1st Time Raising Sepia Bandensis

[Cephdoc]

Hello everyone, i finally got around to creating a thread for my 1st journey with Cuttlefish. I recieved 10 eggs on the 3rd of January, and so far 8 have hatched. I ordered 10 but 14 eggs were sent !! Anyways, i dont have a very great camera, so i just used the one on my phone for now, and havent taken many pics of the babies or nursery. These pics were of a couple days after i brought them home, and a couple days after the 1st one hatched. If i try to take a close up of one of the babies you cant see them very well. Bottom pic is one of the babies... Can you find him?

Other than those boring details, ive been feeding them mysids that i order from Paul Sachs. They seem to be eating them very well, and taking to more and more everyday. They are somewhat active during the day but mostly hiding amongst the algae i have in the breeder. I keep moonlights on over the reef at night and they seem to be more active then. Im guessing this is due to them still being small babies, fear of predators.

Wish me luck as i will continue with updates and hopefully more better pics.

 

[Cephdoc]

Pic of the tank
Pic of one of the clams i've bought. I've never seen on like it. Was supposed to be a Maxima, but i think it might be a hybrid between a Crocea and a Maxima. Its blue with lighter blue and white leopard spots. LFS and i have determined we think thats what i might be. At least thats what he said when i bought it.
I apologize for the poor quality pics

 

[Cephdoc]

Can someone chim in about where they ordered their amphipods? Because Pauls only does 30, and they are kinda expensive. I would like more of a bulk than 30 at a time when the time comes for feeding. Also should i just skip feeding them Amphipods? And try something bigger when the time comes? How big do they have to be to eat little shore shrimp and little fiddlers? 1-2 inches?

 

[Cephdoc]

Purchased 500 mysids coming from http://www.reedmariculture.com/mysidshrimp/index.asp arriving Wednesday. Im going to try these. Alittle expensive as i payed 150 for 500 including overnight and all the bells and whistles. Today i experimented with some options. I went to a LFS and got some very small guppies and a couple ghost shrimp to see if they were interested in them yet.
No takers quite yet though Too big i think. Although i also tried something different in my feeding tactics and i feed them alot today. 4 times!! And everytime they ate all of the mysids. Im anticipating they will be taken off of mysids within the next week or so and on to bigger things Save me some money!! HAHA! This is quite the experience i must say. Im having such a great time. Still only 8 little mouths to feed, which is plenty as they eat like elephants! Any input on to what i should move on to next would be great. But like i said if i feed them 5 times a day for the next week or two, maybe week and a half or however long these 500 last (Almost forgot also getting another 100 from paul probably wednesday too, so 600 ) But i might skip the amphipiods or try.. and go straight to frozen if they will take to that, and maybe small shore shrimp or something. Im not sure yet. Id like some input.
Thanks

 

[SabrinaR]

From what I read pods are a good choice for larger foods, also the shore shrimp. I was told once they eat 4-5 mysids at a time or a day cant remember which (check my cuttle thread) is when its about time to take them off of them and move them onto larger foods.

I am glad things are going so well for you. I am green all over. I guess mine just werent in the cards this time. Keep us updated.

 

[DWhatley]

I highly suggest removing the guppies. Unfortunately almost all freshwater fish are treated with copper either at the pet store or at the wholesaler and it will be lethal to the cephs. I know these are new hatch but the risk is not worth the experiment.

You might try mixing in frozen mysis with the live ones to start them on frozen food. Exactly when they "agree" to take frozen seems to vary widely but mixing the frozen with the live has had good results, especially when they are active feeders.

 

[Lmecher]

Wow, congratulations on your success! Your set up looks great.
I look forward to photos of the little ones.
Good job
Keeping my

 

[Cephdoc]

Sk: Thanks, yea its been going good for some reason. They are happy little babies I cant wait till they are off mysids though! lol, if they make it to adult hood and lay eggs, i would be happy to ship you some more to try. And trust me they wont be very much if anything at all. Im always willing and happy to help a friend out
D: The guppies were a big thing i tossed around for awhile, one of my LFS raise their own without copper though, I was sure i checked that they were antibiotic free and copper free before i bought. Same with the ghost shrimp.
L:Thanks for the compliment, i love my tank. I will try to get some photos in the near future, they are just hard to see with my camera, and im not much of a photagrapher
Thanks again everyone i will keep updating

 

[Cephdoc]

You know what i find amazing... I just spent 150 dollars yesterday in mysids for these little guys and they are just feeder organisms. Now here's the kick, im a regular with my favorite LFS and the owner and i are pretty close when it come to the hobby, and ill stand in the store for HOURS thinking about if i should spend 100 dollars on a piece of coral or 75 or whatever the price may be for the reef, but i can drop money like that on feeders that will be ate in a week... HAHAHA i thought about that today and really had a giggle. The owner of the LFS just kinda chuckled at me.

WOW! What a thing is it... I dont even come close to spending that kinda money on myself on food... or anything else really for that matter..

 

[Lmecher]

It's an octopus but it applies to cuttlefish too

 

[SabrinaR]

Yep that is pretty funny. I dont buy myself nice clothes or fancy things... Ok well purses... ok purses and shoes but I'm an addict and need help so what do you want but really, I dont spend money on myself often. Its on the animals. I know what it is though... Those shoes and purses dont depend on me for their lives. They dont need me to supply them food or water or anything else. So, yeah I dont have a problem spending 50$ to 100$ or more on food so that I can keep them. I will however agonize over a pair of Jimmy Choos or Manolos... I love those guys.
and =

 

[Lmecher]

Sabrina we posted at the same exact moment. You know what they say about great minds...

 

[SabrinaR]

Great minds do think a like! I liked mine so much I made it a part of my signature

 

[Cephdoc]

You guys are awesome!! HAHA, my 500 came in today, but Pauls didnt. Im alittle upset at that fact and my patience is running thin. Anyways, we should have been ording these tank raised mysids a long time ago, i think thats tha best way sk. They are much healthier, and plumper. More nutrition for the babies. And im positive they will last at week if not longer yet if they arent all ate up. I fed three times today but thats becuase they didnt get here till about 3. So im going to try and feed 5 times if they show the appetite for it. And try getting them off and on to alittle frozen and bigger less expensive.
They are right about at a 1/2 inch now. Its amazing they can eat and when i feed since i have 8 babies i dont really count the mysids out anymore, so the 1st time i fed today i put in maybe 10-11 mysids. I watched all the babies get one right away. and i kept watching behavior and am always watching. When some of them were done eating right away they went and caught another one. Little pigs!

 

[Cephdoc]

They dont seem to be wanting to eat much anymore. They dont get excited when i put mysids in there for them I hope this isnt a bad sign