please help...semi-emergency!

Klobee · #1 08/04/2002, 06:56 PM

Ok, so I start moving a few corals from my 55 AGA Reef-Ready aquarium to my 125 downstairs, and notice a problem....my tiger cucumber, which I purchased about two weeks ago, is now lodged completely (except for about a cm) inside my overflow. For those of you with AGA overflows, you know how it has overflow slots at the top and the bottom, well somehow it made it in through the bottom slots and is now stuck there. I turned off my pump to my sump, and am just running powerheads within the tank, I cut off my Halides, will probably cut off my PC's, to try to induce him back out, any other ideas on how to get him out without destroying my overflow, or worse, killing him and having him wipe out my tank. I dont have enough room in my 125 for everything, so I can kinda stuck between an overflow and a hard place here! Please help if you can.

Rick K.

kimmeewoo · #2 08/04/2002, 07:14 PM

Can you reach it to just pull it out? Maybe that's a stupid question--cucumbers are okay to touch.

Klobee · #3 08/04/2002, 07:19 PM

I just shut off all of my lights...good news is, that he has made it all the way on one side of the overflow, bad news is that now he is completely between the two pieces of the overflow. It is nice and dark in there, so I am sure he will not want to come out anytime soon, even though it is only like 1/3" wide of area between the two pieces of plastic. Should I try to cut the sump pump back on and see if it blows him up through the top of the overflow now that he is completely inside it? I do not want to risk hurting him and having him contaminate my reef. I will try to take a picture and get it posted so that those of you who do not have AGA overflows will know what I am talking about. Still looking for other suggestions.

Rick K.

Sweet N Sour · #4 08/04/2002, 07:37 PM

I thought I heard it all. This really takes the cake. Sorry I can't offer any insight because it sounds like your doing everything right.

I know exactly what you are talking about and that is a VERY tight space. I would NOT pull him. He obviously wants to be in there. I would suggest you leave him be and move your tank as quickly as you can. Pour water in the overflow every so often so he doesnt dry up or anything. My guess is, he will come out when hes ready. You will do less harm letting him do this, than trying to manually retreive him.

Klobee · #5 08/04/2002, 07:39 PM

See the attachment to see exactly what I am talking about.

Klobee · #6 08/04/2002, 07:52 PM

well ALL of the lights are off inside my room now...except for one of those little "emergency keychain lights that can be seen up to a mile away." It is small enough to shine down the just the overflow and hopefully making it bright enough in there to chase him out. I know it blinds all my friends that I shine it at, so I am hoping it will work in this case. Still looking for ideas or at this point even jokes about how stupid these animals are or why I should not have gotten one in the first place.

Rick K.

Klobee · #7 08/04/2002, 09:28 PM

It's getting late, I can't leave my sump off all night...and I have moved all that I can down to my 125. Unfortunately this still leaves quite a few fish, and numerous corals that are too big to fit into the 125 or are attached to rocks too big! The sump is back on, and hopefully I will be able to sleep and wake up not worrying about my cuke dying and fouling my tank.

Does anyone have any experience with a cuke dying and fouling their tank? How bad was it? How long did it take to kill things? How did you fix it? Just wanted to know just in case the worst happens. Thanks.

Rick K.

Rebel · #8 08/04/2002, 09:39 PM

I don't have any experience with dying cucs, I am just going on research and questions from memory. I do not think that just because a cuc dies it will nuke your tank. I think it is more of a defense mechanism or reaction to shock/stress. Of course, your cuc seems to be undergoing a bit of stress--but I don't think it will die (as long as you don't drain the tank for good) and even if it does I think you will be ok. JMO.

I would not worry about turning on the sump pump--I would encourage you to do so. If he crawled in there with it on it must be ok. I know the AGA overflows you are talking about and there is no way he got "sucked" in there against his will. I would just let him be and soon enough he will relocate himself. Worse case scenario, you may have to cut out a slot or two to make a bigger door for him, then epoxy it shut again when you drain the tank.

J

Klobee · #9 08/08/2002, 11:42 PM

Well, I just got off the phone, and decided to take a quick peak into my tank before hitting the sack, and to my surprise, this is what I saw! Lets just hope he doesn't swallow too much sand and get stuck now! Glad I waited rather than do anything drastic. Patience is the key. Thanks to all who helped.

Rick K.

jellyfish4me · #10 08/09/2002, 01:03 AM

It's a little late for a response to your question, but I had a huge ugly brown sand cucumber, I don't know what kind. I bought 2 of them from Reeftopia.com

He got sucked/crawled into an exposed intake on a powerhead. Freaked me out when I saw it. I unplugged the powerhead and left it be. I was to grossed out by the thought of trying to get him out.

He crawled out himself at least half of him did. Then went on his merry way. I let him go, thinking it was possible for him to recover, after all, they do split in half by themselves. I had to clean the "other half" of him out of the powerhead.

After he left and went behind the rockwork, I never saw him again. So I assume he died somewhere. that was 3 months ago and I see my other cuke nightly.

The point: Nothing bad happened, not even an ammonia spike.

I would guess it's different with different types of cukes.