I bought a very large (for her size) O. Mercatoris a couple of months ago. She laid eggs, which she then abandoned. Then she concealed herself in a hole in the rock. I was very depressed, knowing she would die soon. but, in a miracle sort of way, on the 24th I had discovered several nice, healthy Mercatoris babies. They are eating the hordes of amphipods in their tank. I am aware they are cannibalistic, so I tried to separate them using breeder nets, but they are crafty, and got out. How do you guys suggest to house them separately and still get good water quality out of it? they are wonderful creatures, and i would hate to lose them.

Thanks in Advance,
Lev.

P.S: Pics will come soon.

ok off topic question how do i get mine to have babies i dont know if mine is a guy or girl and how do i know weather im going to buy a guy or girl i have a ceph

There's no perfect answer here - you might try a few in breeder nets, and leave some to grow up in the tank. How many do you have? Danthemarineman reports several living under the same rock in the ocean, but we have less luck when we try that in our tanks. Do you risk running out of amphipods? They will only take live food for a while. (Correction: They may take non-life food if offered after they've grown a bit.)

Is the mother still alive? - she might live on for some time, so if she is still alive, you should try to supply food.

Nancy

Yes, the mother is still alive, but she does not accept food. There is a small risk of running out of amphipods, but I have quite a bit and am ordering some very soon. What do you mean by "they will only take live food for a while"? Does that mean they will cease accepting live food, or I could get them on frozen? Before the mother was guarding her eggs, she ate frozen.

"they will only take live food for a while"

To rephrase it, "they will only take live food for the first part of their life and then will possibly accept frozen food later when they're bigger."

Most young octos don't readily take frozen (thawed) shrimp, krill etc. But won't hurt to try as long as you don't leave it in there to foul the water. If they don't want it.....take it out.

They will never cease to accept live food

I sent Kathy aka Indiana OCHO a mother O. Mercatoris and her eggs. She had success with the babys. She also got the mother to eat frozen shrimp. You could ask her for tips. I would leave them all in that tank and provide lots of live food and lots of stuff to make dens out of. Like shells or small pices of pvc. I have had 20 or more in the same tank.

Dan, you're absolutely right - some octopuses never accept dead food, but most will eventually. They will need larger food after the amphipods. Most people buy small crabs and snails for the live food and try thawed frozen shrimp (or even fresh shrimp) for the non-live food.

Nancy

Everyone,

I cannot thank you enough for your advice. I have decided to use the "shotgun" approach, I separated 10 of the babies into breeding containers, and the rest (10-20) I left in the tank to grow. So far, the ones in the breeding containers are eating amphipods, mysis, and Collonista snails. How fast will they grow? I was thinking when they get larger, I'd feed them Shore Shrimp, P. vulgaris, and once they get even bigger (full grown) I will feed them Fiddlers and Various Frozen Foods (if they accept them). Does this sound about right? I really do hope they survive, I really enjoy watching and caring for them.,

Sounds fine - good variety in the food. I'm sure your little mercatoris will enjoy dinner!
Keep us posted on their progress, please!

Nancy

I will try to update daily if I possibly could. i will also try to incorporate pics and maybe a couple vids too.

Day 6: There has only been two (visible) deaths, and these were the octopi that were attacked by their siblings that I left in the tank. There are still quite a few left in there, and hopefully they don't eat each other, as there are quite a lot of places they can hide. The ones that I separated are still alive and well. they are eating Amphipods predominately, and some Mysis every once in a while. There are Collonista snails in with them, but they don't seem interested in eating those. I have 15 in the containers, and about 10-20 still in the tank. Mom is still alive, but not accepting food. I am ordering 120 amphipods today, and have set up some tanks to breed them in (the amphipods)

would you be willing to sell any by chance

I have two O. mercatoris mothers with there eggs for sell. You can see the tiny octos in the eggs already. If someone wants to try to raise them pm me.
Thanks
Dan

Hey guys! I uploaded a video of some of the babies.

