Tigertail cucumbers

[codybug]

Does anybody use Tigertail cucumbers to clean their sand? If so - do they do a good job? Do they eat cyano? Is there anything bad about them?

thanks

 

[LukFox]

I've got one that's about 4" in my 155 gallon. It covers about 5" of sand from its cave. Well, he keeps those 5 inches clean, but for the rest of the 6 foot tank.. he doesnt do a thing, heh.

It's an interesting critter and keeps its space sparkling white, but the two conches do a better all around job on the sand.

 

[Clayman]

I have one in my tank he moves around a bit but only stays under one rock pile. I might get another for the other side of the tank. But, He does a great jod at cleaning the sand where he does.

 

[sabodish]

i have one that cruises all over my 8' tank. ive seen him on the glass, overflow and every inch of the sand bed. hes about 2 years old and approximately 8".

 

[jordan2871]

Mine is about on par with the first few posts...Lives under a rock and cleans a few inches around the rock in my 120. Maybe one day he'll be the consumate reef cleaner they are supposed to be.

FYI...rock cleaning resulting from cyano/hair algae...buy one or two urchins (I have two sea eggs that do a better job srubbing the rocks than I could ever do.

 

[lossman]

We have a cuke in our tank. He goes all over the tank but moves very slowly. He does a decent job of cleaning the sand wherever he happens to be but I think in our 6' tank, we probably need more to do a proper job. I just use a powerhead to blow the surface of the sand when I do a water change. The cuke is basically there for my entertainment.

 

[romunov]

I have yet to see my crawl over the sand... He keeps sticking to the walls/rocks.

 

[saltybp]

I had 1 in my 150 with no problem for about a year. Then it must have died under a rock or something where I didnt see it and before I new it my tank was completely polluted. I lost alot of corals and fish. I would never get one again, its just not worth it.

 

[lossman]

We originally had 4 cukes in the tank. We now only see one. They were all in there in April when our second batch of TBS went in. The only one we have seen since is that one. The rest of them must have died, but we have never seen any spikes of ammonia or anything nor have we lost any corals etc.

 

[ERICinFL]

I've got a small Horseshoe crab that keeps my sand bed churned up. He's got a small entourage of Hermits that follow him around to clean up behind him. It's kinda neat to watch.

 

[codybug]

How long have you had the Horseshoe crab? Are they OK for a reef tank? Do they live for a long time?

 

[divewsharks]

I now have two tigertails in my tank, not quite sure where the second one came from, I only recently noticed him in there. Together they work all of the sand, to the point that they move it into large piles within the rocks leaving some of the bottom partially exposed with no sand; I have to then go back in and move the sand to cover the bottom again. they are not always seen; but they are working.

 

[romunov]

Horse shoe crabs eat animals in the sand bed that don't really live in our tanks. They soon starve to death. They should be left in the ocean where they belong.

 

[Lev F.]

when i was a Newbie 3 years ago, I didn't know of Reef Central and followed the advice of the LFS. I didn't make too many stupid errors, but one of them was that I bought a Horseshoe Crab. It lived for about a year before it died, I think it was because of insufficient food in the sand bed. I wouldn't reccomend them for tanks, they get 2 feet long and about a foot wide.

Staying on topic, TIger Tail Cukes are a good choice for Reefs. I've heard that some cuke species (sea apple) can extrude their toxic guts when their stressed, I'm not sure if Tiger Tails can.

 

[DrBDC]

A horseshoe crab needs a 4X2 ft sandbed w/o rocks on it at a bare minimum. Unless you have a really large tank, you will starve it to death. They are cool though, and kind of eerie with those legs going a mile a minute.

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

How many tiger tails would be reccomended for a 75 gallon tank? I have more open sand area than most due to my rock structure.

 

[Kayo]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6403669#post6403669 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by divewsharks
I now have two tigertails in my tank, not quite sure where the second one came from, I only recently noticed him in there. Together they work all of the sand, to the point that they move it into large piles within the rocks leaving some of the bottom partially exposed with no sand; I have to then go back in and move the sand to cover the bottom again. they are not always seen; but they are working.

I put a tiger tail in my tank about 6 months ago. It does a great job along with a conch that is about 4 inches long. I noticed this morning that I now had two tiger tails so I began looking them up in Reef Central. Both tiger tails consume a lot of sand and leave small "sand" pellets where-ever they have been eating. I am happy with them.