Any Octopus breeders out there?

[B Pierce]

Does anyone here breed octopuses? I got a few questions about breeding them.

thanks,
Bill

 

[Zoalander]

From what I've read and my own experiences it is almost impossible. I had a Octo that layed eggs about 2 months after I got it from the LFS. I contacted the Shedd Aquarium and one of the marine biologists emailed me back and told me that once the eggs arehatched thye will all die and soon after the mother will die. It's exactly what happened. When the eggs did hatch I put baby brine n the tank and every single baby octo (which were the size of a pin-point) all died by the next morning and so did the mother. I was pretty heart-broken because I used to sit several feet back form the tank and just watch it for hours.

 

[Gonodactylus]

It really depends on the species and the type of eggs it produces. Small egg species are almost impossible to rear without specialized circulating systems and the right diet. THey have paralarvae that remain in the plankton for weeks or even months. Large egg species have demersal larvae that are not planktonic. The start to feed on small crustaceans such as amphipods immediately. We recently reared a number of O. mercatoris simply by isolating them in small, 2 gal aquaria and giving them a daily dose of adult brine and later amphipods. They are highly cannibalistic, so they have to be isolated almost immediately.

Roy