Sea Cucumbers for Alkalinity and Calcium stability

[McDam]

Sea cucumbers can be a great addition to any cleanup crew. I have had them in the past and currently looking for more for this reason, but I was just wondering, does anyone out there have them for the specific reason of helping to maintain and help support calcium carbonate levels. If so what have you observed. I Know bare bottom tanks are all the rage right now, but they will also keep the sand clean if you have it, while supplying calcium carbonate to the water column. I am a huge fan of adding as much biodiversity in a reef tank as possible.
Interesting info in this article article below.

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agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

 

[CyberGuy]

How does that work?

 

[McDam]

Cucumbers are like little calcium reactors, as they eat the sand and digest the organics, the sand or substrate is also digested or dissolved and they excrete what sand is left and dissolved calcium carbonate and ammonia. According to the article above their digestive system has a ph of 6.7 just like a calcium reactor.

 

[eggplantparrot]

wow, learn something cool about the ocean every day

 

[CyberGuy]

Now, the question is: Is there any rainbow cucumbers that would glow in an aquarium or we can only get cucumbers that just look like pieces of turd?

 

[Worthy1]

Now, the question is: Is there any rainbow cucumbers that would glow in an aquarium or we can only get cucumbers that just look like pieces of turd?

hahaha this made me laugh

There are some cool looking cucumbers in the ocean like the nacho doughnut, but yup the ones I see for sale in this trade aren't the most exciting to look at

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

Very interesting. I wouldn't think they'd process enough for it to make a difference.

 

[Victor_C3]

As I understand it, cucumbers are toxic to whatever tries to eat them. If they die in our systems, those toxins are released into the water column and there is a risk of killing your entire system.

 

[johnston]

lol at turds

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

As I understand it, cucumbers are toxic to whatever tries to eat them. If they die in our systems, those toxins are released into the water column and there is a risk of killing your entire system.

My understanding is that this is a very minor risk. Cucumbers are commonly kept and I've actually never known of a single system to crash because of them (and I don't know anyone else who knows anyone who has had it happen either).

 

[Nasir]

If it is true it answers a question I have been asking a long time. I have three tiger cucumbers in my tank. My calcium stays high and I don’t add a lot of calcium, maybe once a month. My tank has a lot of Acros, Chalices, and Montis plus a Clam. I also have never had a cucumber nuke my tank. They replenish a lot of sand.

 

[Victor_C3]

My understanding is that this is a very minor risk. Cucumbers are commonly kept and I've actually never known of a single system to crash because of them (and I don't know anyone else who knows anyone who has had it happen either).

I’ll second what you said, I’ve never actually heard of this happening - and I’ve been reading forums like this for nearly 15 years.

Great point.

 

[McDam]

As I understand it, cucumbers are toxic to whatever tries to eat them. If they die in our systems, those toxins are released into the water column and there is a risk of killing your entire system.

Yes, I believe this is one of the many "blown out of proportion" misconceptions in reefing. I have had a cucumber die in my system and there was no effect on any of the inhabitants. Not to say it isn't possible. Maybe if one was sucked into a powerhead or another dramatic ending it may be different. From my experience, it was one of the most interesting and peaceful inhabitants of my system.

 

[McDam]

If it is true it answers a question I have been asking a long time. I have three tiger cucumbers in my tank. My calcium stays high and I don’t add a lot of calcium, maybe once a month. My tank has a lot of Acros, Chalices, and Montis plus a Clam. I also have never had a cucumber nuke my tank. They replenish a lot of sand.

This is what I was hoping for. When I had one in my system it was my most successful reef, it was a few years ago but since then I have struggled to achieve what I once had. It leaves me wondering if it played a bigger part in maintaining stability and keeping the sand from building up with detritus then I originally thought.