See here: http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a144/Fish_Dude_Lev/th_Day6Merkies.jpg (http://s10.photobucket.com/albums/a144/Fish_Dude_Lev/?action=view&current=Day6Merkies.flv)


Enjoy!

Wow! You've got quite a handful of very very cute little guys there. It looks like everyone's doing well too. I wish the best of luck and look forward to following this endeavour.

Cheers, Jesse

Terrific video....and terrific babies! Good luck!

Great video, best of luck to you!! :-) I am totally jealous. Where in Canada are you located? I am in Chestermere, AB

Thanks Guys!!

I am located in Maple, ON, which is a small town near Toronto.

Today marks the first week of these little guys existence. They're all still alive, and doing well. I will try to get some pics tonight. One thing I've realized is that some of the octopi that are in the tank crawl into the containers intentionally! There are holes on the bottom, for circulation. There are about 2 containers that have 2 octopi in them, and I don't see any cannibalism yet. It's probably because they're fat and get fed frequently. They've had 2 Octopi in them for about 4 days. Today I found a container with 3! I took the third one out and put him in another container though, as I think 3 would cause some problems in feeding.. Otherwise, everything is all good, they seem to be growing quite nicely. I still can't believe I've only had 2 deaths, but I don't want to speak too soon. I don't see what's going on in the tank, so there were probably more deaths, but the ones in the containers are all still alive, thankfully.

I ordered 100 Amphipods and some Macroalgae for my 'fuge from Florida Aqua Farms yesterday. Hopefully they all come alive and tasty! It will be a relief because I have to constantly scrape out pods from my old 'fuge on my reef.

I ordered 100 Amphipods and some Macroalgae for my 'fuge from Florida Aqua Farms yesterday. Hopefully they all come alive and tasty! It will be a relief because I have to constantly scrape out pods from my old 'fuge on my reef.

When I have been desperate for pods - I have asked my LFS - and they were happy to shake some out of their filter medium for me. 100 amphipods is not going to last long...

It doesn't matter now, I guess, as I have just been informed by Florida Aqua Farms that they don't ship live things to Canada.. I guess I will need to look somewhere else for them.. But I still have quite a bit (at least 100-150) in my fuge...

Try aquaculturestore.com.

I will try calling them tomorrow. Thanks for the recommendation.
I appreciate it.

I was fortunate and my eggs hatched. I let some remain free in my tank and put some into individual containers. The lesson I learned is that some mysids are not friendly. The babies made it for a week and then began to die off. I thought they needed more food, but that wasn't it. In fact it was the food that was the problem. The mysids were attacking the babies. So be careful with those guys, you have done so well and they look great. I wish you the best of luck.

Thanks! and Thanks for the tip about Mysis.

All of the babies on Day 8 are still alive and kicking.

I called Paul this morning, and he said he won't get the license to ship out of the states until about June. He recommended a place called SeaGris (SP? he wasn't sure how to spell it either) Farms. I couldn't find anything on Google. I e-mailed two places asking about shipping to Canada, they haven't replied yet. My available amphipod numbers are dropping quickly. I will ask my LFS to supply me some, and hopefully they can..

On the upside, though, I've gotten one baby octopus to eat Frozen mysis Shrimp. Maybe it was just luck and he probably will never eat it again, but at least he's not hungry..

How big are they now? Reason I ask is that I feed mine live ghost shrimp which I buy by the 100's and some of them are pretty small when I get them.

They're about half/ quarter of a centimeter in total length. I am going to go to a not so LFS in Mississauga to pick up some ghost shrimp, as they said they had them in various sizes. Thanks for the Tip.

The babies made it for a week and then began to die off. I thought they needed more food, but that wasn't it. In fact it was the food that was the problem. The mysids were attacking the babies. So be careful with those guys, you have done so well and they look great.
I know of someone else who found a similar thing. There appear to be more than one 'variety' of mysids out there, one being more predatory and a danger to young cephs.

