Fishfreak218 Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 So, as some of you already know from reading on C777's Cuttlefish Thread I am in the process of getting cuttlefish (which Im hoping will arrive here on thursday.) First off, a little background info... Intro: My fascination with cephalopods started about two years ago after I found a few online articles about keeping cephalopods. Soon after, I discovered an awesome website called TONMO, which is a forum dedicated to cephalopod husbandry. I got my first cephalopod, an octopus, about a year and a half ago. He was already very large and I assume he was near the end of his life cycle so he was only with me for about a week. Then, a few months ago I got another octopus. This time he was very small, with his mantle being about the size of a grape and a leg span of only 3-4". Unfortunatly, during a tank switch, he crawled out of his tank and I found him struggling on the floor. It took me a minute or two to finally get him up [slippery little things], and get him in the tank. The next day I found him dead, I assume from the stressful event the previous day. So, after that I gave up on cephalopods, thinking that they must be above my capabilities. Then, months later I found Paradox's 150g. cuttle reef. I dismissed the idea untill I read the whole thread and found that he had eggs and babies currently available! I thought, "Well, I do have a tank that is currently cycling, so its the perfect timing, right?" So, after a talk with my parents and a few emails I am currently on my way to getting dwarf cuttlefish (Sepia Bandensis)! The Tank: The tank is a 30g. oceanic cube which is currently still cycling. I want this to double as a reef [and a good one too] so I tried to stick with a setup that is semi-nice for the coral but not overboard for the cuttlefish. My goal is to try and keep the water clean enough for some easier SPS such as some montipora and keep the tank pretty much algea free. For filtration I will have the 10g. sump which will have a refugium section and I will also have a Euro-Reef RS80 which should help a lot with filtration. Then, for additional algea control, I will have a phosban reactor with GFO (Grannular Ferric Oxide) in it. The return pump is still undecided, but it will be around 300gph and there will be an inline chiller (1/10HP). Flow is still undecided but I dont want something too strong because of the cuttlefish. As for lighting, I am using my old Aqualight which has a 150w MH and 130w of PC. The Cuttlefish: The species that I will be keeping are (Sepia Bandensis) aka Dwarf Cuttlefish. This species only reaches about 4" (some males can get up to 6" but, generally, they stay around 4"). Unlike octopus, cuttlefish can be kept with multiples specimens in one tank, provided that the tank is large enough. I plan to only have 2 since the small size of my tank (approx 35g. total water volume) and the layout of the tank. Feeding: The ones I am getting are going to be about 3 weeks old and approx 3/4". For the first month they will be on a diet of live amphipods and mysid shrimp which will be very expensive at first. They will each get about 4 amphipods/mysids per day and hopefully I will start to wean them onto frozen mysids during this time. Then after that, once they reach about 1" and are around 1.5 months old I will introduce them to small shore shrimp and Sargassum Shrimp. Most of my food will be ordered from www.aquaculturestore.com and some of it, the sargassum shrimp, will be caught locally. The Nursery: Since they are so small and because their future home is still cycling, I have set them up a nursery that will be their home for the first month and a half. This tank consists of a 10g. tank with an Aquaclear 20 with some filter floss that was previously in my 90g. It has a few peices of LR rubble on the bottom and some cheato for filtration. It has an old sunpod 70w MH and a titanium heater. However, they will not be in contact with any of that becuase they will be isolated inside of a small breeder net to monitor their eating and to keep them away from filters, predators, and burning themselves on the heater. The rest of the tank I plan to use as the feeding tank, where I will store all the live food for them to eat. Pictures coming soon! Link to comment
matty0206 Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 This is going to be awesome! The best of luck to you man! Link to comment
Fishfreak218 Posted May 6, 2008 Author Share Posted May 6, 2008 Thanks! I really hope I do well with these guys! Anyway, here is the pictures I promised: Hopefully pictures of the cuttles later on this week! Link to comment
lilredneckman Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 Woah! This is going to be SWEET!!! I cant wait to see the lil buggers! Link to comment
ezcompany Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 yea, my jaws dropped when i saw he was able to hatch those eggs, AND have the majority of them survive....too cute these guys. good luckkkk Link to comment
dickie52 Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 I will be along for the ride...... Link to comment
brian92 Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 wow can't wait to see how this turn out Cuttlefish are awesome Link to comment
spanko Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 I'm here too. Can't wait for you to get going. Link to comment
