which octo?

[sulley]

okay the rock i moved she quickly put back... yesterday i tried to move it again to get some snapshots for you guys but this time she was wise to me and none too pleased..she quickly grabbed the rock and held on so i let go as to not stress her out..ill give it a couple of days then try again for ya

 

[Nancy]

We have had many, many discussions of crawfish (crayfish, etc.) in previous years. Octopuses seem to love them, but, being freshwater, the conclusion was to use them as a treat, not as a basic food.

It's hard to find suitable ones - the females have small claws while some of the big males look like marine lobsters with huge claws! During crawfish season, they can be found in stores carrying Mexican food, and also in seafood stores. Most crawfish we see in stores are not wild, but farm raised and sometimes seem half dead by the time they are sold.

They can live in salt water only a few hours. To make sure my bimac would catch them right away, I got her attention, and they held up the crawfish outside of the tank so she could see it. She got very animated at the sight. I had her wait on one side of the tank, then I freed the crawfish in front of her, and she chased it and caught it. She was always enthusiastic about crawfish.

Nancy

 

[sulley]

yeah i know they are fershwater, but these are the only thing she will accept, figure near the end something is better than nothing

 

[sulley]

moved rock today and can see the little critters...they are a brownish color however my camera could not focus good on them...after two shots she completely blocked them from the vantage point i had

 

[sulley]

where is a good source for live mysis?? the eggs are developing rapidly now...food wise mysis? just a little lost as i did not expect this...ive been trying to read as much as possible but there is not alot of info out there

 

[DWhatley]

Actually, I don't know of anyone trying mysis for octopus hatchlings. Unfortunately, we have not had success with briareus young (but there have only been a couple of attempts). I'll give you my best guess based upon my mercs (also a large egg species) on attempting to raise some but I am hoping Ceph will show up and give better advice. You will have far too many hatchlings to save.

This part is conjecture suggested from a prior experience (JoeFish84 and Conanny)
Pick 4 or 5 and isolate them in a breeder net (I could keep my mercs together but the briareus young I tried to bring back from Joe had started massive attacks on each other just before we went to collect a couple). If you lose those, you may have the opportunity to replace them with others from the main tank but attemp to keep healthy ones in your separation chamber. If you do replace them from the main tank, do not include ones that have little pink marks on the mantle.

I fed the mercs Cyclop-eeze using a plastic pipette and kept shore shrimp in their nets after their mantles were about the same size as the shrimp I could get. I also tried frozen mysis with mixed success. Joe filled the tank with copepods and zoeplankton but they still attacked each other and none survived. I kept a powerhead blowing through the nets except at feeding time.

 

[sulley]

thanx d once again for all the help...what cyclop-eeze did you have the best results with.....i have some for my reef but they are tiny no way i could stick them on a pipette..so tghe play is to get a breeder net, divide that up into compartments and just let the others run amuck? one more question in your expieriences do the stronger offspring hatch first midddle or last... i read conarys and noticed they hatch ed over a period of time, just trying to figure out which ones to isolate

 

[DWhatley]

I only use the frozen Cyclop-eeze. I thaw it and then squirt the water and Cyclop-eeze directly over the little guys - they are tiny and will get it with their arms. I have no feel for first hatch vs last hatch durabilty.

 

[sulley]

well if anyone in the buffalo ny area would like some after they hatch u guys are more than welcome........march 10 will be roughly 2 months

 

[bluespotocto]

just wondering did you ever figure out what kind of octo it is?

 

[sulley]

briareus

 

[DWhatley]

I noticed that I suggested isolation but did not specify that I meant each octo in a single breeder net and not 4 or 5 in one breeder net.

 

[sulley]

d is there anyway to ship these? if i could ship u some for all the quick responses i will...i cant afford overnight but would a thermos trick work with usps?

 

[DWhatley]

I'd pay for the overnight but we were not successful bringing them back in the car in less than overnight time at 2 weeks old. If I get this job (second interview on Friday - woo hoo) and you are willing to try packing them, we can figure something out it if you can a few to 1 month.

 

[sulley]

well i now have four (that i could count) babies running around.... i was able to capture one with the baster and put it in a net...the other guys just ink and run in the rock....im gonna do a little experiment and isolate some but one net i am gonna put about 5 in.. knowing they are canibalistic thinking that there may be a reason as to why, maybe this one will flourish? dumb thought or should i try it? there are still a ton of eggs left unhatched...i mean there is always a reason for things in science and this species from what i read are very canibalistic