Cuttle Eggs came in...

[SabrinaR]

I honestly dont know how to tell if they are ready to hatch. All I know was what I have . In one paper I read said they will become more round and more transparent as time goes on and they get closer to hatching. Mine are all really purple also. I dont think that color means that they arent viable. It can take up to 6 weeks to hatch so I can have one hatched out for weeks while the others just start hatching. There are to many variables to determine which will be viable and which wont.

I just hope more hatch soon. From everything I have read they do better in groups and I am concerned about my one little hatchling being alone and wonder if the other cuttle would have done better if it hadnt been alone.

I am also worried about the other cuttlefish they ordered. I dont think they will be able to care for the properly at the store. They shouldnt have ordered them for you with out having you pay for them first... they dont normally and the fact that they did really ticks me off. Dany assumed that I would take them if you didnt buy them and I would take them but I dont have any more money right now... I really wish I had the money and space for more cuttles but the fact is I wont have room for the ones I have if they all live. Maybe if my husband got on the ball and built my 75 gallon stand AND was willing to just move the 55 gallon to the window like we had planned instead of building another stand to put in the window box I could keep more, but hes not a fast mover on these kinds of thing so I dont think that will happen any time soon.

 

[corpusse]

I miss keeping Cuttlefish. Here in Canada the eggs are cheap I paid about 20$ per clutch and they could have anywhere from 10-30 eggs per clutch or more. The problem here is the food. Shipping for Mysids is like 75$ a week + the actual cost of the mysids plus later I always get brokerage bills from fedex later.

When they're ready to hatch you should be able to tell. The baby will be very visible and you'll be able to see him change colours and look like he's ready to pop out. This doesn't mean it will happen right away. Could still be another week.

They never eat right away. 4-5 days seems normal. imo it's best to feed 1 mysid per cuttle. This way you can make sure each ate. I usually tried to keep about 6 per breeder net just to have an easier time keeping track of them. After a week or so increase to 2 per feeding, then 4-5 and once they are eating more then 5 per day it's time to move them to bigger food. The smaller shore shrimps are best. You're going to get big ones too if you order a couple hundred from Paul but you can use them later. They grow really fast once they're off mysids.

At this point I also try and get them to eat some PE mysis either at the same time as the shore shrimp or right before, helps cut down on costs a bit.

I recommend you do a lot of water changes before you get new eggs. You don't mention what's wrong with your tank but I guess it's a major issue. I never lost any babies right away, but once they got a bit older the populations seemed to drop off pretty quick. Eggs seem to have about a 90-95% hatch ratio so take this into account too.

Good luck in the future, if you go through my old journals there's lots of pics and videos of them. If only there was a food source locally or even nationally for me I'd probably still be keeping them.

 

[SabrinaR]

How did you control the mysid feedings? Those little buggers move FAST and are so small catching and dispensing food seems like it would be a challenge.

 

[corpusse]

Get a brine net. This way you can just scoop out a few. You can then just carefully grab what you need if you catch more simply throw them back.

I strongly recommend keeping them in the largest tank you can. A 10 gallon tank has much more surface area then a 5 gallon bucket. Feed them often! At least twice a day. I went as far as to hatch some baby brine in the same tank. Since you are at most only keeping them for a couple of weeks water quality is not too much of an issue. Simply do a 100% change everytime you switch out. It helps to have 2 tanks to do this so you always have a stock.

Finally I highly recommend reed mariculture's mysids over Pauls. Nothing against him, but his are wild caught, where as reeds are grown in a lab. They are much hardier. They cost a little more money but they seemed to last longer and generally were in better health. Since they are lab grown they were all the same size and age too.

As for the cuttlefish don't worry they'll eventually catch the mysids but giving them just one to chase makes it much easier on them. It will take them some time to learn how to hunt, which may be why they don't need to eat for a week or more after being born. They are still developing and growing off the yolk they consumed in the egg.

Heres a video of one mine hunting for maybe the first time or close to it.

I really do miss keeping them, not that an Octopus isn't cool, but cuttlefish are just a little more unique imo.

