great, the only probably is I think he's going to run out of things to eat soon, he was much bigger than anticipated and cleans the sand bed so well. I've always been told that if its not overly colorful then it most likely will not kill your tank if it dies, but thats a big generalization but he's still great

Chris

 

[drummereef]

You should be fine. The black and tigertails are the most common and used in home aquaria. In a 75 it will have plenty to eat. Just make sure you keep and eye on him and make sure he doesn't get caught in a powerhead or something. That's what happened to my tigertail and I had to put him down. He did a great job cleaning the sandbed while I had him.