Cheers!

Day 9; They are all still alive. They are visibly growing, as they seem larger than the day I first saw them.

I bought a bunch of Ghost Shrimp and a couple of Pregnant Female Guppies yesterday. The ghost Shrimp seemed larger than the octopi, but the octopi accepted the ghost shrimp with gusto. Meanwhile I am still trying to locate a place that would ship Amphipods to Canada.. I have a lot of very small snails, but the Octopi ignore them rather than eating them. At least the problem of food finding has been somewhat resolved..

I don't know if you want to rely on ghost shrimp for food (assuming we're talking about the freshwater species). There's been a lot of debate about feeding fresh to salt, and I can't say I would recommend it (just based on common sense, no experience). If you're still in the mood for something small, check out this thread (http://www.tonmo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6626). Just more to think on.

Cheers!

Thanks for the Tip. They will probably not be feeding on Ghost shrimp and/or baby Guppies for long. Now that I know that they can eat fairly large food items, I can maybe try to obtain some P. Vulgaris to feed them. As a last resort, I might have to order some shrimp from Paul, having them shipped to a friend in Ohio and then picking it up there.

Day 10:

There has been one death in the tank yesterday. It went the same way as the other two did. The octo was pale and wildly swinging his arms around and rolling around on the substrate. Then he died. Maybe from a bite of his sibling? Ghost shrimp do the same kind of thing before they die when they get bitten..

The mother is also dying. She no longer has the ability to hold things over her little cave the way she used to.

On the upside, all of the babies in the containers are alive and well (and hopefully it stays that way)

Day 11 and 12 went normally, but I didn't get to watch them too much. No deaths visible.

Day 13 however (today) is very action-packed. I counted 40 (!) babies, and that was only the visible ones! I predict there are around 50. There have been a few deaths in the tank, about 3 or 4. In the containers everyone is still alive. I found 7 in one container once. They seem to know that they get fed in there.. Mom on the other hand, is dying. She is walking about the tank in broad daylight. She probably isn't going to live for more than a week.

Where can you order amphipods?

aquaculturestore.com sells a variety of mysids, amphipods and shore shrimp.

Yeah, sorry about my stupid post, I had forgotten to look through the other pages, I just saw page one. Thanks though.

Lev,

I may be in a similar situation soon and you PROMISED to keep posting so what is the status of your brood?

i just got a baby octo from a LFS. Not sure if it's an O. Vulgaris or Mercatoris, but it's very light grey in color and i'm afraid it won't eat.

it's crawled into a porous rock and hasn't come out in about 10 hours. I've thrown live feeder shrimp in there and he hasn't touched them. any ideas? frozen krill to start? thanks!

I've had an illness (stomach flu) as well as other maintenance tasks (sigh..) to do, so There wasn't many updates.. Sorry about that.

Yesterday was their third week of life. There are about 20-25 left. They are now almost half a centimetre in length. The tank now has very few octopi, apparently because they were dining on each other. Th container dwellers however, are quite healthy. I am still having a problem locating any saltwater shrimp, so gut loaded ghost shrimp is what I've been feeding them. It seems like it is working. Other than that, not much new things have been happening.

I've also noticed that they remember when the lights go on. I once counted 40 or so in the tank when I turned on the lights at about 5:30 AM. I always turn the lights on at 6:00 AN. I tried turning on the lights at 5:30 AM the next day, and I didn't see any octopi in the tank, except some odd ones in the corners. The mother is still alive, although still isn't accepting food.

I will try to upload a video sometime next week

socal_saltwater, Octopi are usually nocturnal, so he'll probably come out at night to feed. Keep an eye out for him, or use a red light to view him. Good Luck!

