Pink & Black Sea Cucumber

How to Care for Pink & Black Sea Cucumber

written by Dave Burr

What it lacks in beauty it makes up for in cleaning power. The Pink & Black Sea Cucumber is a great “housekeeper” for the reef aquarium. It eats detritus, diatoms, and scraps of meaty foods from the sand that passes through its body. One Pink & Black Sea Cucumber is sufficient for a 60 gallon aquarium.

Feeding: Provide the Pink & Black Sea Cucumber with plenty of sand bed to sift through. It will scavenge scraps of meaty foods left over by fish.

Tip: Do not keep with aggressive fishes that are not safe with invertebrates. Also make sure to protect cucumber from being sucked into an overflow box or pump intake. The Pink & Black Sea Cucumber does have the ability to release toxins into the aquarium that could poison fish, although it is extremely unlikely.

Acclimation: Maintaining proper pH, Ca, Alk, & Mg levels is important for cucumbers. Take the time to do a drip acclimation with any cucumber as they do not tolerate rapid changes in water chemistry very well.

Care Level: Easy
Reef Compatible: Yes
Diet: Omnivore
Range: Indo-Pacific
Family: Holothuridae
Water Conditions: 75-80° F; sg 1.024-1.026 (1.025 is ideal); pH 8.1-8.4 Ca 420-440 ppm, Alk 8-9.5 dKH, Mg 1260-1350, Nitrates <10ppm, Phosphates < .10ppm

Water Chemistry: It is important that proper calcium (420-440 ppm), alkalinity (8-9.5 dkh - run it 7-8 if you are carbon dosing) , and magnesium levels (1260-1350 ppm) are maintained. Raising magnesium levels gradually up to 1400-1600 ppm can help to combat algae outbreaks, just keep CA and Alk in line as you raise the Mg. Nitrates should be below 10 ppm and phosphates should be below .10 ppm. We recommend doing a water change when Nitrate levels rise to 10 ppm. It is important to replace your phosphate media when phosphates rise to .10 ppm. Media Reactors make the most efficient use of your phosphate media by fluidizing it.

Dosing: Vivid Aquariums uses and recommends dosing pumps to automate the dosing of additives and keep your levels more constant. A dosing pump can alleviate the chore of manually dosing your aquarium with Ca, Alk, & Mg 2,3, or 4 times per week and will benefit your aquarium by keeping your levels constant through frequent small additions of Ca, Alk, & Mg. Our tanks all progressed when we switched from 3 manual dosings per week to 70 automatic dosings per week and we got a lot more work done.