where to house a cuttlefish?

[smokinreefer]

hey guys,

my LFS gets in cuttles once in a blue moon and they currently have 1, i believe it is Sepia.bandensis.

can i put him in my 180 reeftank?

other fish in the 180 include:
1 x leopard wrasse
1 x purple tang
1 x powder blue tang
1 x copperband

the only fish that is small enough that the cuttle might eat is
1 x blue chromis ( i hate to say it, but he is expendable
)

no shrimp or crabs (except hitchhikers, which are expendable as well)

does it sound good? i realize it will need most likely need live foods... being a predatory creature, do they need to feed constantly/high metabolism? or once every few days? i would consider feeding damsels if hte latter.

i also have a 20 gallon plumbed into the 180 that i can vacate for the cuttle (currently has a breeding pair of banggais in it)

and i will also be setting up a 45-60 gallon reef in a month or 2.

do you foresee any problems putting the cuttle into the 180? the cuttle wouldnt pose any harm to any corals/clams?

TIA.

 

[Thales]

Putting him in a 180 is fine, but he will eat fish twice his size. Actually he will kill them and eat part of them. The other problem with putting him in the 180 is you will prolly never see him. It is shocking the size of fish the cuttles will go after. The tank is huge and well aquascaped,I believe, and he will hide hide hide. This is problematic because it is hard to tell if he is getting enough food. The 20 should be perfect for him; I have one long term in an 18 gallon. S bandensis is a small species. Reef lighting is also too bright for cuttles and you prolly wouldn't see him at all. I wouldn't do the 180.

The cuttle won't harm clams (I think, never tried it), or corals.

Make a 'cuttle garage' for him - two small pieces of LR topped by a third the third being about 2 inches off the bottom of the tank. Also put like 1/2 in of sand in there because this species likes to spend time on the bottom. You can also aquascape the rest of the tank however you like.

I feed mine at least twice a day (cuttles have a fast metabolism) with live crabs I collect from the SF bay and they will pretty much eat any crab or shrimp. If you can collect crabs, which I strongly suggest for wild caught cuttles, be sure not to give ones that a too big because the claws can cause damage. I also feed my adults goldfish once a week or so, and glass shrimp occasionally. They can be trained to take shrimp of a stick.

 

[smokinreefer]

cool, thanks for the suggestions and info Lefty.

into the 20 it is.

local crabs eh? i am on the west coast, so i suppose it is plausable.

 

[smokinreefer]

just an update...
here it is!

 

[Thurge]

Beautiful.
Would a pair be happy in a 30gal?

 

[Thales]

Looks like S bandensis.
Two wild caught animals in a 30 would prolly become one in a day or two. It may be possible to keep two that have been raised together.
Here is a pic of mine:

 

[Thurge]

Then would egg crate wok as a divider amybe?

The bigger problem is finding them in Ohio.

 

[Thales]

Egg crate will not work as a divider! They will fight through it.
You need a divider like you see in fish store cubicle tanks.

I am sending you a pm.

 

[majestic sea life]

whats a online site the has CB ones for sale