Sea Apple

 Quick Care Facts

• Care Level: Expert   • Temperament: Peaceful   • Maximum Size: 8"
• Diet: Filter Feeder   • Aquarium Level: Substrate   • Minimum Tank Size: 55 gallons
 • Reef Compatible: Yes   • Water Conditions: 72-78° F, dKH 8-12, pH 8.1-8.4, sg 1.023-1.025
• Supplements: None   • Coloration: Blue, Red, Orange, Yellow
• Origin: Indo-Pacific • Family: Cucumariidae   • Species: Cucumbers

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Sea Apples are only for expert reef aquarists. Their bright coloration and unique shape make them very attractive, but they are difficult to keep and can even release a potent toxin if stressed or injured killing other animals in the aquarium. The body of the Sea Apple can be a vareity of colors, but it always has yellow feet. The oral region is usually blue to violet, hence the common name Violet Sea Apple or Violet Sea Urchin.

This a beautiful species that will add a new dimension of color to the reef aquarium. Be sure to have a large established reef aquarium with both suitable space and solid quantities of copepods and other microorganisms suitable for filter feeding invertebrates. Most of be sure to have near perfect water quality and many years of successful complex reef keeping experience.

Sea Apples require an established reef aquarium with both room to move about and large amounts of live rock and copepods from which it will receive a large portion of its food. Being a filter feeding species the Sea Apple requires moderate to strong currents within the aquarium. Protect all intakes on pumps and power heads, to eliminate any possibility of being sucked in, as this will both kill the Sea Apple and cause it to release deadly toxins into the aquarium.

Do not house these cucumbers in an aquarium that contains any fish that may pick on its tentacles. Generally, any fish that is prone to pick on feather dusters will pick on the tentacles of the Sea Apple. These fish include; Butterflyfish, Large Angels, and any species that is listed not safe with invertebrates. They are ultra-sensitive to alkalinity changes and copper-based medication and extreme nitrate levels. This species is only for the expert reef aquarist.

Sea Apples are filter feeders, which extend their tentacles into the water current to filter out their food. As the food is trapped within the tentacles it is then drawn back into the mouth. In the aquarium environment, it is necessary to provide liquid foods, brine shrimp or grated mussel. Typically Sea Apples are fed 3 times a week, but this will vary with the availability of food sources in the individual reef aquarium.

Sea Apples have the ability to releases toxins (venom) that may kill fish in the aquarium when they are severely stressed or damaged by pump intakes or overflows. Do not keep any Sea Apple with any species of fish that may pick on on the tentacles of the Australian Sea Apple. These fish include; Butterflyfish, Large Angels, and any species that is listed not safe with invertebrates.