Lev,
Does the mom ever come out of her den? Did she come out when the eggs hatched? Trapper has chosen a barnicle shell and keeps it body blocked at all times even though she will stretch and show her beak at times. I take the beak exposure to mean, "I'm hungry, food slave, bring crabs" and act accordingly. Fortunately, she is eating better than before she started "nesting" but I am not sure what to expect next.

Mines didn't come out when she was brooding, but she did accept food halfway through the entire brooding period. Then she stopped one day. She does come out a couple of times after brooding, but she usually sits in her hole.

When you bought yours, did she immediately lay eggs, or was she behaving normally for a while? If so, how did she behave? Did she venture out in the daytime at all or was she strictly nocturnal?

I wish you the best of luck raising the babies!

Day 24: In the past couple of days, any octopus deaths I have had seem to be ceasing. I've had no deaths for two days now (knock on wood) and seem to be left with 10-15 exceedingly healthy octopi. I found the main causes of death to be:

Starvation (in the tank)
Self- Predation
Water Quality

and I've had a couple who have had skin diseases.

Lev,
Keep the cards and letters coming. Trap didn't eat last night (first time since she has restricted herself to the den) so I am thinking we may be getting close.

I have just discovered "Cthulhu," an octopus that was in the tank that is two times the size of the other juveniles. This leads me to think that the juveniles I have been maintaining are not growing very fast. I bet it's because of those stupid ghost shrimp I have been feeding them. I still cannot get any kind of saltwater feeder organism here, as hard as I have tried, and It is extremely frustrating. I might even just break out and buy them hermit crabs for $1.00 a piece if it has to come to that.

On the other hand, the other ones i saw in the tank are "normal" sized as well. maybe Cthulhu is just large? I will never know. Nevertheless, the lookout for food will not stop until I discover it.

Lev,
So you suppose that Cthulhu (I am going to have to read at least one Lovecraft book) is responsible for some of the missing in-tank octos? There is more than humor in that thought. If he IS eating other octos perhaps there is a key on food content.

He most likely did eat a fair amount of octopus. edict that is why he is so large. The in-tank octopus population dropped drastically sometime last week, I first noticed it the 10th of this month. I suspect starvation may have been the cause. Cthulhu still remains probably because he has been eating the smaller, weaker octopus. But my prediction is that Cthulhu was formerly a container octo. Their numbers fluctuated at one point because some escaped, while others went inside of the containers . I think Cthulhu was one of the really healthy escapees, and then fed himself accordingly to the tank. He does remind me of this one octopus in my containers, whom I was forced to separate from the roommates he had because he kept attacking them.

I do not believe though, that they require this food type. The smaller, but still nice and healthy octopi I am maintaining in the containers have roommates, some even with 3 other octopus. I once found 7 in one container. They didn't eat eat other (except one instance I witnessed.) or even show hints of aggression towards each other.

Today is a big day. The octopus have outgrown their containers. I will be moving them (very carefully!) to larger containers, in another tank. Hopefully this will give the current tank a break from all of the bio-load, and the octopi some free space in which to roam.

I need an explanation....sorry, but what do you mean "in another tank" The containers are in the tank? How are they in there, and where are they in the tank? Sorry about asking so many questions, but I really don't get the whole breeding/raising process. Could someone explain the process, or give a link to an explanation of it? Sorry, and thanks.

The containers are small plastic vials suspended in the tank by a thread of strong monofilament line. about 1/6th of the container is above the surface. They have holes drilled in the bottom for circulation, a thin layer of sand, and usually a small piece of rock and some macroalgae. I dip the containers into the water fully for about a minute to facilitate a full water change after feeding. See the movie earlier in this thread for a vid of the containers.

Here is an amazing, fully scaled, minute detailed diagram:
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a144/Fish_Dude_Lev/containers.jpg
:grin:

The new containers are just large rectangular containers with holes drilled in the bottom attached to the side of the tank.


All of the octopi are alive and well in their new containers. Cthulhu is still around.:sagrin: The octopi I noticed are now acting like real octopi, hiding under the rocks by day. I noticed when they were smaller they were less nocturnal. Tomorrow they are a month old.

