dwarf cuttlefish eggs the next generation

[Almondsaz]

Great pictures. I was reading your thread again and was about to post "how about an update" and then you post these great pictures!

 

[MAKOOKAM]

nice shots! the kids are looking good.

 

[corpusse]

minor update. I've lost a couple and given away 3 but I still have about 20 or so growing babies. some are in a 10g and some are still in breeders nets. I'm going to start weaning them to frozen silversides and shrimp within the next week or so.

I was away for 4 days and had a friend feed them. I ran out of ghost shrimp so he was nice enough to go and buy some. He didn't know exactly what they were and eventually did find them even after telling the store he was looking for "phantom shrimp". When they asked what he was feeding and he told them cuttlefish they were so impressed he was able to keep them alive not knowing what ghost shrimp are called

 

[MAKOOKAM]

When they asked what he was feeding and he told them cuttlefish they were so impressed he was able to keep them alive not knowing what ghost shrimp are called

hahahahah...thats awesome.

 

[DWhatley]

You have a wonder friend! He needs to become a convert!

 

[iSeeMax]

very inspirational reads!
i just lost my octo of a year+ so im in the market for something along this line... time to study a bit. i read the write up so i know what to expect more or less and what to look for. thank you for the details!

 

[corpusse]

in an effort to finally get them full grown (they are 4 months old already) and save some money they are starting to eat frozen uncooked shrimp.

I gotta find some fishing line laying around so for now I have been using a feeding stick. Some are completely disinterested and others are mildly interested. I find they have to have the food right up against them or they wont eat it.

Once they grab on they will pull and pull eventually getting the top part of my feeding stick off.

I took a couple of pictures but its not easy holding the stick and taking the pics at the same time.

Still trying to get a head count done, but I'd say I have around 18 now. A couple have died and I did sell 3 or 4. Once I get the head count done I will try and reduce my numbers to 14 or 15 assuming someone local wants to take a few in.

 

[Almondsaz]

I will have to try that one. I have been buying common shore shrimp and that is a bit expensive. The frozen shrimp would be much cheaper if I can get them to eat them. I haven't had any luck with the cuttles eating the frozen mysid but I think that is becuase I didn't switch them over when they were in the breeder net. Nice photographs.

 

[corpusse]

Today they were pretty good. Most ate frozen shrimp and had no problems pulling it off the stick. Sometimes I have to pull it off for them. Save for one who did start to eat his shrimp when I went back to check he inked and let go.

I want them to grow to full grown size but I find it hard to get them enough food. I have had mixed success with frozen uncooked shrimp and there is a limit to how many live shrimp they will eat which I always gutload first for more nutrition.

 

[corpusse]

I decided to release 4 today. I am going to move 4 more to the large size breeder net I have in the tank let them acclimate to the water then release 4 more.

This way I know if any do die it's not from acclimation. I did notice 1 of the 4 had really puffy eyes. All 4 inked like crazy since I picked them up by hand. Of the 4 only one thought it was worth their while to explore their new home. The other 3 ran and hid.

Here is the best video clip I could get while all the action was going on.

 

[corpusse]

Still not seeing too much of the 4 released in the tank but I was able to
feed one off the feeding stick. I moved 4 more into a larger breeder net in the tank and they will be released shortly. To my surprise 2 of them bit me! I had never been bitten picking up
a cuttlefish but it actually hurt a little bit!

 

[MAKOOKAM]

Wow thats really interesting. I guess they didnt break the skin? If they did, was there any reaction?

 

[corpusse]

Wow thats really interesting. I guess they didnt break the skin? If they did, was there any reaction?

No didn't break the skin. Actually Now that I look at my finger closely I do have a tiny prick where it looks like they may have gotten just barely through. It felt like being pricked by a pin.

 

[DWhatley]

I have been bitten by two of my senesing octos and the feeling was the same slight pin prick. The dwarf left a tiny dot and the hummelincki, just a red mark like a flea bite. I would not have known I was being bitten except for the prick feeling. In the case of the hummelincki, it made me wonder if their bucal muscle starts to attrophy with senescence and has something to do with them not eating.

 

[corpusse]

So the other night something really weird happened. All of the cuttlefish that were still in their nursery inked and inked and inked. I've never seen anything like it. The water actually did cloud up. Now usually 1 or 2 or even 3 or 4 will ink at the same time and in a few seconds its gone. They seemed to ink again and again and again.

I did change some water and left it at that. I probably should have removed all the cuttles then since they are almost ready for the big tank anyway.

One did die so I moved 4 over. Today a few more died so I moved the remaining survivors over. One that looks almost dead appears to be injured. I'm not sure if water quality is the issue or not. I also have a bangai cardinal in the same system (not where the cuttles could attack or vice versa) and he seems fine. He is the only one of 3 to survive qt so as not an overly healthy fish I would think he would go fast if the water quality did. Also the corals are mostly alright in the frag tank which is the backbone the cuttle nursery is plumbed into.

So I lost about 6 cuttlefish saved 7 with a 8th hanging on likely to die. The 4 I moved yesterday are all alert and well and the 3 I moved today seem to be doing okay so far.

It's sad to see them go but it's also a help that I have less to feed. I would not have been able to keep them all in the main tank anyway.

So now I have 8 roaming free in the display. and 4 and 3 in breeders nets. They are larger breeder nets so they should be fine in there for a couple of weeks and then will be released into the display.

It's funny the last 4 I released 2 of them did not want to leave the net. I just lower the net so they can swim out when they want and even after turning the breeder net on its side they did not want to leave. I still don't see much of them in the main tank although with the lights still off this morning I did catch one cruising around. A big downside to not seeing them is I cannot feed them off a feeding stick but have to release live shrimp into the tank.