Any progress on Cuttlefish in the USA?

S

schmunkel98

New member
I gave up on getting cuttlefish a while back, and I was wondering if anyone has made any progress since then? I ended up making my main 135 gallon tank into a FOWLR setup with fuzzy lionfish, a snowflake eel, and a harlequin tusk. This setup makes for lots of activity, but I would still like to do the cuttlefish thing in the future. I may even make an octo tank in the meantime.
 
I would love to hear about this too.

Heres what I know:

You can get sepia O from europe for around ~$500us. This is not per animal. This is for a group of them, and shipping.

sepia bandesis (spelling?) gets imported from time to time. This species is near impossible to keep, even by experts. This is ussulaly attributed to cyanide, and stress.
 
I just bought a cuttlefish from the LFS that I work at. I am not sure what species it is but I do know it is from the indo-pacific region. We got it on a trans shippment wholesalers rarely have them on price list (I have only seen them once in a year and a half). So see if your LFS can possibly do a trans shippment.:cool:
 
wrasseman1
There is a very good chance that this is a bandesis. Can you post pics? Is it eating prepared foods (not live)? I hope it does well, as they are Extremely difficult to care for.

Good luck!

J
 
I just bought a cuttlefish from the LFS that I work at. I am not sure what species it is but I do know it is from the indo-pacific region. We got it on a trans shippment wholesalers rarely have them on price list (I have only seen them once in a year and a half). So see if your LFS can possibly do a trans shippment.:cool:
 
I've tried for over a year to get some cuttlefish in my tank. I had moderate success with an importer here in Dallas that was able to get me Sepia Bandensis. They never lived past a few weeks, never came out during the day, and were not cheap. I tried to split an order from Richard Stride in England, but the only way to do that was to get with someone else from Texas or order eggs only so that they could survive a multiple shipment delivery. Richard is basically the only way to go, but you now have a ton of permits to get in order to get them here. Those alone total about $200 from what I last looked at. The thing that makes me the most upset is that the NRCC is in my own state, and I can't order from the most reliable and best priced source for cuttlefish in the nation because I'm not a scientist or a professor.
 
Yes, the import permits alone were around $200. You are basically setting yourself up just like a store would to import live animals.
 
Hey Mike, long time no see. The cuttlefish scene is the same, sepia, bandensis. Really not woth the attempt as you and I both know. Ordering from richard is the way to go. The only problem ios finding homes for all the ones you must import to make it worth while.
You should try a peacock mantis for something extremly cool. I have had mine for about a year now and I just love this animal! Oops this is the ceph forum lol.
 
hi again Mike :)

give me six months or so! Im setting up my own LFS over here and doing that sort of stuff is way high up on my priority list!!!

Obviously will let you know when i get started

hope all is well

Colin
 
Hey Chris and Colin,

I've been in lurk mode since I got my FOWLR setup up and going. I would sell all the animals in there to the pet store in a heartbeat if I could get some quality sepia o.'s for a good price. I'll keep checking around and hopefully something will come up.
 
I am POSSIBLY thinking about doing sepia o. sometime. My family and I might go to Europe, so it would make sense to pick up some specimens while there. If not, doing an order pool would be a good idea:) If a group of people were to import, say eggs so they COULD make the mult leg trip, how difficult is it to rear them? I have been doing a whole lot of research on this. Dr wood (whom I e-mailed with) says that they are some of the easier ceph's, and much easier than clownfish, but any other info highly appreciated!
 
I think I have identified my cuttle as Sepia aculeata. It was priced at $8.00 at the pet store I work at. If any body knows of any good sites for I.D. of these little guys please let me know.
 
Hi wrasseman

You'll know quite easily if its aculeata or not....

the needle cuttlefish has three circular markings on its body of which teh rear one is made up of white spots.. gets to about 10" mantle length. Its found from India to PNG.

John,

Not wanting to disagree with JBW but Sepia o are very demanding in the home aquarium. I wouldnt advise keeping them in anything less than about 200gals and even that is on the small side. They can get to at least 10" long in captivity and can suffer damage to their rear end if they get a fright as they swim backwards into the glass.... circular tanks would be better.

Also because of the amount of waste they produce, keeping any more than one requires a top-class filter and skimmer... I ended up with getting an AquaMedic 5000 to keep up with them.

Colin
 
wrasseman
If you have Sepia. aculeata you have a rare find.
All of the cuttles I have seen come into the USA in the last year or so have been sepia. bandensis.
Like colin said. S.aculeata has 3 rings on its mantle, the rear one being a ring of white spots.
If you have bandensis it will have small blue spots running along the fin bases. They can be seen very clearly. They also uses a pair of its arms to walk along the bottom. This is very easy to see when its resting on the bottom.
Way cool though if you scored a aculeata! Its hard to believe you got any cuttle for 8 bucks thats a deal and a half. I got my bandensis right from the wholesaler and paid 20 bucks each. I have also seen the same species selling for 200.00! Good luck. Post some pics!
-chris
 
Yeah, and was there not Metasepia for a stupid amount too???

Chris, im actually importing my own octopuses this week, sent the fax away today and I'll get them Tuesday coming.... they are on the list as vulgaris but we both know how that works LOLOL

I'll let you know how i get on with them.

C
 
Guys, I e-mailed Anchofsh out in California about cuttlefish, and here is what they said:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Mike,
We have no luck with cuttlefish.
They have small chance to survive shipping, we have 99% DOA when arrive here
in Los Angeles (the origin coutry is Bali).
We don't know how to prevent them from releasing the ink in the bag while
shipping which killed themselves.
If you could advise us how?

Thanks.

Sincerely,
Lawrence

dive@anchofish.com

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Can anyone e-mail them back and tell them how to ship these guys better for me? They look like they are interested in trying to get these guys alive, and they may be able to supply the US need if we can solve this problem.

Mike
 
Mike
The NRCC uses Magnesium Chloride to prevent inking in transit. They disolve 75 grams of MgCl2 in 1 liter of distilled water. They then mix the stock solution with sea water. For shipping cuttles over 3" they use a 10% (1/10) solution. For hatchlings and cuttles under 3" they cut back a little. They have also used trisma 8.2 buffer to control PH during shipment.
Anchofish dosen't sell cuttlefish.. They sell cattlefish. Its hard to ship fish the size of cows though the mail so maybe thats why they keep inking lol:rolleyes:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Itajara
SW FOWLR 150 gallon stocking plans
Replies
6
Views
532
Reefing102
Reefing102
D
Beginner in Aquariums
Replies
2
Views
243
griss
griss
M
Need Opinions on Hydros for 24gal Nano
Replies
12
Views
243
n2585722
n2585722
T
New member, looking for advice on tank setup.
Replies
2
Views
495
Reefing102
Reefing102
Siapin
Back in the game!
Replies
7
Views
402
Jimbo327
J
Back
Top