Axis - O. briareus

[sedna]

Hatch out!

Three babies this morning. I am SO not ready- gong to chaperone 6th grade camp Wed. through Friday! More later, got to get kids to school.

 

[sedna]

One is loose in tank. One is in acrylic "hatch out" tank in a critter keeper, and one is in an open glass in hatch out tank. Just used the glass to scoop it out of tank, but it's resting there now. They all seem to have their yolk sacs still attached.

 

[sedna]

One more (4 now) in the hatch out tank, I think one loose in the parent tank. Hard to tell if they are doing well or not- they are hanging on to various places where I've placed them.

 

[sedna]

D, John says to e-mail your phone number in case he needs it while I'm at camp! I'll be with 12 yr olds Wed- Fri...

 

[DWhatley]

John says to e-mail your phone number

DONE!

If my last batch and the hatchlings from Conanny are typical, you will see them on the walls at night for just about one week, then they will go to the LR and be hard to find. I left the red light on half the tank 24/7 and that is the side they seemed to favor the first week.

 

[sedna]

Hey Elizabeth, didn't find anymore. I will look earlier tomorrow a.m. Did see the dead one and thought I sucked it up, but went to dump it out and couldn't find it- looked in the tank and didn't see it there either. ???

 

[DWhatley]

John,
They just "disappear". It is thought that they eat each other but I am convinced they do not at this stage because I don't think they CAN. The first batch I saw (not mine) at 1 week all started having red marks on the mantle and we assumed biting but I never saw marks like this with my first group and I now wonder if the red marks (and a sure sign of impending death) were signs of infection or bacteria related (his water was from the channal behind the house). The little ones I kept in smaller tanks did not show signs of being attacked (all died) but where I had live rock a few did disappear. I am going to put a dead one in plain saltwater to see how long it takes to decompose this time but I don't think unassisted decomposition is the answer either. I never found a dead one in the large tank but they may have simply gone through the overflow after dieing.

 

[sedna]

Bad News...

The good news is I made it through 6th Grade Camp without killing any of the over dramatic, hormonal 12 yr old girls. The bad news is that all of the babies I know of are gone, as well as Axis.

By the time I left in Wednesday, 3 of the babies in the hatch out tank were dead but the one in the critter keeper looked good. By the next day they (John and Elise) texted me that it was gone and they didn't see any more babies. Same the next day. AND the Red Wings lost the series by one goal!!! Not a happy day for Detroit octo lovers.

When I got home yesterday we only had a couple hours until the Tiger's game (Justin Verlander ROCKS!) but I couldn't help but check the den. What was left of Axis was hardly recognizable, but there were still some eggs with babies. They weren't moving and a couple seemed not fully formed. I had hopes for 2 of them, but by the time we got back from the game, bristle worms had eaten them. I'm not sure any of them was viable.

The only hopeful thing is that there were at least 23 eggs. For sure, 4 hatched out and died. Five of them were eaten by bristle worms last night. The rest are unaccounted for. I think I might have seen one on the back wall on Tuesday, and there could still be babies living in the LR. I have no way of knowing how many or where they might be, there is so much Texas Holey rock in the tank now that a small octo can completely disappear.

I can only hope now that there may be some sneaky ones hiding in the tank. I have the best crop of amphipods I've had in a long time, so there are plenty of good hunting opportunities. It's so hard not to be crushed, I was so excited about finally having a chance to raise out babies...

 

[Mike Bauer]

They make brissel worm traps.
- Google Shopping

 

[DWhatley]

Sadly, I am not having much better luck. I found one in the overflow box tonight but none have come to the wall. One of the little guys that could not jet straight died last night and I have him in a cup of saltwater to see how long they stay whole if unmolested. The second one in that tank has not been seen since I put him in there so I fear he has also died.

Did you find empty egg casings? With Kooah's brood all (or at least most) of the eggs stayed attached to the piece of LR and the egg casings remained for a long time. With Cassy's brood, all the eggs were gone with only a tiny piece of the stem material and green "cement" remaining on the wall. I have (unremembered) one red leg hermit in the tank but I don't think Cassy would have allowed him near the eggs. The green slgae looking "cement" and stems from the ones that disappeared also disappeared within a day or two of the eggs and I don't think it would come off by itself but I have no clue what would have removed it.