Thanks Chris
I hadnt had my briareus long when she laid eggs... for the first week or so i had her she was really active, searched every square inch of the tank. I asumed she was just checking the place out; then I spotted eggs on a really obvious bit of the glass. I think I posted pics at the time on Reefcentral... if not....
http://www.tonmo.com/cephcare/mombriareus.shtml
At that time she had laid about a dozen eggs. A day or three later I spotted that she had laid the majority of her eggs in a clay pipe, which had been there from the start. The earlier laid eggs were ignored and later disappeared??? dunno what happened to them???
My prognosis was that the first bunch were laid because she was stressed and confused about her new surroundings then she settled in a bit better.
I wouldnt add food for her unless you can take it out as soon as you spot her refusing it. Crabs and the like may stress her out further if she is not willing to eat. A brooding octopus will catch and kill crabs because they are a threat to the eggs, they dont always actually eat what they kill, I spotted that after about week 3 or 4.
your species is very obviously a small eggs species, wheras briareus is a large egg species. Try to get some close shots of your octo. without stressing her though!
As she is still coming out to survey the surroundings, I dont think she has laid the rest of her eggs yet, as i mentioned earlier, egg laying lasts several days. She maybe HAD to lay thise first eggs through discomfort or something and is still checking out for a better place for the rest.....
What other animals do you have in there and are the eggs still there? Are tey stuck to the glass with what looks like green glue?
All the best
C
