Tiger Sea Cucumber safe for a 40g?

[STiTCH87]

I've read they don't nuke a tank when stressed/dead. But i've also read other places that they can. I'm sure they likely have the ability to as they ARE a cucumber, but are they generally safe?
Anyone have any experience with them? I have diatoms and turf algae that refuses to go away for good. Comes and goes in spurts. And was thinking of getting one of these to keep my sand slightly cleaner when i'm not there to vacuum it.

I have sand bed corals also, will it disturb them? I would've just gone with a pistol or sand goby or something to keep my sand bed clean (well, stirred up) but with sandbed corals it's a no no for me.

 

[letoan]

I have a few of them in my 125, I don't think they do any harm. They don't eat algae (at least mine), they just eat the dirty sand and poop out clean sand.

 

[s_kelley]

How big do they get?

 

[letoan]

How big do they get?

They could stretch pretty long, roughly ~8"

 

[PSU4ME]

My tiger tail easily reaches 10-12 inches and sometimes he is fatter than a half dollar. They are slow and methodical but as stated they really clean out the sand they ingest. You just need to make sure your sand grain size is small enough for them to ingest.

 

[STiTCH87]

Yeah my sand bed is very fine. Which is actually partially my issue with stuff growing on it as I can have the flow pointed at it to keep it cleaner.

Yeah I just want one to keep my sand clean without beating things up like a conch can.

Maybe i'll give one a try.

 

[s_kelley]

Any lfs selling them around here Adam? If ya see one let me know

 

[STiTCH87]

The one in Fall River I volunteer at has one (don't wanna name it as they don't sponsor us) but that's the one I have been on the fence about buying.

They have a yellow and a black there though but IIRC those are more toxic than a tiger.

The only thing holding me back from buying it now, is that I don't want it to knock around my sand bed frags or cover them in "sandy-poop". Lol.
IDK maybe i'm just over cautious. I'll probably end up buying it knowing me.

They have access to them weekly when they go to hand pick though and could order you one.

 

[ReefGeek79]

I don't have a tiger cucumber but I do have another type. Got it at CRA. I love it. Cleans like crazy. And I think it's the brightly colored ones you have to worry about as far as toxicity. I actually read a scientific paper once that did a study of water chemistry around coral reefs. those reefs that had lots of cucumbers in the sand around the base of the reef had much more stable chemistry, particularly alkalinity, than those that didn't. Don't know if it applies much to a reef tank but I figured it couldn't hurt.

 

[STiTCH87]

Does yours get a lot of sand on your sand bed corals or ever knock frags around on the sand?

 

[PSU4ME]

Mine is very cautious, haven't seen him cause problems anywhere. Only "bad" thing he does is pull sand from an area and poops in another area.... Builds a mound of sand sometimes!

 

[STiTCH87]

Welp, i'm sold. Lol.

 

[s_kelley]

You gonna have that place get a tiger tail stitch? If so have him grab me one too. I can swing in at some point and grab it.

 

[ReefGeek79]

He's never really buried anything or knocked anything over.

 

[STiTCH87]

Yeah Shane if you want I can have them order one for next Tuesdays pick up. I'd say tomorrow's but the order has already been placed for tomorrow's pick up. They do have some non-tigers though still. A black and a brown.

 

[s_kelley]

I will swing in maybe tomorrow during the day at some point and let ya know if I grab one, thanks again

 

[STiTCH87]

There should still be a Tiger Tail left. Ask them to take it out of the 75g. If Nick is working tell him Adam told you there's still one in there.
IDK how many fish they'll have there though because they're overhauling the majority of the saltwater section and IDK if the livestock will be in the tanks tomorrow or if they're waiting til Wednesday to put them in, just a heads up.
So the selection of fish/inverts may be very low the the exception of a few things and the cucumbers.

 

[s_kelley]

ah ok I will try to swing in tomorrow if I can sneak away for a bit