S.Bandensis Eggs - Almondsaz Cuttlefish Journal

[MAKOOKAM]

Wow. That must be paradise for them.

 

[Almondsaz]

It is fun for them but it really is boring for me. I really like to observe them and think that once they get bigger (at their 4 inches) then life will be good. I have one that always sticks around and looks for me and stays near the intank fuge. He is my favorite, but they all have such personality. I wish I had a smaller species tank.

 

[Almondsaz]

I can only locate one of the 4 in the tank....this is really depressing. I really think it was a mistake to let them loose until they were larger, but they were over an inch and about 5 weeks old and the one is doing fine. I just think it is a bit of a waste for a 125 for one dwarf cuttlefish in that he a 200 of his closest common shrimp friends are in the lap of luxury and I can't even enjoy watching them swim and eat anymore.

 

[DWhatley]

This is one reason I have not tried them in the 140. I would really love to have several in there but hatching to size appropriate for the tank is sooo long and longevity once big enough to watch is so short. I will likely still try it one day, just not today.

 

[Almondsaz]

I can always find the one but none of the others. I am glad I have the one....wonder if they are social to the point that being by himself would be detrimental to its health?

 

[MAKOOKAM]

I wouldnt be surprised if they are all still in there. It takes me a few minutes to find mine and this is even when I know where they hang out and only have a few inches of the tank to scour. The only time they seem to interact is when another one happens to have something nice to eat and they dont or if one crosses into anothers space. I get the feeling they would rather be alone more than together.

 

[Almondsaz]

They are all in there and right now they are unhappy with me. I was concerned because they hadn't been weened onto frozen mysid....so I took all the rock work apart and found them all - and a few ink squirts to go. I put one back in the breeder net (got a new one) and will ween him/her onto the mysid. Man did they get big, will have to post a pic once the water clears back again.

 

[MAKOOKAM]

I'm glad you found them. Looking forward to some pics.

 

[Almondsaz]

I haven't been able to get a good picture and this one is poor quality but when I was moving the rock I caught this one again so took a quick pic. They are very nocturnal and I can never get the timing right to watch them moving around.

 

[MAKOOKAM]

Mine are very shy as well. I think the big turning point is when I stopped letting them hunt for food and forced them to start taking food directly from me. Now they know when it's feeding time to some extent and they will perch on or under the liverock or bury in the sand and watch me. Having the tank in the kitchen helps too. I spend a lot of time prepping food for my dinner so they are fairly used to my presence...although they really dont seem to see me as anything other than a giant scary beast that produces fantastic food. Kinda like my girlfriend sees me.

 

[Almondsaz]

4 April 10 Pictures

After some rock moving I found the kids and put them back in the breeder net. There is still one in the tank and I didn't want to stress them out any more that they have already been. So I took some pics and these are about as good as they will get through the net.

 

[MAKOOKAM]

I like that you left one in there. It will be interesting to see if it grows as fast, slower or faster than the ones in the breeder. Do you have any cover in the breeder? It looks very clean.

Would love to see shots of your reef tank.

 

[corpusse]

I want to put my cuttles in their display tank too but they're still just too small.

I'm starting to think smaller tanks are better for them then larger.

 

[Almondsaz]

I have been looking at a 40 gallon nano with built in filtration/fuge and could connect a charcoal reactor to the back ...... just a thought as I am trying to downsize my 125, just too much at this point.

 

[snowmaker]

I may be over doing it with 5 in a 40g breeder. They are 3.5 mos. old and not shy any more. Mating and fighting already, but usually a display will avert a fight. I really like watching their behavior as a group.
The tank is sumpless with a HOB Aqua-C Remora and surface skimming box with the inlets and outlets covered. There is not much flow with 1 Koralia 2 with an old filter pouch cut to fit over the grills. The cuttlefish like to hang out on top of this sometimes. I added a micro-jet powerhead which has a protected inlet. The tank was a 2 year old sps display with a lot of water movement. I used the livestock from it to start stocking a 120 project.