Mongo, the mighty merc

[DWhatley]

If you go back to my first brood of merc (Trapper's Babies) you will note that I was never sure how many were in the breeder net from one night to the next and there were only 6! As they grew and were learned about feeding time they were easier to spot. My breeder nets made it more difficult than the normal ones in that there is an upstairs and a downstairs section. This let any adventurous ones go hunting below for shrimp but kept the dens upstairs so I had a better chance of spotting them. I noticed that often a missing one would be on the supports (mine are white so it made it doubley difficult to spot them). After the first week, none of mine escaped into the main tank even though the nets were at water level.

 

[sedna]

Another one this morning. I couldn't get it and am pretty sure this one is at large in the tank...

 

[sedna]

All baby octos should be named "Sticky." Once they earn a name it's cool to change it, but until then they're ALL Sticky!

 

[DWhatley]

Suitable names My biggest collection problem was getting them OUT of the turkey baster, I finally went to a very fine, soft net.

 

[sedna]

If I had more money I'd buy some time...

I've been so busy, no time for a GOOD informational entry, I'll do that this weekend. I have found one dead baby in a breeder net, always see one in the other net in the morning and night time, and each net should have one more baby but I haven't seen them.

This morning 2 new babies are in the box with Mongo. I'm thinking of leaving them in there with mom, the barnacle is plenty big enough and loaded with pods. I'm wondering if food availability is better in the critter box between the wild pods and supplementing with tigger pods and and cyclop-eze. Thoughts?

 

[sedna]

Real Update

75F entire brood time, H2O parameters within range except pH at 7.8- 8.0

Last Tuesday (3-31) I put Mongo and her brooding den into my larger 55 gal tank. She was in a critter keeper with a regular top with the slots so big the babies could get out- not my first choice but my imagination had been taxed. Last Friday (4-3) Mongo's first baby made an appearance. I wasn't able to get it out until the next day, I scooped it and a new sibling out with a shot glass and dropped it into a breeder net. A few more babies were caught over the next few days until 5 were split between 2 breeder nets. At least one of the babies in the nets died, and as of yesterday at least one is still going strong. By Monday (4-6) one of the babies had made an escape (one that I saw, anyway) so I cut a large sheet of netting and sewed it onto the top with plastic thread and that works very well. To my surprise, I was able to catch the little guy out of the big tank latter that night! I know there are at least 2 more babies in the keeper with Mongo.

I have been feeding them a combination of cyclop-eze and tigger pods, 2X a day at dawn and after dark. A couple of times one has inked, it's easily removed with a pipette. They are so cute! I'd be happy to raise just one to adulthood but of course I'm hoping for a lot more than that!

 

[sedna]

5 babies, at least!

As of this morning I found 1 baby still in one of the breeder nets and 4 that I could see at once in the brooding box. Originally there were 2 in each net- one I found dead and the one is still alive. Because I see the one regularly, I'm guessing that if the other 2 were alive, I'd see them once in a while. This means I think there is a vacancy in the one net so I'm thinking of moving one of the "boxed" babes out.

Here are some photos of some of the sibs and the brooding box. It's hard to make out what is in the box and what's on the outside- sorry about the quality. Remember, I'm taking picts of things in a box behind a bow front! The first photo here shows the whole box. There is one baby on the left by the hermit and snail shell, and another in the right corner. You can just barely see one little dude in the right corner, half way up. The next photo is a close up of the same baby, it seems to be out the most. The 3rd shot shows a small white blob on the floor next to the shells. That is a live baby, it turned dark and moved away after the shot.

A quick note about lighting... I took the regular daylights off of the tank once I put babies in the nets. There is red lighting all night long, and ambient light through a close window with a strong southern exposure during the day. On a bright day, the babies are hiding by 8:30 am. Today it is dark and cloudy and with no lights on in the room the most social baby is out in the corner, the others hiding farther out than on a brighter day.

 

[sedna]

six babies!

Found the one in the 2nd net, living in the spiral of a shell! That's one of the first, so both in the nets are at least 12 days old.

 

[sedna]

Make it 7...

4-14, 5:45 pm The 2nd baby is alive in the breeder net with the most active sib. Seven little octos named Sticky! I think they are out more today because it has been gray and dark all day. I'll be thinking about a smaller version of the brooding box soon, but as mentioned before I'm not sure I can provide better food than the wild pod population on that barnacle...

 

[DWhatley]

I am still betting on 5-6 survivors. I hope the active little guy is one of them as Sisturus was the most active when they were little. I would find him hunting shore shrimp in the "basement" much more than any of the others. Should you go back and read my notes, I was never quite sure how many I had for months.

Google makes a free basic photo editor (and I do mean basic) that Haggs introduced me to and it is great for a quick crop and minor adjustments. I couldn't find your little guy at first so I cropped him and adjusted the light a bit using Picasa

 

[sedna]

Noticing a die off in the last 2 days. Still have some live ones, but have lost a couple- unsure as to WHY. Mongo is still alive and denned up- hoping this means more hatchlings on the way- one of the dead babies she had expelled from the den.

 

[sedna]

More die offs, not sure how many are left alive. Curious thing- they aren't eating each other as I find the bodies undisturbed. I purposely some bodies in the box overnight, and even the bristle worms didn't clean them up!

 

[sedna]

All but one of the hatchling bodies have been found. H2O is good, maybe they didn't have the right food? I never really saw them actively hunt like the pelagic smaller babies do- I assumed they hunt more privately like benthic adults.

 

[DWhatley]

With my second group (where the numbers were unknown because some would escape while others were being born but I am guessing at around 50) I had a similar experience. With the first, all but one lived (but there were only 6 total). Unlike Joe's briareus hatchlings, I never saw any signs of cannibalism. In Joe's case the tank was over run with wild food (he was livinging right on the water and made an effort to really, really pre-stock the tank from the "backyard"). This would suggest that food is not likely the issue.

Even after a couple of weeks the numbers went down and it seems 5-6 is magic but I had fewer long term survivors (percentage wise) with the larger hatching. On the other hand Roy has managed much better numbers with the blue rings (very old post that I can't find).

If you have a little foramline (alcohol might work for a short time), one of the girls might like to take in one of the babies

 

[sedna]

Mongo no more

Mongo has passed. It was a great experiment, I wish I had done better by her babies, though. She is buried in the veggie bed the girls and I got all prepared just yesterday- I like the idea that she will continue to sustain life that way.