Other Cephalopod experience?

[MagnusApollo]

Hi there,

has anyone ever attempted to raise other types of Cephs besides Octos?

Like cuttle fish, or Nautalis? If so, what did you raise?

Just a curiosity question.

 

[Kevomac]

I had a nautilus who lived for about 3-4 months once. That was before I got onto RC and found out that their almost impossible to keep in tanks.

 

[goodman770]

Magnus,
It's pretty much the consensus on here that the Nautilus and Cuttles are very hard to keep, if not impossible. I had considered a Cuttle a bit ago, but have decided to stick with the Octos.

Bill

 

[MagnusApollo]

thanks for posting.. it was a curiosity question.... I really wasn't planning on ever getting one.. I'm just very impressed with copapods, cuttle fish in particular, and was just wondering if anyone ever had them survive in a tank.

I'm actually a pufferfish nut... and my marine tanks are aimed at setting it up for marine puffers (porcupines and dog-faced).

Haven't gotten up the nerve enough to try octopus in the home tank. I'm afraid that I'll come home.. find the lid of the tank off and an octopus trying to make off back for the ocean in my girlfriends car.. hehe (okay overkill there.. but just don't want to have to lock down a lid).

Thanks for replying, I didn't think so.. I had read alot on cuttlefish and saw how hard it was for many of the universites studying them. But, I still find them to be an amazing species.. I'm thinking of heading down to australia for the breeding season of the Giant Cuddle fish (before they are all fished out by the mass of fisherman...)

 

[cephalopoder]

Hobbyists have just begun to explore the world of breeding cephs.Public aquariums and research labs have breed nautilus, octopus,cuttlefish and squid.
Getting nautilus to live to adult hood has been tough even for the worlds best.
I think a hobbyist has some of the best chances to breed a animal because they can spend as much time as they want on one thing till they master it. Aquireing a pair of any ceph is one of the biggest challenges you face.Then comes food for the young lol.

 

[evilblake]

Keeping Cuttles

Keeping Cuttles

I've been very interested in keeping Cuttlefish for a few years now. Actually found a supplier about two years ago and ordered one. The specimen I received was on the young side, and only about two and a half inches long. I think it was very stressed when it arrived and weak. About half an hour after it was in the tank it took a rest on top of a piece of live rock and one of my larger serpent starfish snaked its spiny arm out of a hole in the rock and grabbed my poor cuttle's feeding tentacle and a horrifying bout of tug of war ensued. I had to intervene, the poor thing couldn't get away, and afterward it's feeding tentacle was quite mangled, stretched out to about three times its original length. It died later that night and I have put off giving it another try until I could provide it with a tank where nothing will bother it (it's hard to pull those serpent stars out of a tank, you grab them by the arm and it just snaps off and they grow a new one).

I went and looked at the cuttlefish they have at the New England Aquarium today and I'm pretty excited to try keeping one again. I've set up a tank and I'm just waiting until everything is super stable.

For those who are interested, here is a link to a fantastic article about what they are and how to keep them:

http://www.dal.ca/~ceph/TCP/cuttle1.html

If anyone has tried to keep one of these fabulous creatures, I'd love to hear about it.

Cheers,
Blake

 

[OctoMonkey]

Hi Blake
I managed quite sucessfully to keep Sepia officinalis from 12mm long babies to adulthood. Being a resident of Scotland does put me in a more favorable position to get a hold of them though... i have some pics on my own site which is linked to from my profile..... the pics are quite big but some are nice...

I found them to be not too bad to rear but got big and lost two to canbnabalism, next time i will have a 1000 gal tank!

C

 

[evilblake]

Jet Set Cuttlefish

Jet Set Cuttlefish

Yes, the real problem here in the States is getting a healthy specimin to start with, I think. Especially when ordering them off the Internet (the only way I know of to get them around here).

The problem is that no one breeds them for the hobby in the States, so the only ones available are wild caught from overseas, so the poor things have to go on a long trip in a bag in a box on a plane, then get put in a tank at the warehouse, then when you buy them they get put in another bag in a box and go on another plane. Not a terribly
good system, but having them shipped directly from other countries requires permits and such.

It is good to hear from someone who has had success with Cuttlefish.

Blake