Early Cuttlefish ID?

[bradleym]

Ok, a little back story. My LFS ordered some cuttlefish eggs and they hatched within about a week of today. I have had 3 of them in my tank in a breeder net since tuesday and they seem to be doing well on frozen mysid and cyclop-eez (I add enough at a time to feed but small enough amount to count). I also have an order of live mysid arriving today in case one of the 3 isn't eating the frozen.

When I purchased them, I was told that they were Sepia Pharaonis. To be honest the ID is more for my curiosity than out of necessity. However when I look closely at them I can see multiple sharp bumps all over the body, and it doesn't look like Sepia Pharaonis has bumps as an adult. The only commonly traded cuttlefish I found with bumps on its body is Sepia Bandensis. Do all cuttles come with them at hatching, or is this a sign that the original ID is wrong? I am attaching a TERRIBLE pic but just for reference, as I don't have anything that can focus on such a small target. Any input would be welcome.

 

[Bluemon]

Do you remember what the eggs looked like? Here is a Bandensis egg.
http://www.paradisepetshop.net/en/cuttlefish-eggs.html

 

[bradleym]

Yep, that's definitely them. Thanks for the idea, I didn't realize the eggs are so different but I looked up the eggs for Sepia Pharaonis and Officinalis and they are noticably different. Officinalis looks to have pointed ends, and Pharaonis apparently isn't black, so if I'm right, that answers my question! Thanks!

 

[Uncle Salty 05]

Your pic looks exactly like my three.
How much time passed after hatching before you saw them eat?
I have yet to see mine eat. That doesn't mean they haven't, I just haven't witnessed it. I put a bunch of amphipods in the net with them and they hid beneath the frame of the net. This morning one of the babies was under the frame of the net, I am hoping it was eating the amphipods.

 

[bradleym]

I haven't seen them eat, but I have been feeding them daily in specific amounts, like 6 frozen and 4 live mysis. I feed in the evening and check in the morning. They hide while the lights are on and come out at night. But in the morning, there are always less frozen and no live left so I know they are eating. They have been eating since friday for sure, so less than a week old I would guess.

 

[Uncle Salty 05]

Thanks.
I have read that it is not uncommon for them to go for 2-5 days after hatching before their first meal.

 

[bradleym]

Ha!!

Ha!!

I just saw one feed for the first time tonight! I did a water change, cleaned their breeder net, then after everyone was settled I dropped in 4 live mysis. I was watching the mysis swim when I noticed one of the cuttles with his head out from under the cheato. Right as I noticed him, I realized his tentacles were LONG, and just as it occured to me that those weren't his regular tentacles, he snapped up a mysis! I've seen it a million times on youtube, but it was a big relief to see it happen with my little runts.

 

[Uncle Salty 05]

Congrats!
I will be getting my live mysis on Thursday, and hopefully I will see my little ones eat as well.
I ordered mine from http://seahorsesource.com/
This is the same place I got my H.Reidi seahorses from. Dan and Abby are super nice people and I highly recommend them to anyone interested in seahorses or live foods.

 

[bradleym]

I didn't see them listing mysis on the site, but I went to Sachs Aquaculture at www.aquaculturestore.com. They do small orders, which is good for me because I only have 3 cuttles and don't want to keep mysis on hand for long due to their canabalistic tendencies. I got 100 last week and it was enough, but I ordered 200 this week because hunting the tiny buggers down is getting hard towards the end lol.

 

[Uncle Salty 05]

They don't list them on their site but if you call their toll free number they have EVERYTHING needed for raising healthy seahorses.
And they are very nice people with a lot of knowledge.

And I think Sachs sells wild caught. (not sure of that)
But Dan and Abby sell the same ones as Reed Mariculture.

 

[bradleym]

Their prices are on the site, but they offer some specials if you call them. If you want to compare prices PM me, but I don't want to make this a seller feedback thread.

 

[Uncle Salty 05]

Oh, me neither.
It's all about the cuttlefish.
It's just that seahorse source is closer to me (less ship time) and I am already familiar with them from when I was keeping seahorses.

I can't wait to see mine eat!!!

 

[bradleym]

Update Pic - Pretty solid on the ID now, but I wanted to share since I got a decent pic for once.

 

[Uncle Salty 05]

It's like looking into my own breeder net.
That looks exactly like mine.

 

[Uncle Salty 05]

When I was home for lunch I netted some live mysis and put them in the breeder net. When I did a small piece of string or something got in there accidentally. I reached my hand in to retrieve it and afterward I saw what looked like two tiny black cotton balls. When I tried to remove them they dissipated and disappeared. They inked on me.

 

[bradleym]

Hahaha! Awesome!!

So far cuttles are winning my vote for most interesting pet of the year.

 

[Uncle Salty 05]

I'll second that vote.

I'm wonering how much longer I should keep them in the breeder net.
The net is hanging on the side of my 10 gallon refugium where I released the mysis. Im thinking once they get big enough to not fit through the cover I usually have on the standpipe drain (I have screen covering it now to keep the mysis from going over the falls) that I will just release them into the 10 gallon tank.
What are your plans?

 

[bradleym]

Well the point of the breeder net is only to make sure they can find the food and so you can make sure they are eating. To be honest, if the only danger is the drain, and it's covered with a screen, you could release them in another week or so, as soon as they start getting active, as long as you keep a good number of mysis in there so they are easy to find. However, I would really recommend a seperate tank for keeping live food. Buying in bulk is ideal, but when you switch to larger foods, 100 ghost shrimp is gonna look ridicuous in your cuttle tank. Just my 2 cents.

I have mine in a 12g nanocube and I keep my mysis in a 4g custom acrylic tank in the stand underneath. So in my case, I will want to wait til they are a month or so old because the food isn't readily available. I like this approach better because I get to watch them hunt, and they will associate me with food and come begging when they see me.

 

[Uncle Salty 05]

Oh the cuttlefish will not live their lives in a 10 gallon tank.
I intend to either partition a section of my 180 (cheapest and easieat and probably the way I will go) or set the empty 55 gallon tank I have in the back room.
I still have not seen mine eat. I will keep them in the net until I am sure they are eating and hopefully weaned onto frozen mysis. I am hoping I can get them to take frozen mysis from the end of a piece of ridgid airline.
Then I will probably release them into the 10 gallon tank until they get a little bigger.

 

[bradleym]

Haha nice. That's a much better plan then mine. My plan is to feed both live a frozen until I can get them to eat both, and if it doesn't happen, my LFS sells shrimp pretty cheap. LOL