Just thought I’d share a little eye candy with everyone. Here’s a video of an Australian sea apple from EcoReef.net. The sea apple, a filter feeding cousin of the sea cucumber, can be seen waving it’s oral tentacles in the current and bringing them to it’s mouth to eat. The sea apple will physically put its arms into its mouth to gobble up whatever it catches on its tentacles.
Despite being very colorful and extremely entertaining, these animals are very delicate. Sea apples require regular feedings of differ planktonic foods and pristine water quality. They are much more sensitive to ammonia and nitrite than other organisms, and their health will quickly diminish in poor quality water. Sea apples and other soft tissued animals are also prone to becoming impeller fodder. By that I mean a wandering sea apple can get tentacles caught up in water pumps, sending bits and pieces of the animal all over the tank. If an event like this happens, or the animals starts dieing for other reasons, it could potentially “nuke” your entire aquarium, killing just about everything else as well.
