Sand-sifting sea cucumber

Care at a glance

Overview

The sand-sifting sea cucumber is a slow, peaceful sand cleaner that keeps the sand bed aerated and free of built-up waste. It is easy to keep and suits a reef tank.

Caring for the sand-sifting sea cucumber

Keep the sand-sifting sea cucumber in a mature tank of at least 20 gal (75 L), with a real sand bed several centimeters deep. It needs an established population of detritus and microfauna to eat. A brand new tank does not have enough food in the substrate to support it.

Hold the water at 75 to 81°F (24 to 27°C) with a pH of 8.1 to 8.4. Sea cucumbers are especially sensitive to sudden changes in salinity. Acclimate it with a slow drip over an hour or more.

Feed sinking pellets if the sand bed runs low on natural food. Watch for a shrinking or deflated body, an early sign it is not getting enough to eat.

It is reef safe and does not touch coral, fish or other invertebrates. Its only real impact is competing for the same detritus a cleanup crew relies on. Stock it in an established tank, not alongside a large existing crew of sand-sifting snails and gobies.

Like the rest of its family, it can release toxins if it is badly stressed, crushed or injured, or if it dies. Handle it gently, and only with clean, wet hands.

Good to know

Holothuria floridana is a deposit-feeding sea cucumber in the family Holothuriidae. It takes in mouthfuls of sand with its oral tentacles. Its body is soft, leathery and mottled brown to tan. Its toxins, called holothurins, are generally considered milder than those of showier filter-feeding cucumbers such as the sea apple. It is also sold as the Florida or Atlantic sea cucumber.

In the wild

Sand-sifting sea cucumbers live throughout the western Atlantic, including Florida, the wider Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico. They work through the sand of seagrass beds and shallow reef flats a few meters down. Much of the body often stays tucked into a rock crevice or buried while the front end works the surrounding sand.

Common questions

Related species

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