New Black Sea Cucumber Red Stuff

[Poseidon03]

Hey all, I recently got a black sea cucumber. I acclimated it with the drip method, and after a day it is now expelling this stuff. I've ready a lot about the toxicity, but I'm not sure if I should pull him now or not. All my SPS and fish seem to be fine.

 

[Poseidon03]

I think I might just pull it. I don't want it to nuke my tank. I'm not sure though. Anyone know anything about these guy's anatomies?

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

If it's putting toxins into your tank, your fish will show it first (and they might be the only creatures that show symptoms):

That said, this actually sounds like a pretty textbook case of "cuke nuking" - meaning your cucumber dying and poisoning the tank is almost guaranteed to be the cause. The inverts are likely okay because the toxins weren't present in high enough quantities to kill them. Sea cucumber toxins (called holothurin) are ichthyotoxins, meaning they are mainly toxic to fish. In high enough quantities these toxins will kill inverts and if touched or ingested can cause problems for people too, but they primarily affect fish. Holothurin causes irreversible damage to a fish's gills and nervous system (amongst other things) - this would explain the discolored and puffed out gills you described.

 

[Poseidon03]

If it's putting toxins into your tank, your fish will show it first (and they might be the only creatures that show symptoms):

Nothing is showing any symptoms at all. Great polyp extension and fish are acting normal

 

[Poseidon03]

Nothing is showing any symptoms at all. Great polyp extension and fish are acting normal

Anemone looks happy too. I got some of the red stuff out. It looks really weird.