 

[SabrinaR]

Thats awesome... cute little guy. After veiwing that video it would seem I have already seen what appears to be possible hunting behavior. I have seen him looking/pointing with his tenticles.

I will get the net today at the fish store. I cant get any more fish tanks... my husband woud blow a gasket. I could split them up into a few different buckets though; that would be ok with my husband. He is of the mind that another tank... even for food would soon be another fish tank/reef/octopus set up/cuttle tank and lol hes right it would be.

Thank you for your assistance. I never realized how little help there was for cuttle keepers other than a few articles I have seen until now.

 

[corpusse]

Yeah there isn't too much to go by. A rubbermaid bin might be a better idea then a bunch of buckets. That way you can use one heater, and one pump. Keep a bucket for when you are almost out and are doing a water change. I'm assuming you are not filtering these buckets in any way.

 

[SabrinaR]

No there was not filter simply a airstone. A container like you suggested is a good idea and not a fish tank so that should work .

I got the eggs today from my LFS. I dont think most of them are viable, though i will go looking for a viable egg picture online here in a second. Because they had extras I got all the ones that hatched and 10 eggs 8 of which didnt look viable. Do viable eggs float? I put some of the eggs in the fish net and they floated all over the place like they might be empty. I worry that I could be wrong so they are just sitting in the other breeder net.

I had 1 baby hatch and 3 eggs then 1 of the 3 eggs hatched at some point today so that left me 2 eggs and and 2 babies and then 4 eggs hatched in shipping so that gives me 6 cuttlesfish at the moment.

I will be picking up the other eggs tomorrow. Since 8 of them arent viable or at least believed not to be viable the mgr is going to call and get a refund and just give me the other eggs to see if they are viable. Man what a mess but right now I am just glad my little guy isnt alone any more. Two of them which hatched in shipping dont look so good to be honest. The others look like little spit fires lol swimming all over the place and one even inked at me when I was trying to put him in the breeder net it was kind of cute even though I know it means I scared the carp out of him.

 

[cuttlegirl]

I know it means I scared the carp out of him.

Goldfish or carp? Sounds like you will have a bunch of babies! Good luck, the first month or so is fingernail-biting...

 

[corpusse]

My eggs did not float. It's best to give them a bit of flow though. I only ever had clutches. Never had single eggs like you. I don't know this for a fact but it's possible some get damaged as they are separated.

They ink a lot when they're little. Since they are so small it's no real danger of polluting your tank and just kinda cute like you say.

Here were my eggs. They all look dark but 90-95% were viable. If they are not very developed it's very hard to tell what's going to hatch and what's not.

I can't find later pics but they lighten up and it's at this time you can tell if they are viable or not. Try shinning a flashlight on them to see if you can see the baby inside. He will react.

 

[DWhatley]

SK, do you have actinic lighting over the eggs? If you can turn it off (not a problem) the eggs are likely to appear very brown. We have found that some browns show very purple or blue under actinic.

 

[SabrinaR]

Some of them look clear with just a hit of purple to them when held under the light almost a clear wine color, but the babies that "look" like they may be inside appear to be dead or still developing. Some of the others appear to be ok at least for now so I am just going to keep ALL of the eggs in the breeder nets until I know for sure... 2 months from now lol. That way it will def be passed the point were they were just laid and I wont feel guilt for tossing them. I will just try my best to get those other 4 eggs, I can raid the coin jar I have so that my husband wont freak about me getting the other 4.... I really will have a WHOLE lot of babies to feed yicks! I guess I know what I am doing with my allowance for the next 2 months!

So doing the math... wow, I dont want to do the math any more

 

[SabrinaR]

I wish I understood how much is to much flow. Should I have the nano Koralia pointed right at the breeder nets? That would be at least 250 gph rated power head pointed right at or around them.

 

[Hajar]

Looking forward to seeing how these babies develop sk!

 

[SabrinaR]

OK so heres an update... at this moment I believe I have 8 babies. The one that hatched first is really big compared to the others that just hatched, and they all look so very cute. I will post pictures tonight when they are out again. Right now they are all hiding in the macro algae I have in the breeder for them.

 

[cuttlegirl]

You don't need a lot of flow on the eggs, just gentle flow will be ok.