Squid in the home aquarium?

[Jean]

Squid can also be exceptionally hard to keep fed! They need mega quantities of live food (I don't think anyone has successfully weaned squid onto dead food!). I've found 1600 Krill and 150 small fish remains in the gut of a medium sized Southern Arrow Squid (Nototodarus sloanii, 260mm DML) and they need fed often, they have a very high energy demand! J

 

[AZ_Reefer]

thanks for all the replies, I doubt the feasibility of this now, it seems they are just best left in the ocean or studies at research facilities. for the above mentioned reasons.

 

[devi]

The only studies I've read of squid have kept them in circular tanks with opaque walls. I can't remember the longevity, but remember them referring to it as 'successful keeping', so I assume it was a decent time span.
However I can't see the pleasure of a tank that you can't see into for the home.

 

[Cephkid]

@Cuddlycuttlefsh: No I have not read it, and thanks for the link.

 

[Tintenfisch]

Do you know if the squids ever exhibited any signs of bumping/rubbing up against the walls during those trials?

Yes, they definitely still suffered from 'butt burn' in the acrylic tanks. Some of them lived for quite a while anyway (I think the record was 176 days), but many did not, and most of them had some level of lesions on the posterior mantle surface.

As Jean said, the amount of effort required to keep them fed was also incredibly high -- they are pretty much eating machines, and require live food. Under the vast majority of circumstances, best not kept in tanks, I would say.