• 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.

Feeding Cuttlefish

Cephdoc

Vampyroteuthis
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Nov 19, 2010
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Hi again with another question. These questions are to clear things up for me that are still foggy after countless hours of reading :P! Will someone please give me a detailed guide on feeding regulations on Cuttlfish. Specifically S. Bandensis? From Babies to Adulthood. Mainly looking for how much to feed them, and how often? I know primarily what needs to be fed. Im just thinking ahead and wondering about costs, and keeping the live food in separate holding systems? Ex: Keeping fiddlers, Shore shrimp etc.. Also was brought to my attention that i could possibly raise and keep peppermint shrimp to feed to them? I thought maybe that was alittle more expensive than i wanted to go, but could it work?
Thanks:biggrin2:
 
Raising peppermint shrimp is difficult, however getting them to spawn in a breeder net I have found to be easy. While I was growing out the hatchling briareus, I placed a pair of peps in a breeder net that would allow the babies to enter the water column but contain the adults. I kept the adults overfed and they spawned every couple of weeks. I am not sure if the hatchlings were able to take advantage of the food but there was no question that it was available.
 
I was going to go more of the fiddler crab option when they get older because they seem to be cheaper unless im completly wrong.. How many shrimp a day then? Does that depend on the size of both the cuttle and the shrimp? I just assumed one crab per cuttle a day? If the crab is decent size? On Sachs 100 fiddlers are roughly $90, as in comparasion are 200 shore shrimp. Remember im asking about adults here. I know as babies they need the mysids and multiple feedings a day.. Correct?
Thanks
 
I thank you both for the input.. You two seem to be the only ones who want to deal with me:sad: I hope its not because im so new.. I thought maybe we are just on alot too. I really hope all goes well. Im worried about it more and more as i talk with you guys. Is that a bad thing. I want whats best for me, and them. Please continue the positive feedback!:biggrin2:
 
When I kept them they would eat between 1-2 Shore Shrimp per day. I'd usually feed them 5-6 times a week.

I cannot remember how many mysids per today but it would start at 1-2. You actually want them to eat as many mysids as fast as possible. The sooner you get them onto shore shrimp the cheaper and easier it will be for you.

You can also start adding pods from other tanks assuming you have them once they get to the stage where they are eating 4-5 mysids at a time and are big enough to handle the tougher amphipods.
 
I've 7 Sepia officinalis and have been struggling to keep them fed on live shore shrimp. I regularly go out to a local sea lough and gather up a bucket of shrimp and sand gobi's at low tide. The cuttles seem to favour the sand gobi's over the shrimp. At this time of the year I am catching less and less shrimp. I'd like to keep their diet balanced but don't like resorting to feeding them frozen food. Should I be making an extra effort to collect shrimp or do you reckon the sand gobi's will be enough to keep them happy and healthy until there are more shrimp available come the spring.
 
Do you find any small crabs in your tidal hunt? The bendensis we keep will eat them and it would provide more balance. Most of what I have found on diet is for octopuses since that is what I keep but all the reports of trying to feed them fish showed is as a poor standard diet.
 
@ Mick: I also have S officinalis, I guess we 're the only ones one this board. Why don' t you want to feed frozen food?

@Cephdoc: When keeping in mind that the fatty acid profile of marine and freshwater crustaceans is not all that different, you could culture some freshwater "cherryshrimp" Neocaridina sp. I keep these as well, they are very low maintenance and reproduce VERY well.

I don' t have any experience with bandensis, but if I feed S officinalis more than 2 appropriate sized items they will chase and kill it but not eat it
 
Where do you read that the S officinalis do not eat Neocaridina? They even take terrestrial woodlice!

Maybe my English is lacking some finesse or something?
 
I meant if I give more than 2 prey items a day (of 'good' size) they no longer eat but still chase other prey.
I thought that would answer your (Cephdoc) question about how much to feed.
 
I have a good selection of crabs in a seperate tank but not enough of the size that my cuttles would eat. I have been searching for a good batch of juvenile shore crabs of the right size. so far the cuttles are eating the sand gobi's but I'd worry that they aren't getting the right balance in their diet. They usually devour whatever shrimp I put in.

They have shown that they will eat frozen food. I've used frozen mysis that I put in with live mysis in the beginning and they eventually took to eating it. I'd just prefer to feed them live food.

My main worries are that they aren't getting enough of the food that they would get in the wild.

@ Zeekat; Do you have any problems with butt burn with your Sepia Officinalis. I have two in a seperate tank that seem to have done damage to themselves and spend alot of their time near to the surface. I have spent alot of time nursing them towards eating and nearly praying that they recover to some degree so that they can enter in to the large tank I have the rest in.

I think they are great but as I am new to keeping cuttles I feel my ignorance could be fatal at this point. I keep a wide variety of marine and freshwater fish as well as other invertebrates in a set of aquariums so their is no issues with water quality. It's just my lack of knowledge towards cuttle fish. Which is why I'm releived to find this site.
 
@ Mick: For the time being no butt burn, I hope this will not change.
I had no previous experience with cephalopods neither, but I have had tanks for 26 years.
 

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