Tiger Tail Sea Cucumber Questions

[Icewing726]

Few questions:
1) is this a cucumber that can nuke my 150g 55g sump tank? Mainly looking for a I don't have to vacuum fish, so any suggestions would be awesome too.

2) What eats these guys? (I have grouper, wrasse's/holes, lion fish, foxface, and peaceful eels)... Anything I should avoid? (groupers aren't a permanent addition)

3) Are they good for cleaning the sand bed? The stupid wrasse's are like friggn velociraptors tearing through the hermits. My last wrasse must have been stupid... I swear these guys have repose-able thumbs or something (I knew they'd eat em, just didn't realize how successful they'd be)

 

[oneofmany]

Check this out.

https://www.advancedaquarist.com/2003/1/inverts

HTH.

 

[Icewing726]

I did check that out, and it did say something to the effect that substrate eaters (like the tiger tail) are less toxic then a filter feeder. However, that could be the equivilant of saying a nuclear missile on your residence is more fatal then a MOAB or a pin ***** is more painful then a flick from a two year old... That last example made sense to me but I've been drinking (probably because of this hobby...). Anyway, the point I was trying to say is that really didn't answer any questions. The reason I asked the ones above (pasted below) is because I couldn't find these specific answers and I'm looking for real examples/experiences. I do appreciate your response though, thank you very much for taking the time to provide that link!


1) is this a cucumber that can nuke my 150g 55g sump tank? Mainly looking for a I don't have to vacuum fish, so any suggestions would be awesome too.

2) What eats these guys? (I have grouper, wrasse's/holes, lion fish, foxface, and peaceful eels)... Anything I should avoid? (groupers aren't a permanent addition)

3) Are they good for cleaning the sand bed? The stupid wrasse's are like friggn velociraptors tearing through the hermits. My last wrasse must have been stupid... I swear these guys have repose-able thumbs or something (I knew they'd eat em, just didn't realize how successful they'd be)

 

[eastlake]

1.) In my experience tiger tails have been good sand vacuums but, for under the rocks and other areas that you will not see it very often. If it were a large specimen it could cause some problems if it died and wasn't removed but the same could be said for anything large and organic that passes away in the aquarium. I had one pass and it didn't wipe my tank out. Depending on the grade of sand and how large some of your other predators are already you may consider one of the smaller species of goat fish. They'll scrounge around the sand bed keeping it stirred up.

2.) What kind of wrasses? Like you've mentioned, yours seem to be very opportunistic. So, while they may not just tear the cucumber apart they may nip at the "spikes" that adorn the body of the tiger tail stressing it out and ultimately killing it.

3.) As I said in (1) they're great for cleaning surface detritus from the sand bed in areas that you won't notice because it'll be under and around your rockscape. I've had one for going on two years and I'll periodically see it munching on some detritus underneath my rock structures, almost never ever out in the open, only fleeting every other month glances.

 

[Icewing726]

Right now I have a yellow moon wrasse (often called a sunset wrasse incorrectly, looks like one) and a lunare wrasse. The only other fish in there right now are a volitan lion and a foxface, but I plan on adding a panther grouper, possibly another wrasse of the same variety, and 2 peaceful eels. I was hoping that sea cucumbers wouldn't be something in their diets, but it sounds like it might be...

 

[shred5]

They are great sand cleaners. I have been in the hobby over 30 years and I have never heard anyone that had one nuke their tank. I think it is a possibility but I think it is one of those things that keeps getting past on in the hobby and sounds way worse than it is.
That said I would not leave on in if it dies. They do get massive though so you need a pretty big sand bed. I had one get over a foot long and a friend had one that split many times. If the sand bed is to small they wither away.

Like I said I think the threat is minimal. Kind of like bristle worms, never had a issue. Live rock is another one everyone today is petrified of live rock and in 30 years never had a pest. Matter of fact I had more issues with dead rock. I do not consider a crab or shrimp a pest because they are easy to catch.

 

[Icewing726]

[MENTION=1408]shred5[/MENTION] What do you think about it's potential tank mates?

 

[shred5]

[MENTION=1408]shred5[/MENTION] What do you think about it's potential tank mates?

I have never had anything ever bother one.

By the way I would remove it if it dies, definantly would not leave them in but I never had one die.. Also i would make sure it stays away from the power heads. They usually stay in the sand unless hungry and not getting enough food.

 

[Icewing726]

Ok, right now I think these wrasse's are mainly hunting snails and crabs. The one serpent star I have is moving around and has been in areas that the wrasse's can access so I think I may be able to comprise a crew of restocked crabs and nassarius snails (saw them running around in the dark last night, only the ones that stayed out when the fish woke up got picked off), brittle/serpent stars, and a cucumber (thinking tiger tail but might look at pink and black).

 

[mcgyvr]

I have some large cucs.. (Had one.. Now I believe there is 3 in there... They twist/snap themselves in half to reproduce)
They are each about the size of hotdogs in my 80G tank..
They do process quite a bit of sand...

My wrasse (Leopard Wrasse) does not bother them at all..

I am not worried one bit about the supposed "toxins" they can potentially carry/release.. I think thats just blown out of proportion..

 

[shred5]

I have some large cucs.. (Had one.. Now I believe there is 3 in there... They twist/snap themselves in half to reproduce)
They are each about the size of hotdogs in my 80G tank..
They do process quite a bit of sand...

My wrasse (Leopard Wrasse) does not bother them at all..

I am not worried one bit about the supposed "toxins" they can potentially carry/release.. I think thats just blown out of proportion..

Exactly.. I think part of the bad rep comes from other cucumbers that do but tiger tail and other sand cucumbers in the hobby do not seem to be bad too bad at all. Early days we kept other cucumbers and it could have started with them.

Just like fire worms and other carnivorous worms gave the common bristle-worm a bad rap. no so many are afraid of bristle-worms.

 

[Icewing726]

Wet Web Media basically said the same thing, but he also mentioned he doesn't like them (Bob Fenner) because they produce "copious amounts of waste". Not sure what that means since I thought they produced clean sand...