A. Aculeatus Eggs / Babies

[Redoc]

I have an a. aculeatus with eggs ( yes I know impossible ) I must try. I don't know what other people do with the eggs. I'm shure that other people have tried to raise aculeatus. I'm interested to know how far you got and what you did, not saying I'll be the one or anything like that but I think if people keep trying and sharing their expierience eventually someone will have success lots of things were impossible once.This may have been covered here already but I haven't found it if someone could point me in the right direction.

 

[Animal Mother]

From my understanding, the babies will need to stay suspended in the water column for the duration of their planktonic stage. Which means no mechanical filtration or powerheads that would potentially suck them in and chop them up, and probably no substrate in the tank they would get caught in. So, airstones for circulation and bare bottom probably would be safest. They're going to need planktonic food. Maybe rotifers. And that is a problem because adding food to a tank with no filtration is asking for trouble. So lots of water changes. But how do you change the water, without removing the baby octos with it? This is all guesswork on my part though.

You might do some research on rearing baby seahorses, particularly dwarf seahorses to get some ideas. Seems like it would be similar, although the seahorses are going to be born a bit larger than the aculeatus babies.

 

[cuttlegirl]

Are you anywhere near the ocean? If so, you could do plankton tows for food for the little guys. Or if you have lots of live rock with 'pods they might eat those...

 

[monty]

Mucktopus posted some excerpts from a paper describing the culture of vulgaris, another small-egged species, that may help you get a feel for what the requirements are:

http://www.tonmo.com/community/index.php?threads/11406/#post-11405

It doesn't look like the full paper is in cephbase, though, I'm afraid.

 

[Brock Fluharty]

Look up the raising on H. kuda or H. reidi seahorses. They are also pelagic fry.

 

[Redoc]

Are you anywhere near the ocean? If so, you could do plankton tows for food for the little guys. Or if you have lots of live rock with 'pods they might eat those...

Yes I am near the ocean and have been doing a little reserch on doing exactly that. I also have a couple of filters with lots and lots of stuff living in them.

 

[Redoc]

Mucktopus posted some excerpts from a paper describing the culture of vulgaris, another small-egged species, that may help you get a feel for what the requirements are:

http://www.tonmo.com/community/index.php?threads/11406/#post-11405

It doesn't look like the full paper is in cephbase, though, I'm afraid.

Thanks I've already read and downloaded a couple of the papers on vulgaris babies. Unfortunatly I don't have access to all the things a lab has but I do know someone who does so maybe I can get some help there.

 

[Redoc]

From my understanding, the babies will need to stay suspended in the water column for the duration of their planktonic stage. Which means no mechanical filtration or powerheads that would potentially suck them in and chop them up, and probably no substrate in the tank they would get caught in. So, airstones for circulation and bare bottom probably would be safest. They're going to need planktonic food. Maybe rotifers. And that is a problem because adding food to a tank with no filtration is asking for trouble. So lots of water changes. But how do you change the water, without removing the baby octos with it? This is all guesswork on my part though.

You might do some research on rearing baby seahorses, particularly dwarf seahorses to get some ideas. Seems like it would be similar, although the seahorses are going to be born a bit larger than the aculeatus babies.

Thanks for the info I will definitely look into it I'm not planning on removing the filtration at this point but I have an extremely large intake on the filter to reduce suction and am planing to cover everything with 64um mesh. All my intakes on my octopus tank are enlarged so that there is no way for the octopus to cover it and get stuck I don't know if they ever do but I've never given them the chance even all my outlets are covered. Water changes again would be performed through a mesh at low suction. I'm still in the planning stages and don't even know if the eggs are fertile but I'm trying to get ready.

 

[Redoc]

I've gotten some good ideas but where are the people with experience? Somebody has to have tried raising these what happened don't be shy. Everyone has failed so far I probably won't be any different but if we share our successes and our failures eventually someone will make it work.

 

[DWhatley]

I have been thinking on this a lot but never had much luck with raising baby seahorses (AM the dwarfs are actually the easiest to raise) but my best shot was using a bio-orb with the filtration removed. It is a big ball with forced air down the center that keeps the water moving in a circle. The problem with the horses in the orb was that they never properly filled their air sacks (too much and they float, too little and they sink. The later is the worst because you do not know that you have lost them until they are 5 or 6 weeks old). Since there is no air sack problem with cephs, this might be something to look into. Cleaning the water/tank is another challenge.

The other thing I found and bought but have never tried is a small dounut shapped bottle (sold as an aquarium) that has a hole in the top for an air line. Again, cleaning it would be a problem and the amount of water is minimal. I planned to drill a second air line hold and put the whole thing in an aquarium and cycle water, not air through the dounut. I have no idea if this has any practical merit but 'Tane turned out to be male and I have no idea when I will need to try out my ideas.

 

[Redoc]

From what I have read the babies use a lot more oxygen than the adults so if anything I'm thinking of expanding my system. All good ideas the more the merrier

 

[DWhatley]

The bio-orb did not have a problem with aeration. The seahorse fry need to come to the surface and "gulp" just the right amount of air within the first week (the sack seals for life after that) so the problem was not allowing them that surface time. Usually, the opposite is the problem and was the reason I tried the orb at all. Since the water is circulated via an air line and can be set to bubble the surface quite actively, CO2 exchange should be quite high with a good pump but I never tested the O2 content.

The dounut, on the other hand might be problematic. My idea was to replace the water using the two tube idea but I have yet to even play with the thing to see if my concept approaches reality. The small advantage is that the thing is cheap plastic and priced accordingly, the orb is not.

 

[Redoc]

I'm going to try and post a couple of pics of mom and eggs.

 

[Redoc]

Thanks to everyone who has responded. I'm a little confused that no one has responded with any actual experience with trying to raise small egg octo babies. So what do people do when your octos lay small eggs? All ideas are helpful thanks.

 

[Nancy]

I think the reason is that because people know it's almost impossible, they don't try. A few people in labs have succeeded with the small eggs. I think someday one of our Tonmo members will, too. You can buy food of all sizes from the Aquaculture store, if you're willing to put quite a lot of money into the project.

Nancy