Okay, well after getting rid of the huge female bimac I have been looking for one and well...... look I have no clue on that species and I need help to identify it...its about 3 inches long. They said it was from Asia and need warm water and it was in a tank @ 80 in the store

no idea from the pic, once it settles in we may have more luck on IDing it... Hope it's not bandensis but that will be easy to ID.

Was it a special order or lucky find?

Thats really lucky, I thinks its either a Bandensis or a real small Latimanus, maybe you could give us a few more pics so we can id it for you. Fyi, one this size is extremely greedy, feed it about 2 1inch shrimps twice a day. You can play tug of war with it by putting a stick near its arms :wink:

Good luck!!! :thumbsup:

I have yet to see it eating......but its alive, running around and changing colors. I have a few shrimp in the tank right now and crabs ect.......what would you guys recommend.

Let it explore its environment first, once he settles down and feels comfortable, he will start eating. Maybe it just hasn't seen the prey, are they in the open or hiding? Any prominent markings on the cuttle? And how big is ur tank again?

Let it explore its environment first, once he settles down and feels comfortable, he will start eating. Maybe it just hasn't seen the prey, are they in the open or hiding? Any prominent markings on the cuttle? And how big is ur tank again?

50 gallon, a few shrimp, crabs both large and small with a few snails.

Nice acquisition, stits!

:cuttle:

crabs and shrimps really work well with cuttles but not hermits. Make sure you have a good source of carbon on standby just incase it inks... much worse than an octo of similar size

wow, how did you manage to get a cuttle in the us?
i spent a long time trying and the closest i got was lfs offered to order one but i had to pay over $100 in advance weather it came in alive or not
i finally gave up and went back to an octo

I think someone in the US must breed Cuttles because my LFS also offered to order one. Has anyone successfully done it?

i know the nrcc breeds them but they do not sell to the public, other than that i do not believe anybody else does

Dammit, well got home last night the animal had been eating ect but well........now it was dead. He was just too stressed from shipping I guess.

:( Sorry to hear that Stits..
J

Too bad. :(

Better luck next time.

that's par for the course I think...

Its unfortunate but that's the reason why they are so rare to find in shops in the USA... it's a difficult thing to do but please think twice before spending your cash on another one. For that one, there may have been many more that had already died to get this far, that's a wastes of cuttle's lives too...

Octopets was planning on breeding officinalis soon, but i have heard no word on that yet... you all better get saving for your 200gal plus tanks LOL

that's par for the course I think...

Its unfortunate but that's the reason why they are so rare to find in shops in the USA... it's a difficult thing to do but please think twice before spending your cash on another one. For that one, there may have been many more that had already died to get this far, that's a wastes of cuttle's lives too...

Octopets was planning on breeding officinalis soon, but i have heard no word on that yet... you all better get saving for your 200gal plus tanks LOL

Oh no worries, first time is the last time in this case. I wouldn't raise officinalis because size and temp. Anyway I think this is the end of chep keeping for me at least for the time being.

dont give up altogether!!!! :)

Maybe someone will start breeding small species of cuttles in the USA... someone should, they'd make a packet off it!

I was just wondering why no one thought about shipping eggs :?: I guess its less likely when they die. Are cuttlefish babies planktonic and what size are they if not?

I have hinted that it would be good to find a supply of suitable eggs - the only ones available on the coast of England are Sepia officinalis, and as Colin says - they grow too big for most home aquaria. I remember hatchlings are a bit less than 10mm?
The problem would probably be that the smaller species would have smaller eggs, and it is difficult enough to find food for Sepia officinalis hatchlings.
Probably not enough money in eggs to set the trade up, the best way would be for members of this site to exchange them? (HEAVY hint!)
Bob-tail squid are raised in the States, I have been successful with Sepia, (the eggs are robust, whereas octopus eggs may be dependent on attention from the mother)

Is 10mm total length or ML, What did you feed the hatchlings. I'm just curious in case any cuttlefish lays eggs, either that or I could check if the LFS can get some. I'm assuming that they mate and lay eggs seasonaly, any one have an idea when?

From memory Sepia officinalis hatchlings are somewhere between 5 -10mm long. I fed them on small shrimp ( they would tackle them up to their own length immediately, but if the shrimp bucked too hard they would get discouraged).
Sepia officinalis eggs get washed ashore June - August on south coast of England and are fairly easy to find after rough weather. Tropical species could be available at any time and would be more suitable for home aquaria?

Right now i am hoping that wasabe is a female with fertile eggs. :heee:

You better get ready to ship eggs to scotland then LOL

:wink: