I drove to LA from SF to pick this guy up yesterday! Here he is eating a ghost shrimp minutes after being put in the tank.

Awesome!

Very nice!!! Please post moooore pictures :grin:

Long drive for a flambouyant. I hope it dose well. Let us know how it goes.

Wow!! Damn you are sooo soooo lucky!!! Wish you all the best with him, you gotta post vids of him...

He's very handsome!!

Cuttles are always cool. They are a mix of squid and octo, the best of both worlds.

He sure looks neat...
Wish I had one...

dang, i almost got that exact one from that guy in la. but good for you hope he does well.

Thats funny!

Video!

http://www.stickycricket.com/aquarium/movies/metasepia.html
'bout 8 meg.

Anyone know where I can get another one? :D

What a fabulous looking creature, with those amazing rippling stripes and sneaky tentacles! I'm always surprised at their superficial resemblance to spiders, as well... creeping forward, with the large abdomen behind. VERY cool. 8-)

Very Cool video. A pair of those would be very cool to breed, Congrats!

At the moment I'm in a shade of green that could scare just about anything off...:mrgreen:

Fantastic... thanks so much for the video link..

wow that is one flashy little cuttlefish... :) So colorful, it looks like a flamenco dancer.

You need to spill the beans... how much of a hole did it make in your wallet? ;)

wow i think it is fair to say everyone who has ever looked at keeping cuttles here is jealous - easily my favourite species and a nice size too!!! how big now?

bout to have a look at the movie - good luk oh and good luk on getting another righty - are they difficult to come by? they would be small to rear though...but u have experience with small ones (bandensis...) ,,, right?

Have any shown any breeding behavior? When we had them the male would circle above the female for an extended period of time.

Colin - I paid the price you quote for them in your articles.

He is about 1.5 inches long. The males are smaller, so no telling how old he is. However, even if he dies this week he was worth it to me. :D

They are very difficult to come by. I am working on getting a female or more, but have little hope. If anyone has any connections I would appreciate it.

Marinebio - a local who has been studying them in the wild says there is what looks to be mating behavior in the video.

Ripping out the and bed in the reef tank today - wish me luck!

RR

Hello everybody, and Righty.

Righty, I live in Bangkok and have finally found a store here that sometimes gets Flamboyants. Last time two came in, he said one was DOA and the other purchased immediately. I can order one, and the wait could be a few months before it comes.

I've just ordered a tank made to be made 48" X 24" X 24" with large sump underneath. Now I'm shopping around for protein skimmers and filtration options - I'm imagining live rock, live sand, and caulerpa (and Mangroves maybe). I've never kept marine before, only fresh, and have been reading all I can about it..

I was wondering if you could share some information about the kind of filtration, skimmer, etc. you are using on your Flamboyant tank. I was thinking I should try and keep corals alive, or the relatively inexpensive (and releaseable) local Pharoah cuttlefish first as a kind of test. It would be too sad to get a Flamboyant and just have it die!

Thanks,

Michael

Hi Michael and welcome to TONMO.com

There are a lot of back posts that have good information about filters etc for cuttles, also have a look at the ceph care pages, there is a link at the top of teh page :)

I think your idea about trying some local species first is a good idea, you should also have access to some great cephalopod food there too. crabs!

cheers
Colin

not to mention expensive!!! remember you need to cycle the tank for a few months AFTER its all set up - and you might want another few months getting used to marine!!!

How about an update, nearly a month on. That animal is exquisite!

Sorry about the lack of updates! I was in the Sea of Cortez and got buzzed by a gray whale while diving. :D

The flam is doing great. Male. Doesn't like the local crabs too much. I am suprised at the small size of its clubs - they are very delicate and tiny. Other than that, he eats fine, mostly ghost shrimp and the occasional guppy, is out all the time and is amazing. I would love to get my hands on a female to see if they are as bold.

RR

yeah sure thats all youd do if u had a male and female...lol

whats does buzzed by the whale mean - sounds fun whatever it is...haha (anything to do with diving is fun...except getting eaten...hmm) sounds like its going well...do u have any video of it? i cant remember seeing any?

i got notification of this message It worries me to hear how many people are jumping to buy Metasepia. If you
think they're rare in the pet shops, then try finding them in the wild. It's
getting harder and harder if you know what I mean.

and was wondering where it went? Anyway while i didnt know that they were so endangered (though they must be extremely popular for their looks!) righty has bred cuttlefish in captivity successfully quite a few times i believe so perhaps this will reduce the strain placed on wild populations! Especially since this forum puts him in touch with many people who would potentially get metasepia pfefferi from the wild!

I can definitely see both arguments though! It is the same with so many marine species of everything!

That has to be one of the coolest things I have seen in a long time. I think I'll make one....Just a little bigger than life size though...... :grin:

make one what? are you an artist?/sculptor?

Oscar,

Go to the images and check out Big Red! Pipsquek is an amazing artist indeed!

Erich

Oops, just saw this. Thanks for the nice words Oscar.

It does seem that metasepia are becoming more rare in the wild. It seems that they are being collected and sent to the asian pet market. People have always been wild about metasepia, so its not really bandwagon jumping, and it is always a delimma about buying animals that shouldn't be collected or are vanishing.
I bought it because I have never ever seen one for sale in the US, it was from a private party, I know it was old, and I thought I could give it good care.
If they really are becoming rare in the wild, I think we have to culture them. I also think if the could be cultured they, the males at least - I haven't kept a female - would be as perfect an aquarium pet as bandensis.

i got notification of this message

and was wondering where it went? Anyway while i didnt know that they were so endangered (though they must be extremely popular for their looks!) righty has bred cuttlefish in captivity successfully quite a few times i believe so perhaps this will reduce the strain placed on wild populations! Especially since this forum puts him in touch with many people who would potentially get metasepia pfefferi from the wild!

I can definitely see both arguments though! It is the same with so many marine species of everything!

Hi righyt
Is it still on the go?

I agree with the captive culturing but you'd probably need about 10 young pairs to make a go of it...$$$$$

PS what diameter were the bandensis eggs?

The problem would be getting ten pairs at the same time! and then keeping them all happy!

But it would definitely be easier for everyone if eggs were avalable

4/29/05 the metasepia has died. I was expecting it for a couple of weeks, and since I knew he was old when I got him I am not too depressed.

Funny, have been keeping cuttles of different ages for almost two years now, I am still shocked at just how short their lifespans are.

Sorry to hear about your loss.

It's the same for all us ceph keepers - hard for us to get used to such short life spans.

Nancy

Rich,

Sorry to hear that mate.

Keep the Bandensis going strong!!!

As i always say it was definitely better off in your hands while it was alive so im sure it was happy! - Sad to hear its gone though!

Sorry to hear about the loss I'll bet he finally lived well before he went