Lev,
Fantastic detail but I saw the movie :wink:

Trapper's tank is hexagonal and I am trying to figure out what I can use to mimic your containers. She may be jobini instead of mercatoris but I am going give it my best shot with whatever she is brooding.

Is the mom still hanging in there? If not, how many weeks after the babies did she live? Trapper stopped eating for 3 days but is now taking one crab a day without coaxing and I had to order more :grin: this week. I have stopped trying to give her live ones since she starts defending her den rather than killing for food. I was feeding occassional live stuck on an air line to try to give her some "excersize" and may be the reason she went on a hunger strike last week.

I went back to be sure you had not mentioned the mom's death an saw a post I missed asking about prebrooding. Trapper did not start brooding for the first two months so the eggs may not even be viable. She moved her den about every 3 days in a regular counter clockwise motion (I have a hex shaped tank) but rarely took the same den - wit one exception - and ONLY came out at night (I leave a red LED light on ALL the time). I would wait up to see her come out (usually around 4 in the morning) and try to interact but she never became friendly. She did stay out when she saw me (rather than hiding back in the LR) but avoided the side of the tank where I would stand. Just before she started brooding, she actually came up to my hand while I was putting a dead crab in a feeder. She inspected the crab but did not take it. That is the best it got :sad:

Just before she started brooding I put an attached collection of giant barnicles in the tank and she chose one to brood. I was able to rearrange the structure to be able to see her (and get food to her door) all the time so I actually see more of her now than before. Up until her hunger strike last week she would leave her door open during the day and often be awake (unlike her prebrooding behavior). Lately, however, she keeps the door shut (shell) most of the day AND night but will open it enough to take a crab inside or for short periods in the early evening.

That is very interesting. I did not see the mother for quite some time, but I did not see any octopus carcasses either, or water quality fluxes, so I think she's still hanging in there. When I first got her, she laid eggs in a conch shell, and when I moved it to get a better view, the next day she abandoned the eggs and found a new nesting area.

I guess it is better that you told me that now instead of BEFORE I reoriented trapper's den :oops: .

She was waiting for her dead crab tonight but I can't get her interested in anything else and that was my last one until Friday. There is plenty of live stuff in the tank. The hermits and shrimp get closer than she wants them but she just pushes them away and has no interest in eating them. I will TRY to catch one of the "fiddlers that got away" and are roaming the tank but they stay pretty well hidden since they are missing a few legs. I could probably catch a mithrax but I don't know if she will eat it and it would be difficult for me to sacrafice one to find out :roll:

Did she lay more eggs after she relocated or just leave the ones in the shell unattended?

She laid more eggs. The ones in the shell wasted away.

Hi. I was just wondering what temperature you keep an O. Mercatoris tank at?

Nice! Totally wonderful. Any luck on food yet?

Food shall be coming shortly. I have arranged a pickup of a bunch of Palaemonetes vulgaris at a UPS Store in Niagara Falls. That way, I don't have to find a way to ship to Canada, so the shipping stays manageable, and I still have my shrimp. I only have about 5 octopus left, but they are quite healthy (including Cthulhu.) He is still the largest, but there are a couple that are approaching his size. At sixty days of age, I plan to transfer them to a 20 gallon tank filled with P. vulgaris. they should be quite large by by then, and maybe I will even try breeding them later on. I have found that feeding them ghost shrimp when they're small is quite bad. I had a lot of deaths. Deaths stopped when I started feeding them guppies instead, and they grew much faster.



The temp. I keep them at is about 80 Fahrenheit.



P.S Hey Thales, I noticed you've acquired a Wonderpus. Very Nice. I hope it does well for you. There really isn't a lot about them in captivity, and most of the cases of them living for a week or so is because they weren't being kept in proper environments, IMO. Very beautiful cephs indeed. I might give them a try one day, if they ever get cheaper and until we get a firm understanding on their environmental status. But if anyone can keep one successfully, it's you.

