Does Yellow/Black Sea Cucumber really help maintaining the health of your tank?

[chinkie253]

Hi,

I did a little researching online and seem to found that a sea cucumber is a really good detritivore for a saltwater tank. I would like to ask is that true? I'm thinking about getting one but I would like to ask any fellow reefers that have had experiences with them first....thank you!

AN

 

[DonW]

They do a good job but tend to be short lived. When they die the polution levels can kill your entire tank. Not worth the risk IMO.

Don

 

[ac7av]

My feeling as well, too risky. IMO. What I’ve read they are very good at what they do but if they die or get stressed they can kill the whole system.

 

[Coral Ranch]

they do a good job but often end up starving to death. they need a lot of sand

 

[mfinn]

I found a black one that came in with some live rock I bought about 9-10 years ago.
When I first noticed it, it was about 2" long. Now it is approx. 15"-16" when stretched out. I was in my 180 for 7-8 years and I moved it to my 240 2 years ago.
It just moves back and forth and cleans the shallow sand bed in the front of my tank.

When I first saw it I did a little reseach on them and found out that they do cause problems when they die, but it was such a small one I didn't think it would hurt much, besides it was free, something new and it came from the ocean on the rock.
Well over the years it grew. It became a favorite of the grand kids. They would always look to see where the "thing" was and how big of a pile of poop pellets it had, and they really liked the hydra head it has.

Having said that, I wouldn't rely on one for major cleaning, considering the risks.

 

[Gordonious]

Any photos finn?

 

[mfinn]

I'll try later. Right now it's back in the rock work.

 

[g0rFz]

i agree they are cool, but i ALSO read about the nuking of the tank when dead. the last thing you want is to worry if he dies while u are gone and ruins months of time, money and your baby..

 

[morgan]

a collector here in australia ran a black cucmber thourgh a pump to see the effects off it on the tanks and apperntly he had no toxic shock problems
although i dont know how big the system was but still it didnt kill any of the corals in the tank which he did have a few test subjects being a coral collector.
i think they do a great job and have one in all 3 of my tanks the sea apples on the other hand are very toxic if they die and shouldnt be kept in a tank less then 800L
overall if it dies and decays in the aquarium like anything that dies is going to realese nitrate and phosphates but wont make ur tank collapse if it dies