[Cuttlefish Eggs]: Cuttle Farm Army's newest Recruits! 7 Bandensis!

Heres an update on my current batch of Bandensis in my 150.

A couple weeks ago, I transfered 3 bandensis of almost 4 months of age into the main 150 display tank. There was already an adult Male bandensis in the display. The adult is about 4 "s and full grown. The 4 month olds are about 2-3 "s. Once I placed them into the 150, signs of male aggression from the adult began. The adult male also seemed to force himself onto one of the females. Ive introduced different aged cuttles that have had no exposure to each other once before and did not have any problems. However, the adult male's aggression had me worried. I tried to catch the newly introduced cuttles, but was unable to. After the first day or so, it seemed that they have all accepted each other as tank mates.

Currently, I have 5 Bandensis. 3 males and 3 females. All have paired up. I have left a mated pair in the juvenile section, so I can observe them easier with egg laying.

Today, I noticed a black clutch of eggs in the main tank. Pretty much in the hardest area to reach! I believe they belong to the adult male and his mate for they hang out in this cave. Actually the mom looks like she is staring me down as if shes saying "Dont even think about it!" If they begin to inflate more, I will try to take them out and hopefully hatch them!

I dont have any pictures that are worth posting yet, but hopefully Ill be able to get some soon.
 
Heres a small list of things Ive learned so far with this batch and my current setup.

-Ive observed no change in comfort or distress with having the bandensis in a reef system with 250w halides.
-I have twice now introduced mixed aged groups of Aqua cultured bandensis without real problems.
-Bandensis will take frozen food earlier then I once though. Perhaps even after 1 month.
-For some pickier eating Bandensis, I had to poke at the frozen shrimp to make it look alive. Also, they were more confident at grabbing the shrimp if the back of the shrimp was facing the cuttlefish.


Tank statistics.

-Temp 76-78
-28" tall tank with 3x 250w hallides. Hallides are on 6-7 hours a day. The rest of the time, low wattage T5 bulbs are used.
-Salinity 1.026
Ca 450
Alk 10 dkh
Mag 1250
Nitrate 0
PO4 - Unknown, but Im starting to get a little algae, so a phosban reactor is going on soon.
 
I think I first observed mating at around 3.5 months. Eggs first observed today, at 4 months 1 week. The clutch of eggs look to be 13-15 eggs. Lets hope they are fertile! Lets also hope that they dont lay 100+ eggs like cuttlegirl's did! That would be a lot of eggs since I have 3 mated pairs!

Another note: None of the 4 month olds have the face burn that Thales current generation has.
 
Nice! :biggrin2: I love it when this is happening!

You should easily get more than 100 eggs per pair if all goes well. I am anxious to see what the fertility rates are like in your tank.
The aren't really aqua cultured, they are captive raised. I think its important that we make sure to not confuse two!
3 months is when they start to show sexyness (my 3 month olds started yesterday).
Only 3 or 4 of my 10 or 12 had face burn. :biggrin2:

Could you try to pay particular attention to the pairing - do they stay in the pairs, or do multiple males copulate with particular females?
 
Thales;111444 said:
Could you try to pay particular attention to the pairing - do they stay in the pairs, or do multiple males copulate with particular females?

Hey Rich, I noticed with this group and my previous ones that the males do have a 'chosen' female. In my last group, I had more males then females. The pairing stayed the same until one of the mated males died. The very next day, I saw the widowed female with a new male.

It appears that once a male and female pair up, the male becomes very protective of the female. He will stop any advances from other males. Perhaps its this male behavior that keeps them monogamous. :biggrin2:

From watching your adult male in action, I feel that a much larger male may be able to force himself onto a mated pair. When I put the 4 months old with him (2 females and 1 male), The older male forced himself almost immediately onto one of the females. She was definitely unwilling for he would chase her around and eventually grab her with an arm. He would then position her to be face to face with him. After I put the 4 month olds in, I lost track of which female belonged to the 4 month old male. But It appeared that the larger male could have easily taken either. Regardless, after a few days, theres no fighting or chasing. They both are paired up and stay with the same female. Smalls signs of aggression appear through zebra patterns and displays, but nothing that worries me.

I feel that the even pairing of males to females really affects the harmony of the group. My last batches always had more males then females and fighting and biting etc were much more common. This also may be why it seemed my last batches were a little more active. They probably felt more threatened by each other all the time.
 
Paradox;111448 said:
Hey Rich, I noticed with this group and my previous ones that the males do have a 'chosen' female. In my last group, I had more males then females. The pairing stayed the same until one of the mated males died. The very next day, I saw the widowed female with a new male.

Super interesting. In my tanks, they don't pair off unless I put a pair into their own area. I see a lot of the group behavior that gets talked about with S apima breeding in OZ - sneaker males and such.

It appears that once a male and female pair up, the male becomes very protective of the female. He will stop any advances from other males. Perhaps its this male behavior that keeps them monogamous. :biggrin2:

Weird! Lots of group sex in my house.
I feel that the even pairing of males to females really affects the harmony of the group. My last batches always had more males then females and fighting and biting etc were much more common. This also may be why it seemed my last batches were a little more active. They probably felt more threatened by each other all the time.


This was my feeling too. Glad to have a preview of my plan before I do it in the next month or so!
 
Thales;111575 said:
Weird! Lots of group sex in my house.

Wow thats strange. Maybe its because of the crazy glass sculpture you have hanging in your cuttle room! Or perhaps its due to the amount of cuttles you have together. Right now, in the 150 are only 4 Bandensis. Thats a lot of room for them. The other 2 are in the juvenile section. How are yours divided up and how many do you have?
 
This one?:

May Not Be Safe For Work?

Atomic Glass

Whats so crazy about that? :biggrin2:

My 3 monthers are all in one tank at the moment - 14 of them. I am waiting to see them make definite male/female action before I move them around.
 
Hmm. I got in some trouble for that piece. I made it about restraint, but the crufication made it hard for people to see anything else. The story of my glass --- Hitlers with flowers in their hair went over somewhat better. :biggrin2:

Sorry for the hijack!
 
LOL...yes thats the one Im talking about!

I actually just looked through your glass work section for the fist time the other day. Nice work. I like the one near your reef tank the best.
 
See! See how I had a problem! It didn't even occur that that pic might be not right for this site! :biggrin2: I removed it but left the link - please someone let me know if the link should be removed as well!
 

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