Cubby23 Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 Wow. This is really interesting, keep us updated. Link to comment
Duncan Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 This is going to be awwwesome! Tagging along! Link to comment
irishtexan Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 Sweet I will be following along! Where did you order your cuttlefish from?? -texx Link to comment
MiddReef Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 Great idea, good luck breeding cephalopods, we can always use more of these awesome animals! If it's any help, I've heard that making the sides of the aquarium opaque with poster-board etc. helps keep the cuttles from smashing themselves backwards and "burning" themselves on the walls of the aquarium. Might make it harder to see and less ascetically pleasing, but if you start to have problems could be a quick fix... Good luck, keep us updated! -MR Link to comment
Fishfreak218 Posted May 7, 2008 Author Share Posted May 7, 2008 Sweet I will be following along! Where did you order your cuttlefish from?? -texx I got them from Paradox09 who has the original cuttle reef and he bred them, him and Thales (on TONMO.com) have partnered up to sell them off, so Im not sure who exactly has them in posession but most of the time I was talking to Thales about it. Great idea, good luck breeding cephalopods, we can always use more of these awesome animals! If it's any help, I've heard that making the sides of the aquarium opaque with poster-board etc. helps keep the cuttles from smashing themselves backwards and "burning" themselves on the walls of the aquarium. Might make it harder to see and less ascetically pleasing, but if you start to have problems could be a quick fix... Good luck, keep us updated! -MR Thanks for the suggestion! I'll be sure to have it if i start having problems. Update: I ordered the cuttlefish and 200 live mysids tonight. p.s. overnight shipping is a biatch Link to comment
Sexy Shrimp Posted May 7, 2008 Share Posted May 7, 2008 Tagging along on this cuttlefish thread too! Link to comment
dickie52 Posted May 7, 2008 Share Posted May 7, 2008 Update:I ordered the cuttlefish and 200 live mysids tonight. p.s. overnight shipping is a biatch All I can say is WOW..... did a little reading and I tip my hat to you!!! Put on your work boots and have your wallet ready!!! Link to comment
nanoreef-R Posted May 7, 2008 Share Posted May 7, 2008 WOW awsommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmme dude keep us updated!!!! like really updated! Link to comment
arwndsh Posted May 7, 2008 Share Posted May 7, 2008 ...jealous... We can have some, can't we? Link to comment
Fishfreak218 Posted May 9, 2008 Author Share Posted May 9, 2008 Well, Thales [the guy shipping them] said that the place he usually gets his oxygen from has ran out. This means that I wont be getting the cuttles for another week. p.s. 200mysids w/ coldpack and packaging ended up being $52 {and thats with free shipping] you would think it would be cheaper.. but yeah. I just hope they switch off of the mysids and onto the shore shrimp quickly because mysids are highly canabilistic and so, even though I order 200 I really dont expect to get that many. The mysids STILL arent here, they were supposed to be here today and it is now 5:42 in the afternoon. I hope I get them later today or tomorrow and that they arent dead! EDIT** I just checked the tracking # and it says the package was delivered at 9:53 a.m. So I called USPS and we go through a bunch of crap that doesnt help me at all, so he says someone will call me back tomorrow with more knowledge on the problem. So I ask, "well, the things being shipped were living animals and what happens if they are dead by the time the package is found?" He says that living animals are to be shipped express [next day]. So, now I need to contact the seller to ask why he would offer free priority shipping on live animals when if the package is lost, there will be no compensation from USPS. EDIT*** I contacted the seller and he is looking into it, he says worse comes to worse he will ship me out new ones. Good customer service! Link to comment
Fishfreak218 Posted May 10, 2008 Author Share Posted May 10, 2008 Update: So, around 12ish my dad discovered a package on our doorstep. It was the 200mysids that I ordered Yeah, we dont really know what happened but most of them are still alive! The cuttlefish should be here on wednesday!!!!!! Link to comment
MiddReef Posted May 10, 2008 Share Posted May 10, 2008 That's really exciting! It's really refreshing to see somebody getting into the cephalopod game AFTER establishing a readily available food source. I'm very impressed with your prep work, and I think that you'll have a great experience with these guys! -MR Link to comment
Greenstar Posted May 11, 2008 Share Posted May 11, 2008 I remember seeing richard ross's set-up back when I lived in the bay area. Very very cool species, good luck with them. Link to comment
TheUnfocusedOne Posted May 11, 2008 Share Posted May 11, 2008 just to warn you these can be hard to keep (im sure you know) my school had one in a display tank n it died n then they put another, n im pretty sure it died too granted, they are idiots and had only a really crappy filter running on it with a school thats so involved in aquaculture and marine biology u think theyd be able to run a simple fish tank... Link to comment
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