renman303 Posted December 28, 2008 Share Posted December 28, 2008 I want to add a nice 4"-6" cucumber to my tank. It's 225 gallon and has been up since July 1st. I have had a lot of problems lately with Green Algae that is clumping on the sand and rocks. I think there is enough detritus to keep the algae blooming and thought a big cucumber sifting the sand may not remove the algae but may clean up the detritus better than sifting stars? Thoughts? Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caferacermike Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 Ok I'll try and handle this one, I have over 24 large cukes in my 75g. First and foremost, you'll need to verify the cucumber you plan to add. Not all cukes are sand dwellers. About half of mine are obligate filter feeders. At different times of the day and night they will cast out a web of filters and begin dredging the water for fine particles of food. These will then be brought to the oral orifice to be licked clean. The other half are sand cleaners. However only about 4 of the entire clan actually sift through the sand. Most just cruise along the top and eat what they will. The 4 you want actually scoop up large amounts of dirty sand and poop clean sand. It's awesome to watch. Tiger tail cukes are easy to identify and do this to some extent. It's one of my black ones, a solid black, that does this the best. Keep in mind that a lot of cukes are cold water specimens and will die in a reef tank. I had this great 12" model that was black on top with white spots and a pink belly. It lasted a couple of weeks before dying. None of them sift through the sand so your plan to use them to turn over the sand won't happen. They only clean the surface. So you just want to add one because they are cool? Hell yeah. The tiger tails are by far the best and easiest to keep. I'd say that if your tank is 6 months old, has sufficient excess nutrients and you continue to feed on a regular basis that you should be ready. Where to buy? First head to Aquatek and spend $19 and get the last pink and neon green filter feeder they have, mine has been kicking it right in the front of the tank for about 6 weeks. Then head to the Aquadome and talk to Hunter about cukes. He should be able to find you several different models. The Dome is by far the best place for the truly odd creatures in Austin. The prices are right on at about $10 as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renman303 Posted December 29, 2008 Author Share Posted December 29, 2008 Mike, Thanks for the info. I know that I saw a really large one in a 450 gallon that Kingfish did at a doctor's office. It was all black and really cool to see "working" if you will. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nano_Steve Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 Depending on what type of "Green Algae" you are talking about you might think about getting a Sea Hare, it will take care of Green Hair Algae like no other and they are excellent additions to tanks to keep things clean, it's just too bad they aren't prettier. -Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caferacermike Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 Steve you must not have seen the nice ones. I've had some that were a solid black with electric blue spots on them, as well as a skin smooth green one with large yellowish.tan spots. There are several varieties of sea hares, most common are the dull brown ones with the big floppy ears. Only trouble I've had with them is they don't seem to live longer than a few weeks. I've not heard of one lasting longer than a month. Best bet for getting rid of algae is more flow (may need more along the sand bed to prevent nutrient settlement), water changes, and a BIG skimmer. I had a huge hair algae outbreak that almost got me out of the hobby. When I hooked up my CS12-5-RC-Eheim Euroreef skimmer (rated at 1,200+ gallons with Eheim 1262 upgrades) on my 75g tank, my algae began to disappear rapidly. Then I added 2 Tunze 6060 pumps to keep the sand off the bottom of the tank for a week. Man does it all shine now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renman303 Posted December 29, 2008 Author Share Posted December 29, 2008 (edited) I didn't know that there were different kinds of hair algae? This is very long in the places that I can't reach well (3"). It has caused me to remove the rocks on several occasions and scrub them with a brush to remove the algae. Phosphates on my water is zero. I have a Deltec 851 Skimmer rated for a 400 gallon tank that is run by an Eheim 1262. I also have two additional Eheim 1262's pumping water back from the Sump in two locations in the tank. A Tunze Wavebox and a Tunze Turbelle at the opposite end of the tank and supplimented with an SEIO 1500 pointed toward the bottom back of the tank just to stir things up from behind the rocks. Most of my luck in removing the algae has been from removing the rocks one by one and hand cleaning them. But the sand bed is in constant need of cleaning as well. Maybe we need to have the next meeting at my house then I can get everyone's input???? Anyone that has any extra Cuc's I'd gladly trade for Frags? I have lots of Frags! Dave Edited December 29, 2008 by renman303 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caferacermike Posted December 29, 2008 Share Posted December 29, 2008 Send me some pics of frags you have and I'll see about picking up some cukes at Aquadome for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JEN H Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 The Dome is the bomb, and Hunter is awesome! He has helped us every step of the way from keeping our fish for a couple week after shipping our fish down to Austin from Columbus, OH and got our 210 gallon tank stocked and happy Actually, everyone at the Dome is great. Gary is the owner, and he is great. Terry really knows her stuff when it comes to fresh water fish. Cukes are great. We have a couple in our 210 gallon, and I would like to eventually add some of the more unique ones at some point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renman303 Posted January 5, 2009 Author Share Posted January 5, 2009 I want a cuke to sift the sand! Drs. Foster and Smith has a cool Pink Cucumber that is Black on the top, or is it bottom??? DAve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmanning Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 Does it look something like this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renman303 Posted January 6, 2009 Author Share Posted January 6, 2009 Does it look something like this? Yes, that's exactly what they look like. Do they do a good job for you? Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmanning Posted January 6, 2009 Share Posted January 6, 2009 As you can see....it's cleaning the rock. I think mainly this one takes care of the detritus from the rocks and keeps your sand bed clean (white as possible). We're very pleased and I just love the color. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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