• 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.

I SEE EYE'S!

I think most pods are way too large and yes most will gladly eat anything smaller than they are. The food has to be dense enough for them to "run" into it but water pollution is a concern. Steve did mention that he had squid success with denser food and not great water so I do think the density is key but he has access to ocean life where we are stuck with prepared. Rotifers by themselves may still be too large but a plankton mix might have a chance.

I was NOT suggesting removing the fry but keeping them in a breeder net inside the main tank (internal nurseries have the best success with seahorses and offer much higher water quality and water movement options) and then changing the outer tank water.

No power heads where they swim or part of the plankton soup will include baby octo (a review of other threads has a lot of them going out the overflow or into power heads the first day). If AD can find fine mesh for a net that will allow fresh water in but no octos out, water movement can be created outside the nursery. Even if more food than desired stays in the net, the water can be refreshed. Pushing them against the net is also a concern and is why I suggested blowing water up from the bottom rather than through the sides. An air line can also produce current and could be placed inside the net but I don't know if the bubbles are a concern. Such a long wait and so little time to try for success.
 
dwhatley;102194 said:
AD,
I agree with AM and a key word he used, can. I have been mulling on Trapper's eating habits (please remember this is a Mercatoris and not the same species that you are going to attempt to raise so there may be no relationship at all AND my thinking and single observation are VERY unscientific) and came to a thought that perhaps the comsuption of ONLY dead things and later only tiny things might have to do with NOT eating young. No one (in my reading) has ever reported a mother eating their young but have reported cannibalism within the brood. Here again, with my small brood, this did not occur and Zyan reported no such problems with his 100 Bimac fry. Both of ours, however, were large egg, benthic species.

I would definitely consider trying the Rotifeast and Phytopfeast in spite of my experience. The ingredients are planktonish (they do sell a "fresh" product that is closer to live) and the Cyclop-eeze will be too large for the first week (or more if they make it that far - I wish someone with some success would chime in - Roy says it just won't work and he's an expert but you couldn't keep seahorses and mandarins alive at one time either). If you use breeder nets and do lots of water changes (watch the water like a hawk) maybe you will come up with something. I know water movement and tiny food are required but it just may not be doable at home and you won't have a lot of time to experiment since the death rate is high and fast so you need to think out what you want to try and be ready. If you still want to consider Cyclop-eeze, use only the frozen (I believe they no longer sell the live or at least I have never found it and it is not on their site) and maybe grind it an then strain it. I wish you were near by as it would be facinating to try multiple batches in multiple tanks. Please keep us posted on counts and if anything seems to work even for only a short time. You might look up small pelegic seahorse fry and see if there are other feeding suggestions since the problems are similar.

Keep us posted on your progress reports and thoughts!
I have already bought some of the Cyclop-eeze from a LFS. Price wise for a 2.5oz freezer bar was $13.99, is that a good price. I think the small fry should be ok. I have filter sponge glued to the overflow and the pump is under powered so i hope they will be ok. I think i am going to do another water change this weekend to play it safe before they hatch. I really hope i can make this work. I don't like people telling me i can't do something. Maybe it won't work, but i will die trying. I will buy some Phyto-feast live to see how that works. :fingerscrossed: Thanks
 
Are you close enough to the ocean to do plankton tows? Most live cephalopod babies need some kind of live food. Even if you could do a tow every couple of days and leave some in the refridgerator for the other days.

Good luck, I know you are trying to do your best for these little guys.
 
Animal Mother;102172 said:
Leave her until she dies. I don't think she can do any harm.

Although this would be my intuition, there was one example here where the mother died after hatching, and almost instantly all the babies died; the theory was that somehow the death of the mother impacted the water quality in some way (maybe she inked as she died?) I don't remember who reported this, so I'm not sure how to find the thread. Of course, this seemed like more the exception than the rule, but I just wanted to bring it to everyone's attention for completeness. Anyone remember enough details to find this incident?
 
hatched_03a.jpg


More pics detailing pelagic octopus babies from egg to planktonic stage.. Interesting - Reef Central Online Community
 
cuttlegirl;102228 said:
Are you close enough to the ocean to do plankton tows? Most live cephalopod babies need some kind of live food. Even if you could do a tow every couple of days and leave some in the refridgerator for the other days.

Good luck, I know you are trying to do your best for these little guys.
I am not that close to an ocean. I think the closest is 3+ hours. I would have to make a day of it.
 

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