Everyone should have a Sea Apple ! I've decided to start my new interest in keeping strange and wonderful invertebrates with one of these guys. I figure in my 20g chaeto refugium it would do very well due to the proper flow there and the fact that I could dose with phytoplankton in a smaller area than I could in my DT so as to keep my new apple well fed. Already now I add some p. plankton for the added health of my copepod population so I already have the food source on hand for these-just add more! I found an LFS that has a nice variety of Sea Apples available so early next week I'm going to go pick one up. I included some info and pic I chose below about them. If anyone has any added advice/suggestions or experience please comment. Thanks and I'll update with a post when I get him. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_apple
I went to pick out my Sea Apple today and pay for him. I'll be picking up the guy from the LFS on Tuesday to give me time to set up my QT and put some LR & LS in there. I will be drip acclimating him slowly using water from my DT and plenty of flow to keep him happy. It's my intention to acclimate him very slowly and QT for some time just because that's what we should do anyway with any new live stock. This will be especially important because an apple has the ability under stress to poison an entire tank which would be-well-very bad for my DT . This is the guy * he will be 2-3x this size upon feeding time and a stable home environment. I love him already .
Going with a sea cucumber nice! These guys can be pretty finicky so be careful, they often do best in a well established aquarium. As you noted make sure he cant get sucked into any powerheads, filters ect. Also be careful of any inverts or fish that might nip at it. Like most inverts these are very sensitive to water quality and copper. One sign of an unhappy Sea Apple is that they swell up to a very large size, they do this to aid in their ability to quickly drift to a new location. Im sure as it gets more acclimated it will get larger, just be aware being big doesnt always mean happy for sea cucumbers. At night you should keep an eye out for a pearlfish. These little guys hide in sea apples respiratory branches(which happens to be in its butt). Its not entirely uncommon for these little fish to hitchhike in along with the sea cucumber.
Thanks for all that and very informative. I've researched the heck out of them including threads of people who own them but never heard of these pearlfish-Hmmm...? I'm going to have him alone in my refugium so I'm not worried about others bothering him. I've read nightmare stories of them getting into an intake or who knows what-this seems to be the usual way (very rare though) in which they have released their toxin. The overwhelming majority out there seems to think that they are quite safe in the hands of an experienced keeper and my tank has been running for 9yrs now. When I get time I'll look up this pearlfish thing-interesting . Any additional notes would be greatly appreciated. * Jake98 upon researching this fish you speak of I found that there's a certain type of crab that has a symbiotic/commensal relationship with the sea apples/cucumbers. I really want to some day get this crab too to hang out with my apple !!! What would be cooler than that?
He's THE MAN!!! Took a few days but my Sea Apple finally came out in full force to eat his phytoplankton and just BE! He's well set up off to one side of the QT were he will be for some time and moved over into the spot pictured and seems happy there. He's been eating his phyto (I know this 'cause he has already made poop ). If their not feeding enough it's possible that they will look seemingly healthy but in actuality be digesting their insides till they eventually die from this which is (one of many reasons) why it's important for them to be watched closely. He seems to be free of pearl fishes and pea crabs etc... (can hitchhike inside them) and I'm keeping the water in the QT pristine as I do in my DT. *my g-friend didn't share my enthusiasm for my sea apples first poop at all ???
