Sea Cucumbers

[Tobman]

I recently received a batch of live rock that came with three sea cucumbers (two dark brown and one mustard colored), all about 3 inches long.

I have hear that if sick or overly threatened they can eviscerate themselves and contaminate the whole tank, killing everything with them.

Is this a real threat and how risky is it for me to keep them in my tank?

 

[Eron]

I have had my tank running for 5 to 6 years and the original 4 sea cucumbers that i started with are still alive where as everything else i started with has had to be restocked 1 or 2 times. They're pretty hardy or at least mine are. I have had an exotic looking one in the past that lasted for mybe 2 years and it withered away, but did not contaminate anything.

 

[greenbean36191]

Generally the filter feeding species are more toxic than the "mopping" species, but even then their toxin tends to be vertebrate specific. It's really rare that a cucumber nukes a tank, and isn't something I would be overly worried about.

 

[2by2]

I was going to post a new thread for this question, but I saw this thread here, so i figured I'd use it.

I'm thinking about adding a carribean cucumber to my clean up crew. Like the one seen in this link.

http://www.thatpetplace.com/LiveFis...lass/Cucumbers/T1/L93DX+0045+0153/Detail.aspx

I was under the impression that they were sand sifters and they'd help mop up some of the crap on the top layer of my sand bed. But the info on this page is telling me they're filter feeders.....Does anybody know one way or the other? And if they are filter feeders, what kind of cucumber should I be looking for?

 

[2by2]

update: I bought the cuc.....and he seems to do nothing but climb around on the rocks. From what I'm seeing though, he seems to be eating off of the rocks. At least he hasn't shown me any filter feeding tenticles yet....so needless to say, I'm a bit confused.

 

[Tobman]

The three I got with my LR (came from Tampa Bay Saltwater) do the same. They have only been on the rock so far. Extremely slow moving, in fact if it weren't for them being in a differenent location after some hours, I'd think they were dead.