Are tiger tail cucumbers and sand bed clams a good idea for a DSB

[Caesar Augustus]

I'm getting some dsb clams from ispf and I was thinking of adding some tiger tail cucs to tend the bed, do any of you have any of them and what do you think?
Augustus

[Ninong]

I tried 24 of those little clams (Tapes philippinarum) from IPSF in my 6" DSB in a 120-gal tank. They lasted about 6 months. They starved to death even though I feed the tank D.T.'s live phytoplankton at least three times a week. The first ones started dying after about three months and the last ones were dead by about eight months. They all buried themselves under the sand within about 24 hours after I received them. When they're about to die, they rise up to the surface.

Tiger tail cukes (Holothuria sp.) are a good idea for any tank with a fine sand bed but in my experience they require A LOT of surface area to survive. The longest I have had one survive in my tank is about 15 months and it was only about 5" long. I suspect they do better in larger tanks with lots of open sand surface.

P.S. -- Unless you are ordering a bunch of stuff from IPSF, you may want to consider one of the dealers closer to where you live. I have had good results ordering from www.reeftopia.com in the Florida Keys. Orders from Hawaii take two days to get here via FedEx overnight. That's what they call overnight from Hawaii. This time of the year may be risky for 2-day shipments of livestock.

[Caesar Augustus]

Thanks Ninong! Thanks for the info.