cuttle fish

[evil_monkey]

I am setting up a 46gallon reef and these have caught my eye.
what all should I know about keeping them?

like price, feeding, tank mates, corals, ect.



I am still new to salt, but have kept a nano stable for 2 months and have been doing fresh for a little over 10 years.

 

[LisaD]

the most commonly available cuttle, Sepia officinalis, grows to 18" and requires a chiller. it would need a much larger tank than you have. a great site for cephalopod info is www.tonmo.com, there are several cuttlefish articles there. Sepia bandensis, a small, tropical cuttle is only sporadically available, but there are a few people trying to breed it, so far with only limited success. cuttles are notoriously poor shippers, but ocassionally, in season, you can purchase S. bandensis eggs.

you cannot keep tankmates with cuttlefish, they need a dedicated tank. they eat live food - fish and crustaceans, maybe mollusks.

 

[Opcn]

Cuttle fish will eat just about any animal outside of snails and hermits, they are said to mostly leave them alone, probably because of the dificulty in gettign through a snail shell

 

[Mizu]

your tank is smallish so you would be after Sepia bandensis. which grows about 6 inches long and would be a fit (tight) but a fit.
Sepia Officinalis do not require a chiller. they can exist at higher temps this just shortens their life span a bit. the biggest officinalis live in cold water and live about 24 months.
read this http://www.tonmo.com/cephcare/cuttlefishcare.php
Before you Buy a Cuttlefish by Colin Dunlop
It will explain a great many things.
TONMO is your friend go there lots and read everything

 

[LisaD]

They are not a tropical species; tropical temperatures make them more skittish and can greatly decrease life expectancy.

Note that their natural range is in temperate (= cold) not cool (= neotropical) waters.

Saying they don't need a chiller is like saying you should keep Catalina gobies in a tropical reef tank. Yeah, you can do it a while, but "it can greatly decrease life expectancy".

BTW, also from the same link, on size of S bandensis:

Sepia bandensis are an ideal species of cuttlefish for captive husbandry. They don't grow as large as other species with a total length of about 10cm (4") and they also seem quite willing participants as a breeding project, even for beginners. They can be kept in aquariums similar to reef tanks and are a great introduction to cephalopod keeping.

 

[Mizu]

Right never said to keep them at tropical tempuratures but about 68 is a nice compromise and my Officinalis is about year old and seems to be getting on.
(might mention that i live in PA and it doesnt get 90degrees like well ever)
Yeah Bandesis is a great cuttle for pets since they dont get nearly as big as the officinalis.
Meh your milage may vary but my impression is that Officinalis live between 18 and 24 months depending on tempurature. With out a chiller my Zim is well um skittish isnt the word im looking for um... Lazy? Laid Back? if thats a skittish cuttlefish then with a chiller he would be comatose.
He eats well and digs in the sand and stalks my cat.
No Chiller
No Heater
on a HOT day ill freeze half a gallon of distiled water as Ice cubes and dump it in the sump.
Not an expert just my impressions after having done it.

 

[LisaD]

It's always best to hear about real experience. Without a chiller, or at least a fan, in NC, temperatures can approach 80 in the summer. I think if you tell people they don't need a chiller then tank temps will spike to whatever and they will assume it is ok. It's a lot more helpful to give a temperature or range that's worked for you, like your post, above.

Mizu, can you describe your tank set-up? Size, aquascaping, filtration, etc.?

 

[Mizu]

Both my Cephs were in a 75 Gal pre drilled all glass with a 30 gal under stand sump
My sump has extra baffles to avoid bubbles (can kill an octo)
The return pump from the sump to main tank right now is a fluval 404 canister
so Main tank>sump>Fluval>main tank
I used CD cases glued together to make an over flow box
I have 7 rocks at about 5 pounds each (live old rocks that have been with me since i started doing saltwater in 1997)
2 inch deep sand bed
2 Turbo snails and 6-7 hermits
Ohh and just added a Green star polyp about 2 or 3 weeks ago that seems to be doing ok.
OHH and a damsel fish that was supposed to help zim learn to hunt fish but since hes too lazy he never ate him.
Tank is over a 1 1/2 years old and parameters only vary if zim stuffs a shrimp he didnt eat under a rock

 

[LisaD]

cool, thanks for sharing.

 

[Razzagas]

This has good info on keeping S. Banensis
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/9/aafeature/view?searchterm=cuttle fish