Should I get a cucumber?

[ThunderGoose]

Looking for advice.

My tank is 55 gallons in display (system total 70 gallons) with a 2-3 inch sand bed. It's been set up for almost 2 years now. Based on what I see when I vacuum the gravel (it's gross) I've been thinking of getting something to help turn over the sand bed. I already have a tiger conch and some nassarius snails but I think I need a bit more turnover.

I don't have room to add another fish so no diamond goby for me. I was thinking of adding a cucumber. My concerns include the toxicity if it dies, is there enough food and will my mantis shrimp go after it?

Should I go for it? Or should I try something else?

Thanks.

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

I've always had good luck with sandsifting stars until I buy something that eats them

 

[Kamden Uelton]

I have two Cucumbers in my 30g, They are very slow at eating the sand... at least mine is I would say maybe 3 for your tank. They don't eliminate vacuuming your sand but you won't have to do it every week anymore which is a big + for me

 

[ReeferMaddness843]

I had a tiger tail cucumber in my 90 that grew and eventually split in two. Then one of the halves split again. It was a great addition to the tank when I had sand for cleaner crew addition.

 

[Daniel@R2R Verified Admin]

This is a good topic. Bumping for more discussion, and I'll add a poll.

 

[declanisadog]

I've always been a fan of of conchs for stirring sand, but I recently bought a tiger tail because I've always thought they were cool... I haven't had it long enough to have an informed opinion.

 

[cracker]

I had one in a 220 it did a good job moving & keeping sand clean Dingy sand enterd at one end & came out the other was nice white sand. I don't know about multiple ones in a smaller tank. I 'think" one in your 55 would be a good match.

 

[lapin]

If you couple that with feeding a bit less your sand will improve. If it dies yes it can kill your tank. Its a hit or miss what a mantis will go after.

 

[MatteZ]

I got one tiger tail a couple years ago, and now i bet there are 4 or 5 of them. The only thing I don't like that that since the live in or behind the rocks that is where most of your sand will eventually end. It took me a little bit of time to figure out where all the sand was going. I thought my power heads were blowing it around, and then I saw the giant mountain and realized it was the cucumbers. So if you cant move the rocks to rake it back to the front you will either need to learn to live with the no sand in the front, or you can do like i did and got another bag of sand and just add more every so often.

 

[Paul B]

I find they don't do much

 

[MatteZ]

I find they don't do much

Now that's a cucumber!!!

 

[count krunk]

how many people vacuum their sand?

I always left my alone, had a small army of nass snails to trudge around in it.

 

[Sailingeric]

I have wanted a cucumber I have heard they can miss up a tank when they die. I do have a sleeper banded goby who does a great job of moving the sand around and they eat fish food too so they still live once they clean the sand. The only issues I have is he gets a little high up in the water when sifting and I have to blow the sand off of my rocks now and then.

 

[demonspeedn]

I have a pink and black cucumber, and a tigertail in my 220. I notice the pink and black stays out in the open more than the tigertail.

 

[Hammer100]

Has anyone here lost their tank due to one getting killed or injured?

 

[Deiblerj]

how many people vacuum their sand?

I always left my alone, had a small army of nass snails to trudge around in it.

Wondering this too

 

[albano]

I've had Caribbean cucumbers in my reef tanks since the 80s...
Have some died?, Sure
Did the tank ever wipe out, NO!

I think that I have 3 or 4 in my 200g DT and probably 6 or 7 in my 500g DT, they seem to do a good job at cleaning the sand and I've never had them move sand to the back of the tank or behind the rockwork. The dirty sand goes in one end and comes out the other end in a little pile of nice clean pellets.

I never vacuum the sand.

 

[Kengar]

Has anyone here lost their tank due to one getting killed or injured?

Quite possibly, and I was going to post about this. I had a 156 gallon setup years ago, with a pink and black cucumber. In the process of moving from townhouse to house, I had set up a 110 gallon vat of new saltwater at the house, had it well mixed for a week and well aerated, and properly heated. I transferred all the live stock to the vat (without any sort of acclimation, unfortunately), and went back to the townhouse to break down the system. By the time I got back to the house (less then two hours), everything was dead. Pair of goldflakes, a crazy-looking pair of Picasso clowns from when such designer clowns first started coming out, and many other incredible fish.... complete loss, including corals.

While I don't know whether I stressed the corals putting them in without acclimation, and they went into nuclear war throwing mucus at each other, or whether it was the cucumber that nuked the vat, I tend to think it was the cuke. Given that, I will not chance having one in my system again (finally being set up again 8 years later......)

(And for what it's worth, the new system will have a perforated plate across the bottom that the substrate will cover and a closed loop system that will have water flowing into the chamber under the perforated plate, thereby -- I hope -- lifting detritus up out of the substrate to keep it clean in reverse-undergravel flow arrangement.)

 

[Marie7]

Now that's a cucumber!!!

Hahahahaaaaa, you guys have a great sense of humor!

 

[furyofthegnomes]

I've had a tiger tail for almost two years now in 120. It does a nice job keeping the sand clean in certain areas. It'll hang out in one spot for a week and clean the sand in an area around it then it'll move to a new spot. Where it cleans the sand it's pristine but one large one doesn't keep my whole tank clean. I also have a conch that cruises around and I did have a fairly large hawkwing conch for a while and I don't feel that even when I had all three was my sand spotless.