Cuttlefish eggs - need advice

[Uncle Salty 05]

I recently acquired 3 cuttlefish eggs.
They were on the substrate in my refugium until I saw a bristleworm crawling on one of them.
They are now in a breeder net. Two of the three have begun to deflate slightly.
Is this a bad sign? The third is still nice and plump but I have yet to see any movement in any of the three.

 

[Uncle Salty 05]

Well I got my answer on the deflation question.
When I went home for lunch I was greeted by a hatchling. I look foward to seeing another this evening and the third by Monday. It looks like all three will hatch. WOO HOO!
I an so stoked.:celeb3:

 

[lordofthereef]

Do these guys do well in captivity? I am not sure I have ever heard of anyone keeping them. Either way, congrats!

 

[bradleym]

lordofthereef, there are 3 species of cuttlefish commonly raised in captivity, 2 have been bred with relative success. The 2 common types are Sepia Officialis and Sepia Bandensis. Sepia Bandensis is relatively new to captive breeding, but Sepia Officialis has been raised very successfully for years in both commercial and scientific settings, as well as by home aquarists. There are several threads on here and many more on TONMO.com featuring home raised cuttlefish.

 

[bradleym]

OP, what kind did you get? Any pics?

 

[MAVX]

Congrats!

post pics, I've always wanted to raise 2-3 cuttles in my 2nd tank.

 

[Uncle Salty 05]

Do these guys do well in captivity? I am not sure I have ever heard of anyone keeping them. Either way, congrats!

All three of my eggs have hatched.
From what I have read if you can get the babies to eat they are relatively easy. I have not seen mine eat yet, but they say it is not uncommon for them to go 2-5 days before their first meal. I have them in a breeder net and have put a bunch of amphipods in there with them. They may have eaten while I wasn't watching.
From what I understand if they make it through the first month they have a good chance of reaching maturity. Unfortunately they are short lived animals with a lifespan of 12-13 months.
Whenever I put anything into the net one of them will turn red, so I am hoping I have one male and two females. If that is the case hopefully they will breed and I will have a clutch of eggs in a few months.

 

[Uncle Salty 05]

OP, what kind did you get? Any pics?

S. Bandensis.
I don't have much luck trying to post pics, but if you go to the thread "Early cuttlefish ID" there is a pic that looks exactly like my three.

 

[mfish1]

Where did you get them?

 

[Uncle Salty 05]

LFS.
Exotic Aquatic on Oakland Park Blvd. in FT. Lauderdale.

 

[KoralKeith]

Wow pretty unbelievable

 

[Uncle Salty 05]

Yeah, they are extremely cool.
Mine are fiesty little guys, every time I put my hand in the net they ink.
I keep a turkey baster nearby to suck it out.

 

[bradleym]

LOL, nice. I agree, they are VERY interesting pets. Just out of curiosity, what are you doing with your hands in the net? I couldn't do much inside that tiny net so I do everything with a baster or a pair of forceps. BTW are yours starting to hover around the top or wander around the net any? Or do they stick to the cheato ball?

 

[Uncle Salty 05]

Sometimes I remove the chaeto ball with my fingers.
I guess I need to stop doing that. I will use a pair of hemostats from now on.

 

[Uncle Salty 05]

Oh, and yes.
They are getting more venturous and moving about the net more.

 

[bradleym]

No judgement intended about the hand in the net... Just curious. I got frustrated doing it that way because of the cramped spacing.

I am glad to hear yours are coming out more. My oldest one has started hovering along the edge of the net like he was trying to break out every now and then and it was causing my paranioa to act up lol.

 

[Uncle Salty 05]

If mine continue to grow and get just a tad bigger, I will be able to release them into the 10 gallon tank.
I think they will be much more comfortable then.

 

[bradleym]

... At which time you'll post a picture, right?

I was thinking the same thing about the older one, but he's still behind schedule on growth. He's a fighter though. Last night I watched him charge a live mysis and catch it without his feeder tentacles! These things are smart!

 

[Uncle Salty 05]

I'll do my best.
Like I said I am not very good at posting pics.:headwallblue:

 

[Uncle Salty 05]

Finally got pics

Finally got pics

These are about a week old due to my wife hogging the compurter.
They are not the best but here ya go:
The first shows their color changing abilities

The send shows their ability to camouflage themselves

The third is all thre in a cup during a net cleaning