SQUIDCAM II

Feelers said:
So whats the deal with keeping squid? After you have a large circular tank - what other special requirements are there?
Do you have a massive protein skimmer and chiller? I suppose getting appropriate food might be the biggest problem?

Just a cylindrical tank, protein skimmer (post 2 weeks; not when the paralarvae hatch), a spray bar (sets up a certain current), biofilter, and a TON of live food!

I'm going to say something that will make many cringe .... but these things have survived dandy-like in water that looks like tea!

They are so picky when it comes to their food, and you have to know what to feed them at different stages of the life cycle (their size); put the wrong prey species in and they'll either reject it (and starve), or be attacked by it (and eaten). They are completely disinterested in those fish species in the SQUIDCAM tank - they're in there mainly for company; they're eating one species of fish only, at present - and it's a 'freshwater' fish species that they absolutely love (Gambusia affinis).

It's very simple once you've stripped the system back to its absolute basics; it really is all about current, tank shape and food; anyone could do it.
 
Do you use current to blow them away from the wall or are they ok with that?
Does the circular tank just stop them getting wedged in the corner? From what I can see on squidcam they dont seem to crash into the walls.

Steve said:
It's very simple once you've stripped the system back to its absolute basics
does that mean a giant squid might be on the cards sometime soon? :biggrin2:
Oh yeah, I was thinking - what happens if your future archi gets too big ? Do you have a massive tank lined up?

Any waaaay of plans for a messie?
 
Everything boils down to money, or the lack thereof. If there's someone online who can fund an expedition then I'll sure go out and do it, and this time I'm pretty convinced that we'd do it too.
 
How much does an expidition cost? (out of interest) I suppose after you catch one funding will be easy to get. I would imagine it would be a dream for any aquarium to have one on display. A huge crowd puller.

You can put me down for $50 :biggrin2:
 
Feelers said:
How much does an expidition cost? (out of interest) I suppose after you catch one funding will be easy to get. I would imagine it would be a dream for any aquarium to have one on display. A huge crowd puller.

You can put me down for $50 :biggrin2:

I'll not take your money, don't worry.

With an ROV capable of going to 1000m, and 20 days sea time aboard a substantial vessel, you're looking at ~ 980K NZ$. That's actually not a lot of money to raise, but it is very time consuming doing it, and rather disheartening - and time is not something I have a lot of these days.

'One day', when things free up and I've got my creativity back, I might look at it, but for now I'm quite happy busting foofoo on many other projects.
 
Are the gambusia collected or bred? Just curious about the risks of parasites as wild gambusia are what I target when I want to look at some spiny headed worm under a microscope. Many have a life cycle form that targets a snail or other mollusc.
Any chance of a parasite jumping when a squid eats an egg? Coz if there is I'd get rid of snails in your feeder breeding tanks.
:bugout:
heh heh
sorry.
Trying to work out if I can give an octopus parasites feeding it garden snails is doing my head in.
Not trying to spread da mindtrip around.... was actually only going to post that baby mollies would be easy on the eye but not sure what temps your dealing with there.
:angel:
 
Hmmm I wonder if garden snails would make good octo food? - (probably not - but interesting none the less.)
I think the tank is kept at roughly the same temp as NZ coastal water - so 10 - 13 centigrade (at a guess).
 
Swarvegorilla said:
Are the gambusia collected or bred? Just curious about the risks of parasites as wild gambusia are what I target when I want to look at some spiny headed worm under a microscope. Many have a life cycle form that targets a snail or other mollusc.
Any chance of a parasite jumping when a squid eats an egg? Coz if there is I'd get rid of snails in your feeder breeding tanks.

:shock: Acanthocephala? In the intestinal walls? Oh dear; never considered this, especially if advocating using Gambusia as a bridging feed between mysids and larger/dead fish for potential commercial application. All Gambusia are wild caught at present (it's illegal to culture these things over here) - in fact we're dealing with stocks of everything, rather than cultures, as we lack the space and personnel resources to maintain mini-ecosystems.

Tell me something nice about acanthocephalans - like they are host specific and do not pose a threat to humans. That would be so nice to hear!!
 
Ok Steve,

Something you don't want to see...

Prociv P, Walker J, Crompton LJ, Tristram SG. Med J Aust. 1990 Feb 19;152(4):215-6. First record of human acanthocephalan infections in Australia.

Two cases of asymptomatic acanthocephalan infections in infants are described. We believe this is the first report from Australia of infection with these parasites in humans. Their clinical, epidemiological and biological significance is discussed.

At least they were asymtomatic...
 
I'm new here and can't pull myself away from the computer. There is so much information to absorb - I'm in heaven. Thanks Steve. I can't wait to see the babies!
 
ok, dumb question of the day -- did the squidlings hatch? Any pix? Also I'm wondering about Squidcam II -- is there an actual underwater camera available for squidwatching?
 

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