Why do Sea Cucumbers get such bad rap sheet ???

[CanuckReefer]

Is it because of particular species? Likely imo....I've had one for over 15 years sand dwelling Tiger Tail , another for 5 years ,before.... till it started disintegrating and pulled it, no issues, (Pink and Black species is similar sand dweller). The fear and outright panic of get em out! If something seems off is related to the filter feeding variety or what? Having minimal filtration this is such a natural way to do it in my particular case with the sand. I'd love to hear some of these horror novels about how they nuked your tank, IF SPECIFIC to the two species mentioned. Something tells me its a bunch of crickets or can be explained to something else...such valuable member of my tank, how bout yours as well Cucumber lovers?
Btw I run no carbon, or the like.....maybe thats the ticket.....let it all ride....

 

[blaxsun]

Honestly, I'm not sure. Everyone seems scared of them nuking your tank. I've had two tiger tails and a pink cucumber all die in my tanks over the past year, and nothing else was affected. Tiger tails have a tendency to disappear into the rocks, and good luck finding them once they do (this is how 2 died - they just vanished).

I currently have four black sea cucumbers that are probably the most valued members of my cleaning crew. Not only do they keep the substrate crustal clean, but they ignore and are completely ignored by everything.

I do run carbon but I'm not sure if that would have any effect if one were to ever release toxins. One of them did "spider web" me one time when I was gently trying to move it to prevent it from being crushed by a rock, so pity the poor fish that decides to harass one!

 

[Cell]

As with nems, the risk of nuking your tank is probably overstated.

 

[A Young Reefer]

Is it because of particular species? Likely imo....I've had one for over 15 years sand dwelling Tiger Tail , another for 5 years ,before.... till it started disintegrating and pulled it, no issues, (Pink and Black species is similar sand dweller). The fear and outright panic of get em out! If something seems off is related to the filter feeding variety or what? Having minimal filtration this is such a natural way to do it in my particular case with the sand. I'd love to hear some of these horror novels about how they nuked your tank, IF SPECIFIC to the two species mentioned. Something tells me its a bunch of crickets or can be explained to something else...such valuable member of my tank, how bout yours as well Cucumber lovers?
Btw I run no carbon, or the like.....maybe thats the ticket.....let it all ride....

I had one small specimen in my tank the normal black variety not sure of the exact name , I was afraid that it would nuke my tank and one day the nightmare turned into reality .
I woke up one morning and found it dead ,it was basically disintegrated into pieces and that was pretty much it no poison seemed floating around or anything harmful . I was able to see what I believed to be the poison gland it was fully intact I just removed the "corpse" with caution and siphoned the area around it . so it wasn't really a nightmare at all

 

[Arego]

We have a sand sifting cucumber who started off as big as an index finger, three years later he's a sight for sore eyes, an absolute unit. Love having them they work hard.

Can always tell where he is by finding the huge pile of cylindrical sand pellets.

 

[cocoReefer]

Ive got two of the bright yellow holothurans from florida in my system. One in display and one in the sump. awesome critters, wouldnt go without em.
Have had a very small one “disappear” in a 29 gallon tank with no issues.
Might be the whole “nuke” thing is a compound issue. Like, whatever slowly/quickly killed the cuke had the tank leaning over the edge, and the toxins from a stressed dying cuke sent it all over that edge.

 

[CanuckReefer]

We have a sand sifting cucumber who started off as big as an index finger, three years later he's a sight for sore eyes, an absolute unit. Love having them they work hard.

Can always tell where he is by finding the huge pile of cylindrical sand pellets.

Same lol!

 

[CanuckReefer]

Ive got two of the bright yellow holothurans from florida in my system. One in display and one in the sump. awesome critters, wouldnt go without em.
Have had a very small one “disappear” in a 29 gallon tank with no issues.
Might be the whole “nuke” thing is a compound issue. Like, whatever slowly/quickly killed the cuke had the tank leaning over the edge, and the toxins from a stressed dying cuke sent it all over that edge.

Makes sense your analogy....mine disappeared for almost a year totally, figured it bit the dust.... then all of a sudden there it was again? Wow. I honestly think I can't go without it....there is so much sand turnover in a minimal filtration tank here....

 

[vetteguy53081]

Fear of Toxinsand inking which rarely if ever happens in captivity.

 

[Saltyanimals]

Beginner edible cuke reefer here. About 6 months in and no issues. I admit the fear of it going nuclear has made me think twice about messing with it though. I’ve had it scale a wall near a gyre. I tried to move it unsuccessfully so decided just to turn that one off. Amazing how well they can stick to the glass. I thought I could just pick it up like a snail then tried to rock it loose. Nada. Decided I best not keep messing it. Like a maid cleaning around the big red nuke button. Best avoided.

It is comforting that others had them die without issues.