• Looking to buy a cephalopod? Check out Tomh's Cephs Forum, and this post in particular shares important info about our policies as it relates to responsible ceph-keeping.

Changed My Mind!

I will have to measure the tank. The filtration currently consists of a penguin filter. It's big, but I don't know what model. I am going to get a Seaclone 100 skimmer, but I don't have it yet. The tank is around 36 inches long, 16 inches high, and 12 inches wide or something like that.
 
I would recommend 2. For the first 4-5 months you will think you can keep more in there, but near reproductive maturity, the bandensis become very territorial and competitive. Aggression becomes much more frequent. I would try to keep them at even numbers. In an ideal situation, you want couples. However, you wont have a guess at thier sex until at least 4-5 months.

A single mated pair would do great in a 40.

If you feel you want more then this, I would suggest 2 mated pairs over having 3 cuttles where one is single. The third will get picked on a lot. 2 mated pairs will mostly stick with themselves.

Ive learned a great deal from raising bandensis from eggs to thier current age of 9 months. One thing that I suggest is to get as strong/big a skimmer as you can afford. The skimmer is the heart of my filtration. Any slight waver in its ability to function properly, you will observe die offs. Cuttles are very sensitive to changes and intolerant to the slightest of bad water quality. Much more then any octo Ive ever kept.

For lighting, I would use 2 55 watt power compacts and have each on a timer with both being on at the same time for only 4 hours a day. That is, one can be on for 8-10 hours a day while the other only is on for 4. Too much light will make them less active. I had a blind cuttle, but I dont associate it with lighting.

In terms of corals, I would sugest zoos, mushrooms, ricordias, star polyps..etc. It has been suggested to not keep stining lps type corals with cephs. However, I have to admit I do have a hammer in my cuttle tank, but Ive never seen any signs of it stinging or harming a cuttle. Ive seen the bandesis sit on the coral and show no signs of distress..

Good luck and if you have any questions just ask!
You can see my experiences and tank set up on my webpage in my sig.
 
funny after keeping A bimac and an S. officnalis when my cuttle dies ill get another octo
they are more acitve and interactive than cuttles.
My Cuttle never tried to grab me and only rarely eats out of my hand. My Bimac Megas was always in my hand looking for food and being a clown. always ate out of my hand and was always looking around and playing with the castle and toys i gave him.
eh
I think octos are more interesting to keep even if the cuttles are more exotic and colorful
 
To make things even more difficult...

There is not much information regarding mixing bandensis that were reared apart.

That is, they may fight and kill each other or they may not. Bandensis can be kept in groups, but this has only been proven for groups that grew up together since young. I know mixing adults that are wild caught can result in fighting and death. So if it turns out your 2 are the same sex, it is uncertain if just trading one out will be successful. However, we may find that captive raised individuals reared apart can get along.

If anyone has had experience with this, I would like to know as well.

My dillemna at the moment involves three 5 month old bandensis that I have. I wonder what would happen if I put them in the main tank with my 9 month olds. I may put them in a clear divider and see how the 9 month olds react.

If you can keep a larger number until they are old enough to pair off, you can then trade/sell the rest off to responsible Tonmo members. You should be able to keep 6 or so in a 40 until they get to 4-5 months, which is about the time youll be able to sex them anyways..Also, expect to lose a couple along the journey. Regardless of how careful or well thought out your system is, Ive learned that sh*t happens. Bandensis rearing is still in its infancy, so we are still learnign as we go..Unfortuantely, these lessons have a price..

Also make sure you thoroughly think out your feeding situation for feeding an army of cuttles gets $$$$ real fast!
 
Just noticed the foods you mentioned available to you.

Keep in mind that the food required for newborns will be pods or maybe mysis shrimp. Ive never used mysis shrimp, but have heard others with success. Ive had some 3-5 day olds even take small 1/4 inch marine shrimps, but not all seem to. Crabs will not be an option until at least 2-3 months. I believe this is due to how cuttles catch them. With all live foods other then crabs, cuttles will use thier feeding tentacles to pull them in. With crabs, they shoot in and grab the crab with all thier tentacles. Usually from the backside of the crab. The cuttle needs to be strong enough to hold the crab from behind to avoid the pinchers. Baby cuttles show no interest in crabs until they are larger.
 
Ok. I figured I would lose several, if not all on my first try, but it's not going to happen unless I get some eggs. Yes, I have a source of mysis shrimp available for the babes. Nobody knows anyone who has eggs that they are selling, or do not want to hatch and raise? Nearly every cuttle tank I have seen has red gracilaria algae, so I got some today, but I am keeping it in different tanks until the 40 gallon is cycled. I would really rather prefer to buy eggs over adults, since they ship easier, and I will have them for longer, as long as I can raise them. I may go for the Seaclone 150 instead of the 100. The 150 is recommended for 150 gallon tanks I think. Is that overkill, or good enough? I also plan an HOB refugium for the main tank, and one for the baby tank, both of which I will seed with mysis, pods, and possibly a few crabs. I plan on making my refugium out of acrylic, and I want to make them about 2 gallons or so. I had a very good, and cheap source for fiddlers, and other feeders, but they went out of business this week...so I will be ordering online, and possibly some fiddlers and such from my LFS. My Wal*Mart sells ghost shrimp for $0.18 each. If I can get eggs, I will try my best to hatch and raise them all, but I will wait until I can sex them until I sell the remaining ones. I plan on putting several tank dividers with holes drilled in them to divide the tank into enough compartments to house all of them separately, unless there are too many babies, in which case I may have to pair them up in compartments. So, does anyone know anyone that is breeding sepia bandensis, or has any eggs?

Thanks to all who have helped me this far!!!
Brock F.
 
So far, Im not aware of successful breeding of Bandensis in the US. Righty's eggs were duds. My eggs were duds and my 9 month year old females have died. One I believe died from eating guppies, and the other was mostly blind from a birth defect that eventually just died. Having only males left for this generation leaves me out of the breeding picture until my next batch reaches maturity. However, I feel pretty accomplished having sustained 9 months so far!

A store in Florida was selling eggs, I cannot recall the name. Do some searching in the forums here for I recall it being mentioned. My experience from this batch was very different then my previous clutches of eggs. Definetly harder to get eating and a lot of cannabolism..
 
Aquatropics in gainsvill florida, and i would not go with a seaclone skimmer, very unreliable, i would go with a coralife superskimmer they are my personal favorite, if not a cpr bakpak would also be a good alternative as well as an aqua c remora.
 
Ok. I contacted Aquatropics, and i'm waiting for them to call me back with a shipping estimate. Too bad i'll be at soccer practice...I plan on getting them after the school year ends (I am 14), so I can devote all of my attention to them. Thanks again everyone!

Brock F.
 
i need cuttle is right, the Seaclones have a bad reputation. I've heard a lot of good press about the Superskimmer: It isn't by any means the best skimmer, but it way outperforms anything in its price range.

Dan
 

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