Merkury - O.briareus

[DWhatley]

even at $1 per meal, it adds up

I wish I could find food locally at $1/meal and you have to remember, I am feeding 3, twice a day.

 

[Cerulean]

I feel your pain, D. On a side note. I added more water to the tank today.

 

[Cerulean]

Tank is full. Water flow about the same.

 

[Cerulean]

 

[Cerulean]

Tonight she took the shrimp, but didn't eat it. She is still eating crabs, though, so at least I know she is eating. I think I will try to get some of the squid I saw at the deli last week. It's worth a shot at least.

 

[Cerulean]

Tried giving Arctipods from a pipette too. She just retreated further into her den. I know she isn't full, because there are still plenty of crabs in the tank. I just hope she is getting enough nutrition.

 

[DWhatley]

Ready for another shopping adventure so soon?

I have never tried squid so be sure to post how she does with it both the first and about the forth time you feed it. It would be worth a trip to the H-Mart for me if it is a successful food source for the younger animals. I have been able to get my adult hummelincki to eat scallops exactly once but then they would not touch them again (I am not sure the briareus even ate one). LMecher, however, has had success with multiple feedings of scallop with el Diablo but I don't recall her trying squid. The cuttle keepers avoid it because they keep multiples in a tank and it seems to contribute to cannabalism but briareus are prone to this naturally so we don't even attempt multiples in a tank (likely what happened to Sam, Late4Dinner and WallWalker but I suspect the initial die-off involved something entirely different).

 

[DWhatley]

Esquid is planning an interesting study program involving octopus nutrition and I am hoping she will find clues and be able to give us some guidance from her research. There is not a lot of available information that I could find. What I have been able to find were studies trying to discover a cheaper food supply (cheap fish vs crustaceans) to be able to cultivate octopuses as food. Fish alone were found not to be a good alternate, could be used in conjunction with crabs but produced lower weight animals than those on a crustacean diet.

 

[Cerulean]

Well, the squid was previously frozen, so it will be a shot in the dark. One of my jaw fish started acting really strange tonight. Twisting through the water, mouth gaping, skimming across the water--ended up stuck to one of the Koralias. I put him in Merk's tank to prevent him from jumping out and committing suicide overnight. I figure if he is dying, maybe he can at least contribute to the food chain when he goes.

 

[DWhatley]

Just be sure to remove the remains, that tank is just too small to let anything dead stay around long.

Previously frozen is all we get here as well. Fortunately it is flash frozen and tends not be dried out like when kept in our frost free freezers. I kind of think that is why the scallops have been rejected. Table shrimp may still be a bit tough (sadly as I was hoping Merkury would take it easily). One thing we have had some success with is giving the little ones the leg meat of the shrimp but it is a royal pain to get them into the pipette.

 

[skywindsurfer]

I know it's a small food item, but why don't you try krill. You'll have to feed multiple pieces because their so small, but it's worth a shot.

 

[Cerulean]

Update. The jawfish was not eaten, the store was out of squid, and I will try the legs and krill options. Thanks,

 

[Cerulean]

Here is Merkury in her den snatching an emerald crab off of some chop sticks.

 

[DWhatley]

Interesting and obviously successful innovation. I will try to remember that when suggesting feeding ideas.

 

[skywindsurfer]

Even octopus like their sushi.