Senior Project

[sandlot13]

Hey everyone, got a question

Im doing my senior thesis project this year, and we have to start planning our projects out this fall. Im super interested in doing something with cuttlefish, and was wondering if anyone would have any advice on this.

Im a little hesitant, as I have never cept a cuttlefish/octopus, but I have been keeping reef tanks for a few years now and feel confident in my abilities to run a successful aquarium.

Basically, I would need a rundown on how to specifically set up a tank for a cuttlefish so that they are comfortable, and then where I could readily find someone who would sell one of these amazing creatures to me.

Any ideas? Any thoughts? Im thinking of trying to observe their visual learning through various tests, perhaps see what kind of memory they can achieve.

Thanks guys! (and girls!)

 

[Pea-brain]

What kind of cuttlefish are you interested in? S. bandensis needs at least a 30 gallon aquarium for 1, a 55 can house 2-4. They need really good skimmers, and should be kept in tropical temps. They need a steady diet of live food, as some will not eat frozens. The other cuttlefish available is S. officianalis which needs a 200 gallon tank for one, a chiller, a good skimmer, and shouldn't be kept in groups. I can't tell you where to buy one, but check out tonmo.com for stuff on this. Good luck.

Dan

 

[sandlot13]

i have actually read up a little on s. bandensis, which would probably be my target specie. They are very interesting, and are about the right size for what I would be looking for.

I assumed the diet would be mostly live, unless I could get them hooked on frozen....... (or I could use that as part of the experiment)

30 gallon tank would be easy enough to set up for the project, but what would then need to feel at home enough for these guys? I have a limited budget that the school is giving me for this, so I gotta find exactly what I need to avoid overspending

 

[Echidna09]

Plan on live food for the cuttle, and if you can get him to eat frozen food then that's good for your small budget. A 30 gallon tank with ~30 lbs of live rock and 30 of sand will work fine. They like caves made out of an overhang of slab rock or similar. You want to make sure you arrange the rocks so the cuttle has plenty of room to swim around. Cuttlefish are tolerant of higher light levels than octopuses so if you want to keep coral with it that would be fine I just wouldn't use extreme lighting. The tank needs to be 3 months old before you put any kind of cephalopod in it, so I would get started soon.

Not many tests have been carried out on cuttlefish. Your project would definitely be interesting and fun. Cuttles are hard to come by in the US because none are native to our waters. Right now cuttles have been hard to get even online.

Good luck.

 

[Pea-brain]

Your best bet may be raising them from eggs, which would take even longer.I've read they like arches and they prefer feeder shrimp/crabs to feeder fish.

Dan

 

[Thales]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10718283#post10718283 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Echidna09

Not many tests have been carried out on cuttlefish. Your project would definitely be interesting and fun.

That depends on the species. Many of the cuttles the NRCC raises go to research.

 

[sandlot13]

what is the NRCC, and is there any way they will give me one or two or three for research?

 

[Echidna09]

National Resource Center for Cephalopods. http://www.utmb.edu/nrcc/

It's possible they will send you a couple. Doesn't hurt to ask.

 

[Thales]

The NRCC does not sell to hobbyists. They supply animals "ONLY to bona-fide researchers officially affiliated with either Public or Private Institutions of Education or Research, educators and teachers at any level via their affiliated institution and Public Aquariums fulfilling their charters for public education".

If you are looking for sources of cephs check out www.tonmo.com

 

[Echidna09]

I thought they might give him one because he wanted to do research with it for school.

 

[sandlot13]

I'll check into the NRCC, as well as tonmo. Im definitly not keeping these animal as a hobby, they will be strictly for my research project (though I will admit, it is going to be an awesome thesis project if I can get all the kinks worked out)

I have also wrote an email to a nearby aquarium (Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium) that is supposed to have a cuttlefish display. There might be a possibility that they can help me out, whether it is with actual specimens or perhaps just some friendly advice

 

[sandlot13]

Emails have been sent out to NRCC and a few other places. Im also talking with my prof's today about the project, so maybe that will help shore up some details as well. Wish me luck!

 

[Charger21_SD]

Yes TONMO would be the place to get some info, and they list some sites where you can get cuttlefish. I think everyone here has covered the basics of keeping a cuttlefish. Good luck!

 

[Animal Mother]

Have your professor contact the NRCC.

 

[sandlot13]

haha, yup, thanks animal mother Im going to mention that to them tomorrow when I get to class, because as of now, so far no reply from NRCC.