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what type of sea cuke to buy
- Thread starter jebar777
- Start date
I have a tiger tail and a donkey dung. Neither have caused any problem. The tiger tail looks less like dung, so he's got that going for him. Also he tends to be a little more active. He climbs right up the side of the glass. Kinda cool actually.
Haven't had one die yet, so not sure whether that will be a problem. Hopefully not.
Haven't had one die yet, so not sure whether that will be a problem. Hopefully not.
testhead1313
Here's lookin' at you
A 29 gallon tank is too small to support a cucumber. I believe I read somewhere that each cuke needs 1 square meter of sand to be able to support it. With less than this, the cuke will slowly starve to death.
testhead1313
Here's lookin' at you
Here's a bit about cukes from Dr. Shimek's "A Spineless Column":
Holothuroids
The final group of echinoderms to be discussed is the sea cucumbers, or holothuroids, affectionately known as "cukes." This is another group with which aquarists have been largely unsuccessful at long-term maintenance. The types of cukes available to aquarists include a rather diverse taxonomic array; their husbandry, however, is rather straightforward. In general, regardless of their taxonomy, are two functional types of sea cucumbers are found in hobbyists' tanks. These are the filter-feeding types, such as the infamous sea apples, but also including a number of others, and the bottom moppers, such as the tiger tail cukes and several other species. There appears to be no real insurmountable problem with maintaining these animals other than giving them sufficient amounts of food.
Suspension-feeding sea cucumbers, or those with highly branched feeding tentacles at their oral end, require a lot of plankton per unit of body mass. Put another way, they need a lot of food. Small ones such as the brilliant yellow Colochirus robustus often appear to do reasonably well in tanks where sufficient phytoplankton is regularly added to the tank. The larger ones generally seem to persist for a while, and then die. Often they just seem to "fade away," which is a classic sign of malnutrition. In some cases, this can result in disastrous consequences as many holothuroids contain toxic chemicals in their body's walls, which are liberated during their death throes and subsequent decomposition. Given enough planktonic particulate material, however, they do seem to survive indefinitely. That particulate material should include at least several types of phytoplankton, and perhaps small zooplankton as well.
Bottom mopping sea cucumbers, such as the various species of Holothuria or Stichopus often kept in tanks, are harder to keep alive over the long term. These animals use short feeding tentacles to sweep or mop the substrate to collect various types of detritus. True detritus is defined as being of algal and plant origin and these animals often seem to be specialized feeders on such material. Animal-based foods, and occasionally small animals, will often pass through their guts undigested. The problem with detritus as a food is that it is of very low nutritional quality, both in nature and in aquaria. Consequently, these animals tend to need several square feet of substrate to forage over to get their daily square meals, and the bigger the cuke, the more square footage it needs. Large ones need a lot of sandy substrate! Generally, when added to reef tanks, these animals often slowly, but surely fade away. Given enough food, however, they may grow, and some of them may reproduce by fission.
Holothuroids
The final group of echinoderms to be discussed is the sea cucumbers, or holothuroids, affectionately known as "cukes." This is another group with which aquarists have been largely unsuccessful at long-term maintenance. The types of cukes available to aquarists include a rather diverse taxonomic array; their husbandry, however, is rather straightforward. In general, regardless of their taxonomy, are two functional types of sea cucumbers are found in hobbyists' tanks. These are the filter-feeding types, such as the infamous sea apples, but also including a number of others, and the bottom moppers, such as the tiger tail cukes and several other species. There appears to be no real insurmountable problem with maintaining these animals other than giving them sufficient amounts of food.
Suspension-feeding sea cucumbers, or those with highly branched feeding tentacles at their oral end, require a lot of plankton per unit of body mass. Put another way, they need a lot of food. Small ones such as the brilliant yellow Colochirus robustus often appear to do reasonably well in tanks where sufficient phytoplankton is regularly added to the tank. The larger ones generally seem to persist for a while, and then die. Often they just seem to "fade away," which is a classic sign of malnutrition. In some cases, this can result in disastrous consequences as many holothuroids contain toxic chemicals in their body's walls, which are liberated during their death throes and subsequent decomposition. Given enough planktonic particulate material, however, they do seem to survive indefinitely. That particulate material should include at least several types of phytoplankton, and perhaps small zooplankton as well.
Bottom mopping sea cucumbers, such as the various species of Holothuria or Stichopus often kept in tanks, are harder to keep alive over the long term. These animals use short feeding tentacles to sweep or mop the substrate to collect various types of detritus. True detritus is defined as being of algal and plant origin and these animals often seem to be specialized feeders on such material. Animal-based foods, and occasionally small animals, will often pass through their guts undigested. The problem with detritus as a food is that it is of very low nutritional quality, both in nature and in aquaria. Consequently, these animals tend to need several square feet of substrate to forage over to get their daily square meals, and the bigger the cuke, the more square footage it needs. Large ones need a lot of sandy substrate! Generally, when added to reef tanks, these animals often slowly, but surely fade away. Given enough food, however, they may grow, and some of them may reproduce by fission.
NanoReefer
25g Waterbox
I have a tiger tail cuke in my 29 gallon, doubled in size in 2 years from 7-8 inches to almost 14". I don't think a 29 gallon is too small. Reading and doing are too different things, don't forget that "experts" always add opinion to there details, like anyone else and the data should be examined very carefully.
Granted I have a high bioload and feed more, but I also skim very aggressively. I have about 3" of southdown loaded with critters and it's thriving in 0.23 m^2 (this is 2.475 ft^2 )
That's why I love this hobby, nothing is written in stone and it's satisfying to have critters thrive where others say it is doom.
No offence to anyone's post or the expert, it is my experience and others may or may not be able to duplicate the results. The animals needs must be reaserched and a willingness to help them thrive is needed, I put up with nusance macro algae in small amounts because of the feeding that is requred for my setup.
I hope I don't offend, I like this kind of discussion as it helps to further our knowledge of reef keeping.
Granted I have a high bioload and feed more, but I also skim very aggressively. I have about 3" of southdown loaded with critters and it's thriving in 0.23 m^2 (this is 2.475 ft^2 )
That's why I love this hobby, nothing is written in stone and it's satisfying to have critters thrive where others say it is doom.
No offence to anyone's post or the expert, it is my experience and others may or may not be able to duplicate the results. The animals needs must be reaserched and a willingness to help them thrive is needed, I put up with nusance macro algae in small amounts because of the feeding that is requred for my setup.
I hope I don't offend, I like this kind of discussion as it helps to further our knowledge of reef keeping.
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