Junior the Bimac?? Maybe...

**SabrinaR** · Sep 29, '10, 9:00pm

So I got the bimac? in today. It was SUPER tiny so I decided to call him Junior. I have a few pics I will post later tonight. Unfortunately I have the worlds worst camera so they aren't very good, plus hes so small it was hard to get a good shot.

Body wise he is about 1:2 or 1:3 mantel to arms. From tip to tip (swimming) I would say hes about an inch long. He is kind of neat looking with the way he movies... It took a long time for HP to swim in the tank and this little guy was in a critter carrier and just swimming around everywhere. I acclimated him for about 3 hours and put him in the tank. At first he wouldnt hide which worried me but so I turned on the lights (very low level light) and he went to hid in the rock I gave him.

I will post pics in a while.

Oh BTW because he is so small I worry about being able to care for him properly... if you have advice or worry that I am doing something wrong, PLEASE let me know. I am totally open to constructive criticism.

**corw314** · Sep 29, '10, 9:32pm

Welcome to your new little buddy! I know with some of my small babies II kept them in a critter carrier for a little while, inside of the bigger tank as it was easy to feed them and there was no doubt they were eating. The one baby I had I hooked up a little cartridge bubble filter inside the keeper. Little Pumpkin I believe was the one! Anyway, sounds like you did good with acclimation. If you have some tiny crabs or shrimp, I would leave them in there for the baby to catch at first. Looking forward to pics! Is Junior the name of choice??

**SabrinaR** · Sep 29, '10, 9:50pm

Sorry these were the best I could do. Yes Junior is his name. I picked it cause hes so small. I will have some small mysis shrimp on Friday. I ordered from Paul when I realized just how small this little guy was. I will see about picking some up tomorrow just so I can try feeding him sooner. If I cant find any would it be bad to wait to feed him Friday?

**SabrinaR** · Sep 29, '10, 9:53pm

After looking at the first picture I think mantel to arm ratio is 1:2. Is any one familiar with the ratio of a baby bimac?

**SabrinaR** · Sep 30, '10, 6:02pm

I was able to get mysis shrimp for Junior but I have some questions... Should I try and feed him directly or should I just let him hunt? I havent seen him since yesterday and I worry about stressing him out.

**CaptFish** · Sep 30, '10, 6:12pm

Directly, check out how D fed her hatchlings.

**SabrinaR** · Sep 30, '10, 6:20pm

Thats what I have been doing lol lucky for me she documented her story so well.

**Lmecher** · Oct 01, '10, 12:25am

Congratulations and

to your new little buddy Junior!

**Jabba954** · Oct 01, '10, 12:45pm

Where'd you find this little guy?

**SabrinaR** · Oct 01, '10, 1:50pm

Well today I went to check on Junior and as I expected he has escaped and is now in the main tank somewhere. Because he was so small I think its highly unlikely that he will survive. I was reading D's thread on her babies and after looking at her pictures of the ones that died they looked to be about the same size as the 2 week old babies.

I will hold out hope that he will find food on his own but if I cant find him I cant feed him. I will update more if anything changes.

**SabrinaR** · Oct 02, '10, 12:19pm

I put some of the mysis shrimp in the main tank in hopes that Junior will find food.

**Lmecher** · Oct 08, '10, 11:45am

Oh no, keeping my

I hope you find him.

**SabrinaR** · Oct 08, '10, 12:59pm

Thank you. I also worry about Junior because Sedona is now in the same tank. D told me that siblings have been kept successfully together but I still worry. I am crossing my fingers that they can live together... I really hope if they do both live that they are either both male or both female... I really don't want to breed inbred octos.

**DWhatley** · Oct 08, '10, 2:09pm

Hopefully they are the same species. Inbreeding with cephalopods does not seem to be an issue for several generations if the word of mouth reports I had with the mercs were common and is likely to occur in the wild with this species. I only had one generation of inbreds and the three that survived as adults lived a normal lifespan. Roy and Richard, however, did not have successful breeding at all with the little chierchiae.

**SabrinaR** · Oct 08, '10, 11:18pm

HA! I didnt even think of that! Same species would be a great start inbreeding or not. I dont think its likely though that Junior and Sedona are from the same brooding based on their size difference. I know that size can very greatly but would it be such a great difference at such an early age? Junior was no larger than a inch from tip to tip and I will be posting pics of Sedona here soon but shes about 3 inches long.

**SabrinaR** · Nov 01, '10, 11:07am

I think I might have gotten a glimce of Junior this morning. Right after I turned on the lights to the tank I saw something move. It could have just been a hermit crab falling but when I went to look I didnt see anything. Then again it could just as easily been Sedona.

**Lmecher** · Nov 17, '10, 5:37pm

How's the little guy doing?

**SabrinaR** · Nov 18, '10, 2:06pm

I have no idea... Part of me thinks I will have a situ like Nancy where Junior will just show up one day. The other part is convinced that he isnt going to make it.