I found the mother dead today. Her mantle length was 2.2 centimeters. Pretty big for a Merc! I suspect she died sometime this week, as her body does not smell or show signs of decomposition. I am working on preserving her as we speak.


Also, while digging around in the other tank, I have found an octopus that is large, like Cthulhu. He is still a bit smaller than him, but quite healthy. Feeding them guppies makes a much bigger difference than feeding them ghost shrimp. They grew much more on guppies.

The originals are all still alive, including Cthulhu. Today they are a month and a half old. One more week and they get a tank!

I am going to Cuba post March Break for merely a week. They will be 3 Weeks old at the time, and I feel confident that they are ready to handle the outside world at this age and size. I will give them a tank with quite a bit of space stocked quite handsomely with P. vulgaris and various other things (like small hermit crabs and such)

Regarding the trip itself, I hope to see at least two species of Cephs, O. briareus (which I plan to attempt to raise in maybe a couple of years) and O. vulgaris (No Thanks!) I will make sure to send pictures and videos after I return!

It is likely I will post 2 more times in the next week with updates (obviously on any day if there is something major happening/happened on that day) and post just before I leave. (because there is a certain novelty to that idea)


Feel free to PM me with any questions, but I encourage you to post them in this thread so that everyone can learn something!

glad to hear "The Kids Are Alright"... I have no deep thoughts, but I figured I'd at least let you know there are people enjoying the updates...

I try to update as often as I can, really! :grin:

Times have been tough and my grandfather who has been fighting Pancreatic Cancer passed away yesterday, So I will try to update as often as I can for now. Once I come back from vacation there should be more updates and hopefully a video and some pictures.

I'm reading your posts too and find your reports of raising mercatoris very interesting! Thanks for keeping us updated.

Nancy

Lev,
You know I monitor too :wink: .Trapper still simply stays in her den so I am beginning to think the eggs are not viable but will continue to reference your experience as we as refer back, "next time".

Wishing you the best of thoughts and good memories as you adjust to the loss of your grandfather.

sorry to hear about your grandfather.

Thanks guys.

Dwhatley, do not lose hope. My octo mother laid eggs and tended them for about a week before abandoning them, and I thought they weren't viable either. Maybe Trap has laid eggs in her den in some unseen area, similar to what mines did. Anything can happen!


Now, THIS is what you all wanted to see! I am sorry for being late on uploading these babies, but here's a double dose of videos for ya'll.


Here is the last footage of the Mom, probably a couple of days before she died. Notice how large she is for a Merc. about 8-9 CM total length, from arm-tip to arm-tip fully stretched out. 2.2 CM mantle length.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a144/Fish_Dude_Lev/th_Mom.jpg (http://s10.photobucket.com/albums/a144/Fish_Dude_Lev/?action=view&current=Mom.flv)


And here are the babies on the 1 month mark, 2 weeks ago. They've grown since then, but not too much.


http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a144/Fish_Dude_Lev/th_babemercs.jpg (http://s10.photobucket.com/albums/a144/Fish_Dude_Lev/?action=view&current=babemercs.flv)

Too cute. I was going to ask if the mother came out of her den after the babies were born but the vid answered that question.

Do you have a good idea how long she stayed sequestered? Trap does not leave her den and I have only seen her full mantle one time when she had a difficult crab leg the just wouldn't leave. The den is a barnicle shell and the only way to look in is through the octopus so I have never actually seen eggs at all. She guards the den vigourously from the shrimp, crabs and guppies and is careful to flush all trash as far away as she can blow it but viewing inside is impossible. I hope I am being impatient but I though the eggs would have fully developed by now ...
Thanks for the info and the view of the little ones!!!!

Great videos.

Makes me miss Einy very much.

Did the mother typically come out like that with the lights on or was it just a change in her behaviour before her death/after laying eggs?

