Slug thing

>I guess mine looks more like it has the bushy apparatus in the 2nd pic but
>nowhere near as many. Mine looks very much like the pics of the tigertails
>I saw after googling.
>
> It was more or less sucked onto the front of the tunze, on the plastic
> grill part like in this pic
> http://www.mops.ca/cgi-bin/SoftCart.exe/skus/ph/PHTU-6100.asp?E+scstore
>
> It appears it spat the dummy overnight as this morning there were all
> these very sticky, long whitish/grey things that I think might be the
> Cuvierian tubules in the jug with it but it is still alive.
>
> I haven't returned it to the tank yet but instead have set it up in a
> bucket containing about 6 litres of tank water and the same of freshly
> made up ASW. It has sand in the bottom and a piece of live rock with good
> hiding holes (it has already gone off into a hole). I've added a small
> heater and have an air pump with straight hose bubbling the water slowly.
> I really don't think I should keep this critter as I'm too new to the
> marine world. I am going to see if I can find a home for it via the Aussie
> forum but I need to keep it well in the meantime. Is there anything I can
> do to feed it? I have spare freshwater equipment (tanks, filters etc) that
> I could setup to try and keep it happy until I find a home for it. If I
> can't find a home I could get my son to return it to the waters off Mackay
> when he's next home but that will be 6 months away. Is it possible to
> provide food for it in this situation?
>
> Thanks for your info and help.
>
>
> Tidepool Geek wrote:

>> Hi Miskairal,
>>
>> If I understand your post correctly and your cuke has simply crawled
>> to a spot in front of the Tunze, you don't need to worry. What you
>> need to avoid is a situation where it could crawl or be sucked into
>> the unit. Obviously, I've never seen how your Tunzes are set up but
>> presumably you've already got some sort of guards in place to protect
>> your other animals so your cuke shouldn't be in any danger from the
>> Tunze intakes either.
>>
>> Of course, all this presupposes that your cuke is a mopping cuke.
>> Here's a picture of a mopper that we have in my neighborhood. If you
>> look very closely you'll see one of the 'tongues' that it uses to feed
>> (it's a slightly different color than the other parts of the animal).
>>

>> Moppers crawl around almost constantly as they graze but they aren't
>> suicidal. So long as they can't inadvertently get sucked into a pump
>> intake your cuke should be just fine.
>>
>> It's also just possible (but unlikely) that yours is a suspension
>> feeder like the one shown here:
>> http://www.afsc.noaa.gov/kodiak/photo/miscuke03.htm
>> The bushy part is the feeding apparatus. Suspension feeders can move
>> around but usually don't. Unless they are very dissatisfied by the
>> amount of food they're receiving they are perfectly happy to wedge
>> their body into a crevice or under a rock and then just sit and filter
>> their food. IOW: This type is even less likely to have a problem with
>> your powerheads.
>>
>> The bottom line is that your cuke should be safe and a good deal
>> happier in your main tank. Assuming that you return it to the tank,
>> keep in mind that sea cucumbers are echinoderms and, as such, you
>> would be well advised to re-acclimate the animal in the same way that
>> you would with a sea star or urchin - slowly and carefully.
>>
>> Holothurially yours,
>>
>> Alex
>>