Usefullness of sand sifting cucumbers?

[Oxymoron]

If a sea cucumber were to die in your tank is there a possibility that it could release toxins the same way that some Nudibranchs do?

[fencer]

I have some tiger tails in the tank...see them every so often....they do churn the sand well....Sand Dollars do a better job

[saltyrockbox]

ya so I guess a bunch of sand cleaners are necessary, ok

[untamed]

Originally Posted by Oxymoron

If a sea cucumber were to die in your tank is there a possibility that it could release toxins the same way that some Nudibranchs do?

Depends on the species involved.

In answer to the original question...I find cucumbers like this a very valuable part of my clean up crew and they process a large amount of the sand every day. Somehow, they've even managed to reproduce in my system as "babies" have appeared in the grunge on the bottom of my sump.

Interstingly, I transferred one of the babies into my refugium/frag tank and that particular one in now 4x larger than the other babies. The main difference between living in the 'fuge/frag tank and living in the sump would be that the fuge/frag is lit causing more algae. While they do not like light and hide during the day, it would seem that an increase in algae is benefitial to their diet.