• 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.

Refugiam prep, tank make over, and a new chapter!

Typically, the eggs tend to get a little more transparent as hatching nears. However, it is likely these are all from the same clutch so anything goes.

It is not unusual for hatchlings to not appear to eat for a couple of days so I suspect you are good. A big concern would have been if the hatchling still had a yolk sack attached but your first little guy seems to have fully incubated.
 
So far I've hatched 3 out of 4 cuttlefish and they are all appearing to be doing well. I've been adding a few mysid shrimp every day for them. Though I've never seen them eat the shrimp seem to be dissapearing. So hopeful there.
What are thoughts/recommendation on doing a water change?- should I do a normal one on my large tank that the nursery pulls water from or should I do less of a water change?
 
How big is the main tank and how heavily populated/fed? Anecdotal evidence suggests that octopus hatchlings are extremely sensitive to slight water parameter changes but I don't know if the same holds true (I am thinking not) with cuttles. Maybe do a half change or even 2 half changes, splitting the full change over a week?
 
With the main display being that small, I would make any water changes VERY small at any given time. As I mentioned, this may not be a major concern with cuttles and you don't want to let the quality slide but minimizing changes to salt and PH would be my concern with octos.
 
Do you think I will still be alright with making water changes (small ones) every week? At this point the cuttlefish are still about pea size so I do not believe they are making too much waste but I could be mistaken.
I do not have much in my tank other then a serpent starfish, hermits, and a few snails.
 
Cuttleclan update:

So far so good. I have had the first cuttlefish now for over a week and the other two for just about a week long. Still waiting for the last egg to hatch which looks like it could be anytime soon.

I am having luck with Mysid shrimp. Keeping them alive with these instructions:
"
1. A shallow plastic container like a shoe box (up to 200), or sweater box (up to 2000) size is recommended.

2. Airstone with medium air.

3. 3 to 4 inches of Salt Water at 1.014 sp or above. Temperatures can range from 60F to 80F. (I'm currently just using room temp)

4. Feed daily ground flake, or fresh hatched brine shrimp. Frozen freshed hatched brineshrimp will do. (Feeding flake and frozen brineshrimp)

5. A water change of 30 to 50 % should be made every 3 days.

6. Use a fine mesh net to move them.

7. Use as feed to other animals after the mysis have been fed."

And have been ordering from this site: Mysid shrimp for sale at Sachs Systems Aquaculture
Which I have found to be the best priced and have been very pleased with the shrimp they send. It also helps that you are not bound to ordering thousands at a time. I have been ordering around 50 per week for starters to see how they would do and to keep from any waste as they do not live long.

I have yet to see the baby cuttlefish eat them but as they seem to go MIA through the day I think they are doing the job as the cuttlefish look good so far.
 
Awesome!
Yeah his shrimp he sent me were awesome and they are staying alive which also shows good health when they came in.
I am not sure how I found him but he is perfect for me. All the other sites were like for orders of 5000 shrimp as a minimum and their shipping put it over a hundred dollars. OUCH*

Super glad to hear he comes with a good background and I will definitely be both a dedicated customer and a referral for him. :smile:
 
So far so good. The last cuttlefish egg hatched over a week ago and all are doing well. I've now had the first hatchling for a few weeks now and he seems to be doing well.
Today was also the first day I was actually able to witness them catch and eat their mysid shrimp dinner. Which was super exciting and rewarding to see things starting to pay off.
Already feel as if personalities are coming through. I have one who has a fetish for the small rock I put in with them. He keeps hanging close to it and I have on a number of times found him either climbing into it or on it. Such as the photo I posted.
The only dilemma I currently have is that one of them is an inker. I have to pull out small amounts of ink every now. Not quite sure what is setting him off or perhaps he is just an inker.
32162822_10204924583870028_194950442466148352_n.jpg
 
So far so good. At a little over 4 weeks of age I'm seeing more color patterning shown as well as they seem to be starting to watch me more.
Is there a reliable feeding guidelines somewhere? So far I'm feeding around 2 mysid shrimp per cuttlefish per day. This seems to be satisfying them but I'm also guessing they should start eating more as they get bigger.
 
With octopuses, I feed as much as it will eat at a meal and experiment off and on by offering too much, removing the excess and adjusting. I don't think we have a definitive quantity at age post or even experimental numbers/quantity for either cuttlefish or octopuses.
 
I did lose one cuttlefish awhile back. He seemed to have something never quite right with him as he always struggled to keep the proper buoyancy in the tank and was never as hearty a eater as the others. Sadly he just seemed to be a fairly to thrive kinda one.
But on the good news- the rest of the Cuttlefish are already starting to hit a true growth spurt.
I've come to figure out their personalities- one likes to hang out on the small rock I have in their nursery. He always is on top of it or inside of it. His name is Yondu. The other, the first born likes to flash a lot of the red coloring. He also is often found on the shell I have in the tank. This guy is named Dart. The last one is a bit of a shy guy. He always hangs under the rock and tends to stay back behind the rock and is hard to get a picture of. He usually only comes out if one of his siblings is close by. This one is yet to be named. Still working on it.
 

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Question: I am starting to notice a few of my corals (specifically a hairy mushroom coral) is starting to look as if it is not so happy. All the others leathers and such are doing great.
IS it safe to dose supplements into the tank or are the 'coral food supplements' sold not safe for a tank with cephalopods?
 

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