Very nice videos. I have been following your progress also! Awesome you have been able to raise the kids!

So sorry to hear about your grandfather. Thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

Carol

Thanks Guys!

When I bought her, she immediately laid eggs in a shell. The next day she abandoned them and went inside of another (less-visible) den, and stayed in there about a month. For the first 2-3 weeks she ate, on the last week she stopped, and about a week later the eggs hatched. So I guess it takes a while for them to develop.

She never used to come out, even after she laid her eggs. This was one time I saw her because I turned the lights on about 15 minutes earlier than usual, So I suspect she has been coming out at night after she laid her eggs. In the morning she just sat in her den, and eventually I found her dead right beside it.

Just a quick update:

Tomorrow the remaining young are going to be released in the tank stocked with shrimps and blue-legged hermit crabs. The remaining young are healthy and large, and should fare well in that tank, and should be sufficiently large to have their own tanks when I return from vacation. Will keep you posted tomorrow of how the release went.

The release went well. The octos are now in tanks stocked with live food. In 4 hours i am leaving for my trip. Consecutively, that will be in the middle of the night, and I must get some rest if I am to venture into the airport alive.

Wish my octos luck! I'll talk to you guys again in a weeks time. Thanks for all of the support.

:fingerscrossed:

Lev,
You WOULD go on vacation NOW! Trap allowed two out this AM but is still guarding what ever else is in the den! I caught the first two and put them in a regular breeding net. Oops! These are OCTOPUS, and are no longer confined. I can't find them anywhere but there is lot of LR so I hope I will see them on the glass tonight.

Hurry home, I may need some hand holding!

I'm back!

I'm a bit tired and starving, so I will tell you more about the trip later, but the octopus... I already saw one of them today! It was HUGE! I am so relieved that this one is alive and well. This tells us that there may be others still alive.

dwhatley, HAH! I told you not to give up. I knew Trap couldn't be faking it! I wish you great luck with the babies, and keep us updated! I want to know how it turns out.

I will inform you more about the trip tomorrow, but it did have interesting experiences with Octopus, Stomatopods, Strombids, and a Moray. I do have pics, but I am too lazy to upload them today, so I will do so tomorrow.

:sleeping:

Lev,
Sleepy time over! Let's see those pictures!!!!

Trap had either 5 or 6 (I don't know if I counted one twice) but has had no more in 3 days. I am wondering if she laid others somewhere else before moving to the barnicles that were eaten by the clean-up crew. We lost one because it crawled up the net, out of the water and apparently couldn't find its way back down (about an inch) :cry: and I am not sure of the exact count in the breeder net but I know there are still 4 that are alive.

Alright, Alright, I'll post the pics...


One day there was storm-like weather. The next day the tide went out a fair bit, one could do quite a bit of exploring and see some corals and invertebrates on exposed rocks;

There were many brain corals;
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a144/Fish_Dude_Lev/BrainCorals.jpg
Gorgonians,
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a144/Fish_Dude_Lev/Gorgonia.jpg
"How-Many-Species-Of-Algae-Could-You-Identify?" Moments:
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a144/Fish_Dude_Lev/algae.jpg
This Brain-ish coral: (Favia? Favites? I.D please?)
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a144/Fish_Dude_Lev/faviaites.jpg
These stinging buggers, Fire Coral (Millepora, is it?):
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a144/Fish_Dude_Lev/firecoral.jpg
I chased mantis shrimps for quite a while, this was the result;
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a144/Fish_Dude_Lev/mantis.jpg
What species could it be?

There was also an octopus, Octopus briareus, that clung to the rocks when the water was out. She was furious, clinging to her rock like it is her only possession in the world, and she was white as snow. Unfortunately, i didn't get any decent pictures, the only picture I have of her does not resemble an octopus in any manner.

