Stupid cucumber

[spazthecat]

Hi,

I've had a red and black cucumber in my 75 gallon reef tank for about 2 years now. It was doing very well. Very active, always cleaning up the sand. It was about 3 inches long. About 8 months ago, it disappeared. I found it 2 months later in the rock work. It was still alive but was only about one inch long and significantly skinnier.

The next day, it was gone again. It crawled back up in the rocks.

I keep going through this hide and seek game and it doesn't look any healthier. It's still only about 1 inch long an skinny compared to a year ago. But, it is still alive as it crawls back up into the rocks. Oddly enough, it is always the same spot.

It looks malnurished but there is plenty of crap for it to eat on the sand bed even with the snails and crabs I have.

I'm worried that it's going to die somewhere in the rocks and cause a big ammonia spike but I hate to just get rid of it because it is still alive. Any suggestions for getting it to come around?

All of the other inverts in the tank are fine (including my other cucumber) and the tank parameters have all been solid except for calcium. It's been on the low side (360-380). I generally keep calcium at 400.

Thanks,

Andy

[mokeyz]

Do you have a refugium with a sand bed? If so you can try putting it there and hopefuly if there isn't any rockwork, just sand, chaeto, whatever it will have no choice but to eat from the sand.

As with so many creatures we keep, sometimes they just up and waste away no matter what we do and some just shouldn't be kept in aquaria.

Marlene

[LeslieH]

I see two possibilities. The first is that it's malnourished and shrinking because of it. The other is that your original cucumber split into two for some reason which explains the diminished size.

This article by Rob Toonen is an excellent source of information on sea cucumbers, their feeding, reproduction, etc. Perhaps it will help explain what is happening with your animal.

[spazthecat]

I do have a sand bed in my refugium. However, the sand bed is a pretty new addition (about 2 weeks old). So, I'm not sure how much food there is for it at this point.

LeslieH - do you have a link to that article?

Thanks,

Andy

[lancer99]

Andy,
I believe this is the article Leslie is referring to: http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issu...003/invert.htm

Your sandbed is probably too new for there to be much food for your cuke.

-R

[delsol650]

I have a large tiger tail was about 8" or more and about 1/2" or more thick... one night I saw it under a rock in the middle of the tank.. but then when I looked at the left side of the tank I saw the other end. couldn't be the whole thing, till I noticed it was 2 now ( SPIT ).. so I have 2 4"+ tiger tails

[LeslieH]

Oops, sorry I forgot to add the link. Lancer99, thanks for posting it.