Tank Size

[ceph]

Well, you can't win them all. My 1998 four part article on keeping cuttles has lots of good information about food and tank mates but one big mistake that I thought I'd corrected. 40 gallons is way too small for a full sized adult common cuttlefish. 100 gallons is more like it. The juveniles can be kept in large groups but the adults need room. Multiple males in any size system can cause problems.

The common cuttlefish (S. officinalis) and Pharaoh cuttlefish (S. pharaonis) are more or less the same size. The biggest life history difference is the pharo likes it warm and has a life span about half as long as it's Mediterranean cousin.

As for Metasepia, those guys are much smaller and can be housed in a much smaller systems. We would all like to breed them. Waikiki Aquarium and the NRCC have tried and as far as I know still haven't had any luck.

James Wood
Bermuda Biological Station

[Colin]

Thanks very much for posting that here James :)

Pay attention cuttle people :D

[oscar]

thanks for clarifying that - your article was one of the triggers for me getting into the hobby and a great resource second only to talking to other ceph owners

i did notice that there was little on tank size specifics!!! good to see it filled in!! thanks dr wood

i managed to find info on tonmo though and have a 150 g tank

[Nancy]

Thanks, James, for clarifying this point.
Colin is right - listen up, all you who are interested in cuttles - big tanks for your cuttles! :cuttle: :)

Nancy

[Andy Lister]

Is 100G big enough for officinalis?

Thats only 450 litres isn't it?

~And

[Nancy]

What we've been recommending is a larger tank, more like 175-200 gallons for S. officinalis.

Nancy

[rc]

i was going to get a 120g for my cuttel, they come in two sizes 4'longx2'deepx2'tall
or
5'longx18"x2'

which would be better, longer or deeper (by deeper i mean front to back)?

[joel_ang]

I would go with the 4ft one, with live rock its not going to be easy for the cuttle to turn around.