Happy Sea Cucumber?

Clinton · Jan 8, 2019

Hey all,

Just found my sea cucumber for the first time since July he looks a little bigger than I remembered. My tanks a wreck right now with hair algae (went way too long without water changes.)
But the main thing is, does this critter look like he should?

James M · Jan 8, 2019

Looks good to me

Clinton · Jan 8, 2019

James M said:
Looks good to me

I didn't know they were much for climbing

Ron Reefman · Jan 9, 2019

It looks OK to me, but then that photo isn't all that clear. The sea cucumber doesn't care much about the hairy algae issue in your tank as long as it has sand to eat and from which it can remove organics.

I see mine a lot more now that I have my rockscape elevated off the sand on an egg crate platform so I can see under the rocks! But before that I was lucky to see it maybe a day or two every 2 to 4 weeks.

MRRBW · Jan 9, 2019

mine is now 19years old, it changes shapes and lengths all the time, climbs up the glass, over the sand, rocks etc. Looks good. As long as it moves around the tank you shouldn't have any worries

Clinton · Jan 9, 2019

Thank you guys! What interesting specimens.

Clinton · Jan 9, 2019

Ron Reefman said:
It looks OK to me, but then that photo isn't all that clear. The sea cucumber doesn't care much about the hairy algae issue in your tank as long as it has sand to eat and from which it can remove organics.

I see mine a lot more now that I have my rockscape elevated off the sand on an egg crate platform so I can see under the rocks! But before that I was lucky to see it maybe a day or two every 2 to 4 weeks.

Raising my rock work sounds kind of genius! I never thought of building a stilted platform for it. Then maybe I'd see my conch again.

Ron Reefman · Jan 10, 2019

Clinton said:
Raising my rock work sounds kind of genius! I never thought of building a stilted platform for it. Then maybe I'd see my conch again.

Thanks. There is a link to my build thread down below, in my signature. You can see my current tank with the inclined platform and my previous build where I did a flat platform. I wouldn't do a tank without one now that I've seen how well it works. If you have any questions about it, feel free to ask. We have several local reefers in our club who do platforms as well, it wasn't an original idea by me! Just like doing a 'drip tray' or 'catch basin' under the sump/refugium to protect the stand. Again, not my original idea, but I wouldn't build a system without one!

Clinton · Jan 10, 2019

Ron Reefman said:
Thanks. There is a link to my build thread down below, in my signature. You can see my current tank with the inclined platform and my previous build where I did a flat platform. I wouldn't do a tank without one now that I've seen how well it works. If you have any questions about it, feel free to ask. We have several local reefers in our club who do platforms as well, it wasn't an original idea by me! Just like doing a 'drip tray' or 'catch basin' under the sump/refugium to protect the stand. Again, not my original idea, but I wouldn't build a system without one!

Holy hell, why didn't I think of a little silicon mat instead of waterproof deck paint. These are the little things that this site can really help with. Don't have too many seasoned readers in kansas.