So I have a sea apple on hold right now just wondering if anyones has had experience with them or what to expect i've heard that if they get stressed and die it could nuke a tank so i'm a little bit worried. Also side question if something dies in your tank does it generally nuke everything in your tank I.E. the fish or all your coral as well
SEA APPLES + a side bar ?
- Thread starter aquaria44
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magdelan
Fish?
The first question that I need to ask is: What size tank do you have?
Second, dead fish, alone, will not nuke a tank. What they will do is rot and decay into amonia. After that, the amonia will break down into Nitrites. From there, Nitrates. Then, the Nitrates will hang out in your tank and create havok on the growth of your corals. Last, you will be driven to near insanity trying to figure out why your Acropora won't grow. At this point, you will give up and give all of your coral to me.
Second, dead fish, alone, will not nuke a tank. What they will do is rot and decay into amonia. After that, the amonia will break down into Nitrites. From there, Nitrates. Then, the Nitrates will hang out in your tank and create havok on the growth of your corals. Last, you will be driven to near insanity trying to figure out why your Acropora won't grow. At this point, you will give up and give all of your coral to me.
GMaquarium
New member
Sea apple is a bad idea in my opinion.
low riderr
New member
i had two in my system at one point.the first one parished when we moved into our new house,i think he was crushed by a rock slide in the holding tank.the other one i had i kept for about 5yrs till it started to wither it took about 6months to go from fist size down to a walnut size,and thats when i pulled it out. never did figure out why it died,
i am not sayin they are ok or risk free,just that i had a good experiance with them. good luck they are cool to watch feed. and run carbon if they do release toxins its your only hope.
i am not sayin they are ok or risk free,just that i had a good experiance with them. good luck they are cool to watch feed. and run carbon if they do release toxins its your only hope.
I have never kept one but have been tempted to set up a special tank for one. They are stuninglly beautiful.
Sea apples(Pseudocolochirus violaceus) are filter feeders. They need daily pyhtoplankton feedings. They often starve and are prone to nips from fishes and often fall prey to pumps and power heads. Survival rates in typical reef tanks are very poor.
They produce holothurin , a toxin lethal to fish. Some Indo Pacific folks, use cut up sea apples to incapacitate fish as a fishing technique.
They can kill of fish in a tank when :
they die and release holothurin ,
they self eviscerate and release toxins or the eviscera is eaten by fish,
they are nipped and the fish is poisoned in that way,
they die and degrade starting an ammonia spike and oxygen depletion scenario
Sea apples(Pseudocolochirus violaceus) are filter feeders. They need daily pyhtoplankton feedings. They often starve and are prone to nips from fishes and often fall prey to pumps and power heads. Survival rates in typical reef tanks are very poor.
They produce holothurin , a toxin lethal to fish. Some Indo Pacific folks, use cut up sea apples to incapacitate fish as a fishing technique.
They can kill of fish in a tank when :
they die and release holothurin ,
they self eviscerate and release toxins or the eviscera is eaten by fish,
they are nipped and the fish is poisoned in that way,
they die and degrade starting an ammonia spike and oxygen depletion scenario
Well than after much more research I am starting to think their beauty may not be worth the risk. Also i just read about a 15 page article on them and well now I'm even more weary so maybe in another couple of years I'll do it. With a little more experience and more planning I think it might be a beautiful addition to my tank.
Gary Majchrzak
Team RC
"Sea Apple" is a much abused common name for a wide vairiety of critters. If you can, post the specific scientific name of your "Sea apple".
siobhan2086
In Memoriam
Pseudocolochirus violaceaus
ReeferKimberly
Marley & Me
Had one. It got ****ed one day, I can't even remember why (I think something was harassing it) it released it's toxins that oh yes are very much there, like almost everything died. Ask me why I have not kept another reef tank for 8 years! That damned sea apple almost ruined it for me forever! Glad to be back though and keep those beautiful but dangerous things away from me!
BuffaloReef
New member
There's a smaller, similar species that might be safer. The only common name I can find for it is Yellow Cucumber. Not very imaginative. I believe the scientific name is Colochirus Robustus. The genus should be correct at least. I still wouldn't keep one though. Way too dangerous. Sea apples are one of those things that make it so fun to stop by the LFS. There's always something incredibly cool that i would never let in my system.
siobhan2086
In Memoriam
his sea apple is still doing really well
ReeferKimberly
Marley & Me
his sea apple is still doing really well
That's the exact one that went batshit and killed my tank. They are REALLY beautiful but I will never have one again. Too many what ifs.
siobhan2086
In Memoriam
I just watched a dead/nearly dead one get flushed at the LFS... came right out of the coral tanks. They didn't seem very worried about their corals or water being effected. Did yours sit dead for a while? or was it instant?
ReeferKimberly
Marley & Me
It was about 8 years ago I am not 100% sure anymore to be honest :/ Pretty sure it killed things without it even being dead though. It released toxins rather than dying and fouling the tank. I mean, this was way back in the day. I had NO idea what I was doing. I havn't kept SW since that happened until 6 months ago. I am sure I was doing it all wrong. The poor thing (and tank) never stood a chance.....but I still would never have one ever again, ever. I even saw some today at my LFS (aqualife in Rocklin) and an employee noticed me eying it and we started talking about how it's really not a great idea to have it unless you can be sure you won't commit suicide when/if it nukes your tank!
Gary Majchrzak
Team RC
if they "nuke" it's instantaneous.
they don't always nuke. I had a Naso Tang that used to play with one like it was a volleyball. Nuthin' ever happened...
In filtered aquaria these 'apples usually slowly shrivel down to nothing due to starvation. That's what mine did over the course of a year.
they don't always nuke. I had a Naso Tang that used to play with one like it was a volleyball. Nuthin' ever happened...
In filtered aquaria these 'apples usually slowly shrivel down to nothing due to starvation. That's what mine did over the course of a year.
BuffaloReef
New member
They don't exactly commit suicide. I've only seen it in videos but all sea cucumbers have the ability to launch their intestines in a last ditch effort to escape predation. So they're actually trying to stay alive. I think that they might be more likely to use this defence if they're already stressed, for example by poor water quality, lack of food or if they keep getting stung nipped or stung by something in the tank. In the wild the toxin is diluted by the surrounding water and the sea cucumber may survive. It's biggest concern would be if the predator left and if it can regenerate its intestines. If every sea cucumber ejected its gut whenever stressed there wouldn't be any left to breed. It's kind of like a bee. It can sting but it won't unless it has to.
Cowfish are similar in that they emit a toxin when stressed that can nuke a tank including themselves but in the wild there's enough water to dilute it.
Cowfish are similar in that they emit a toxin when stressed that can nuke a tank including themselves but in the wild there's enough water to dilute it.