Another Interesting story, I saw an osprey hanging out near a rock, picking at something. At my approach, he flew away. I found it to be a moray. The moray was still quite alive, and his injury wasn't serious, only to the tail, so I grabbed him and revived him in the surf, and let him go. He swam off under some rock:
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a144/Fish_Dude_Lev/moray.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a144/Fish_Dude_Lev/moray2.jpg
There was also about 300 Queen conch present in that area. What a sight! A lot were stranded in tiny, boiling pools. I "rescued" about 150, along with some odd Bahamian Starfish (Oreaster reticulatus.) I can't find any pics at the moment, but when i do, I will upload.

Another interesting moment was when I discovered a mangrove swamp filled to the brim with Cassiopeia andromeda. I ran around observing the color variations, here are two of the nicer ones;
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a144/Fish_Dude_Lev/Candromeda.jpg

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a144/Fish_Dude_Lev/candromeda2.jpg
And for all you bird watchers, (as I am an avid one myself);

Little Blue Heron
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a144/Fish_Dude_Lev/LittleBlueheron.jpg
And a Hummer which I have trouble identifying.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a144/Fish_Dude_Lev/humminbird.jpg


Enjoy..

Very, very nice!

Thanks!

Looks like I forgot one pic, it's a brittle star;
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a144/Fish_Dude_Lev/Star.jpg

Neat critters.

Thanks for posting these videos! They're good candidates for our Ceph Video Gallery - please contact Tony (tonmo). You'll need to send them to him and he'll put them in the gallery.

Nancy

Lev,
Did I miss it or did you fail to mention WHERE you vacationed? I know it was not FL because of the queen conch (devistated years ago and still have not made a full recovery) and I know there is a lot of cold (shudder - why would anyone want to dive in the cold) water diving in Vancouver but it looks like you found all this stuff from land!

You missed it. I vacationed in Cayo Coco, Cuba.


I would like to update you on the baby octopus, but I haven't seen them! I'm not worried though, for they are great hiders and their living quarters are now quite large. As soon as I spot one I will inform you of its status.

Cuba will be our immediate first choice for vacation once Fidel has, um, passed on. My dad was stationed there during WWII and tried to take my mother after his Navy tour. Unfortunately, a friend still stationed there warned them that it was no longer a safe place to travel and they never made the trip. During my lifetime, it has never been legally accessable to a US citizen :sad:

I still have babies but I am not sure how many. I have only found one dead but I occassionally find one on the main tank glass. I think the ones I find are escapees because all I do see (sometimes 2, sometimes 3, occassionally 4) are the same size. I always put them back in the net and the count does not grow :grin: I will probably have to separate them soon but after 2 weeks they are still in one net with shells and plants.

Trap is still eating but now finds dead shore shrimp a better meal than the crabs. I am spiking them with a small amount of Tetracycline (sp) just to see if it helps extend her life any. I don't really expect it to but I felt it was worth trying and should not harm her.

I had a power outage yesterday, and all of the house was devoid of food. Somewhere around noon I felt I couldn't take it any more, until I noticed the A large baby octopus sitting on the glass. I grabbed the net and caught him in a container.

Then I fired up the BBQ and threw the octopus on. I dug around and found 3 more, and did the same thing. They tasted great.

I don't have any cephs anymore, but the taste of those occis made it worth the 3 months It took to raise them. They sure tasted nice.

In fact, I don't have any marine fish any more. I found Nemo, to be very tasty with some BBQ sauce.

I guess I'm quitting the hobby. But hey, at least I'm not quitting with an empty stomach.



April fools!

I just found all these great pics I missed and was reading and enjoying and gullible that I am......forgot it was Aprils fools today.......:rolleyes: Ya got me.........

Lev,
I also forgot it was April fools but I knew darn well it was a tall tale since you forgot to mention the raw oysters :wink: .

Have you seen any of them at night yet? Every couple of nights I find an escapee on the main aquarium glass but I am starting not to see them at their normal feeding time. I THINK they have taken to the shells in the net now but between the grass and shells, I can't get a clear count.