• Looking to buy a cephalopod? Check out Tomh's Cephs Forum, and this post in particular shares important info about our policies as it relates to responsible ceph-keeping.

Cuttlefish Availablity

I wish I could try one of these but my largest tank is likely too small and I can't afford to run the chiller on it this year. I am hoping someone will have the facilities to try one as we have not seen them in a long time.
 
NYAQUATIC.COM has bandensis eggs in right now - and they are AMAZING.

I've been raising cuttles for the last two years and have bought from a lot of different vendors - and done trades online. These eggs from NYAQUATIC are the best quality I have ever seen in the trade. I contacted Michael Stern (nyaquatic.com owner) a few weeks ago and asked for a head's up on his next shipment.

My biggest regret is that I bought half his shipment! I arranged to buy full clutches (I urge anyone buying to do the same - better quality eggs come in intact clutches, without the handling for separation). I'm used to getting 10-15 eggs in a clutch, maybe getting 5 good hatches. Well, these clutches... I can't count the eggs, but I'd guess one had at least 50 - fully inflated, healthy looking... with plenty of life swimming around waiting to come out.

I've attached pictures of 4/5 clutches that I received - I took the fifth to a LFS as they have shown great interest in my hobby.

Again, if you are looking for the most remarkable quality eggs you'll ever see, I recommend getting an order in with www.nyaquatic.com right now - and also suggest contacting the owner and actually getting the full clutch. You won't be disappointed.
 

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live aquria has a pair of cuttles on divers den
LiveAquaria® - Sepia bandensis
$399 plus shipping is pricy for 2 cuttles but after about 2 weks im up to $240 into my 2 cuttles so it might be worth it to get a healthy male/female pair that is already eating affordable food, provided they survive the shipping
 
I believe the LA cuttles are part of a new captive breeding program @Thales mentioned on Facebook. Knowing LA's standards, surviving shipping won't be a problem. I kind of wish they would sell them in 3's though so there is a better chance of obtaining a mating pair. This is not the article Thales referenced but does give an insight to the new offering.

As an aside, the same group that is captive breeding bandensis, ReefGen, has been successful with the flamboyants and these will also be offered through LA according to an article canvasing this years MACNA. I am afraid I will have to wait a few years before trying these though as they are expected to be initially offered for $1,000 each.
 
@haggs, since this is the beginning of a captive breeding program with very limited supplies I think the high cost (somewhat arbitrary calling it high for the bandensis since many experience close to the cost to get hatched animals to feed on frozen and US costs for the only successful hatchling food is hugely expensive if you can't obtain it yourself locally) will be close to a supply/demand equilibrium. I have not kept cuttles because of the expense and remain out of the loop (but have an ideal tank if they ever become more affordable :wink:).

I have no feel for how the Flamboyants will sell. It is an animal I would very much like to keep but will only consider captive bred and can't even think about that kind of price tag. There are lots of other cephs I can enjoy in the meantime.
 
Hello All,

The pair offered on LiveAquaria are 2 of 25 that I hatched and reared at ReefGen. They are currently mated/ mating at LiveAquaria. After almost two years of refining our culturing techniques, I am happy to report that all of these captive bred bandensis produced this year have been insanely hardy. They have been shipping well, eating like champs, and breeding consistently! A month ago, I hatched a large batch of F3 babies that will be ready for sale in another 1-2 months (once they are eating grass/frozen shrimp. The ones available for sale on LiveAquaria are F1's (unrelated to the F3's) hatched and raised from wild eggs, and part of a group that has been beyond robust. Several retailers around the country have purchased these cuttles, and I keep the remaining 13 F1 siblings happily together in their 35 gallon grow out tank. Attached is a photo of a couple males strutting their stuff the other day. They are all spectacular.

Regarding their diets: I have been breeding and rearing all the cuttles on a diet of locally collected grass shrimp. However, we have been experiencing a grass shrimp shortage over the past couple weeks (freezing cold,) so I have been hand feeding many of my adults frozen whole raw shrimp from the grocery (the aquarium where we operate only gets pealed shrimp.) In my opinion, frozen food is a much less convenient diet for them. They leave more of it behind that needs to be netted out daily, grocery store shrimp is expensive, and it takes A LOT (hours) more time to get them to eat and make sure that they all ate. Also, my bandensis all hate krill, so I'm still seeking an extra-small raw, whole, frozen shrimp source that works well to transition cuttles for customers who prefer feeding them frozen food.

We had a pair of Long Island Aquarium/ ReefGen captive bred Flamboyants ready to go to Live Aquaria last month, but at the last minute, the population shifted where the pair had to be moved to exhibit. Now we are rearing the latest flamboyant newborns with hopes we have enough to 1) fill the exhibit, and 2) sell a couple through Live Aquaria. Thales and Bret Grasse were kind enough to contribute to the 6 page care manual I wrote to be given to the future cuttle buyers. Hopefully we can make them available soon!

I have really enjoyed reading all of the threads on Tonmo over the past year or so. You guys are a terrific community that I had the pleasure of meeting in person at your last conference! One of the most enjoyable conferences that I have ever been to! Inspired by your conference, we actually invited Greg Barord to speak at our reef club in Long Island for our March meeting!

For more ReefGen info, check out our website www.reefgen.com, or feel free to Like ReefGen on Facebook for more cuttle updates. Email or PM me if you guys are looking for a pair of bandensis to be delivered to your local LFS. Note that the two at LiveAquaria appear to be a guaranteed mated pair, if you're looking for a sure thing. Sadly, we are wholesale only and cannot sell directly to the public, otherwise you all would be at the top of my list! You all appreciate how delicate, expensive, and consuming these amazing creatures can be.

Thanks for
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building this wonderful online resource and community for all things ceph!
 

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