tracey_442
New member
i had a freind give me a sea cucumber, its cool solored (pink/red and green) but its gotta be the most boring critters ive encountered. anyway, i know theyre filter feeders but what do you all who have one feed yours?
sea cucumber
- Thread starter tracey_442
- Start date
I never feed mine. They are scavengers. Will scour through your sand bed in search of organic foods. A great addition to any cleanup crew IMO.
ChrisBuono
New member
I have a large tiger tail that I never have to deliberately feed. It sifts the sand looking for detritus. There are also those that filter feed from the water column. I believe they're called sea apples. I'm more familiar with them being pink.
tracey_442
New member
evidently mine is of the filter feeding variety, it has feather like things sticking out of it.
Krazy
In Memoriam
Your referring to the sand sifting kind kris, I think tracey means his is a filter feeder kind, the kind who's on the glass near 24/7.
If thats the case then anything like cyclopeeze, photoplankton and zooplankton, those things which you would also feed other items in the tank with is also already feeding your filter feeder
WinkeyWoneye
Premium Member
The type you are talking about Lakeside are sandsifting cuc's, they eat detrius from the sand. The type tracey is refering to is a filter feeding variety of cucumber. They feed off plankton, and if you do not use any plankton suppliment, they will deplete your system and eventually starve. The thing with them is you wont know they are starving until its too late, they will feed off themselves when not getting enough food for upward to a year before you see signs of distress. I know from first hand experience here 
I starved the first one I owned, starting feeding once I realized he was unhealthy, but it was too late he started melting away, lol. I use a combo of the Kent Marine Expert series- PhytoMax, ChromaMax, and ZooMax. This seems to feed them just fine, as Ive had the new one almost a year now and it seems healthy and happy still. Boring critters yes, but they are cool. I get more questions and comments on my big pink/green sea cuc thats stuck to my front glass. :smokin:
Just a note, they are toxic if they die or expel there guts, but as I said above I had one that started melting away it feed off itself for so long, it never bothered anything in my 39 gal. I took it out once it started to melt. If kept in longer it may have I dunno, but if you keep a eye on your tank you will visibly know if any of the above is going to happen.
I starved the first one I owned, starting feeding once I realized he was unhealthy, but it was too late he started melting away, lol. I use a combo of the Kent Marine Expert series- PhytoMax, ChromaMax, and ZooMax. This seems to feed them just fine, as Ive had the new one almost a year now and it seems healthy and happy still. Boring critters yes, but they are cool. I get more questions and comments on my big pink/green sea cuc thats stuck to my front glass. :smokin: Just a note, they are toxic if they die or expel there guts, but as I said above I had one that started melting away it feed off itself for so long, it never bothered anything in my 39 gal. I took it out once it started to melt. If kept in longer it may have I dunno, but if you keep a eye on your tank you will visibly know if any of the above is going to happen.
Got a filter feeder a few months back. Moved around abit the first week until he found himself a spot he was happy with.....stuck himself on the back glass tucked right up to and behind a huge purple rim cap growing up the glass . Found him there a couple weeks later simply by chance! At least he hadn't "melted" away! 
. Found him there a couple weeks later simply by chance! At least he hadn't "melted" away!
WinkeyWoneye
Premium Member
They like high flow. I pointed a powerhead at mine to keep it in the same spot, it shifted a little bit to where it was happy and hasnt moved since. When I do water changes it retracts a bit but doesnt seem to bother it being out of water for 5 minutes or so.
LOL yeah when I say melting thats pretty much exactly what it looked like. It started almost liquifiying itself dropping off little chunks of skin slowly and the branches that normally come from the mouth where completly melted down to nothing. It looked pretty gross the poor thing. I felt bad that I had starved it, but it wasnt 100% my fault. The salesperson at Eddie's I had purchased it from said " They eat stuff out of the water, they dont have to be fed.", when I asked about any special feeding req's. Well that is definetly wrong
I did my own research and found a ton of info on them after the fact, which I now do BEFORE I purchase anything!
Last edited:
monti-mike
New member
yea i bought some of the sand bed ones they have in Eddies and their small mexican type, but they seem to be dooing a good job lost one now for weeks havent seen him at all, but the other everynight.....
io saw the filter feeder they looled very cool, but a high feeding req. on its behalf, needes alot of food to grow nice and fat .........
peace
mike
io saw the filter feeder they looled very cool, but a high feeding req. on its behalf, needes alot of food to grow nice and fat
.........peace
mike
tracey_442
New member
i picked up a bottle of kent micro vert and some cyclopese for it. the one in winky's pic is identical to the one ive got. im thinkin about gettin an urchin in a few weeks.i need a few more cleaner critters but im sick of crabs and snails
DanConnor
Active member
This thread has some cool shots I took of mine a while ago...
http://reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=53185&highlight=sea+cucumber
http://reefs.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=53185&highlight=sea+cucumber
monti-mike
New member
My Diadma(pardon Spelling)
My Diadma(pardon Spelling)
i would becareful with the urchins, eat ALL coralinea and like and greens too, very open to eat any thing..
I had a diadama(long spine black) and use to strip my pink coraline algea fast and then if hungary went after my LPS, the trunks(nice and soft and new), and then to my SPS, Iv had one for 6 yrs now and i keep moving him from one 20 galloin tank to the other to scrape the algea on the glass + the coralina on the glass, but he always eating something...... so i dont recomend him for u reef, he will also get guge in a bigger tank in my 90 was like a softball, now in the 20 like a LG golf ball, and doesent mind tooo much....
(maybe a prtected area in the sump).
(he even ate the base of my mangroves, chewed right in half..)
i would recomend the conchs, sand sifting stars, alot of other things just have to be careful what u mix ....
any way a expierence i had with him,
peace
mike
My Diadma(pardon Spelling)
i would becareful with the urchins, eat ALL coralinea and like and greens too, very open to eat any thing..
I had a diadama(long spine black) and use to strip my pink coraline algea fast and then if hungary went after my LPS, the trunks(nice and soft and new), and then to my SPS, Iv had one for 6 yrs now and i keep moving him from one 20 galloin tank to the other to scrape the algea on the glass + the coralina on the glass, but he always eating something...... so i dont recomend him for u reef, he will also get guge in a bigger tank in my 90 was like a softball, now in the 20 like a LG golf ball, and doesent mind tooo much....
(maybe a prtected area in the sump).
(he even ate the base of my mangroves, chewed right in half..)
i would recomend the conchs, sand sifting stars, alot of other things just have to be careful what u mix ....
any way a expierence i had with him,
peace
mike
tracey_442
New member
ive actually have 2 cucumbers, one came with some live rock i bought. it stays in a hole in the rock and only sticks hus arms out. ive gotta be careful with the new cucumber because today i was using my magnetic cleaner on the glass and clipped him right off the glass(oops) hes ok though
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