cuttle questions from a beginner

[Bob the kracken]

I'm considering cuttles more seriously now because you can keep the together, thereby adding the posibility of future generations, and because chillers are so expensive. i'll hopefully have my tank cycling by the end of the month. when is the best time to get bandensis eggs in the US? also how many cuttles can you keep in a 55 gallon?

to ask another quesion how do you tell your cuttles apart, and what are the signs of gender? plese send me article links becasue i'm completely hopeless with google.

 

[shipposhack]

You won't want to keep more than 3 in a 55. Remember that the more you have, the more the costs of food will be. As for getting them I don't know, and I believe that gender is hard to tell until they are near the end of their lives, but if you get 2 males they will most likely fight each other.

 

[gjbarord]

Cuttlefish are nearly impossible to tell apart until they are mature and show reproductive behaviors. I will get back to you about the references for the coloration and behavior of mature individuals.

Greg

 

[Paradox]

The older they are, the easier it is to tell them apart. They will usually grow at different rates, so size can be used as a differentiator.

 

[DWhatley]

My two, Winkin' and Blinkin' (my first cuttles - still in their breeder net but are about an inch long and will be freed to their first small aquarium after TONMOCON), started to show different personalities after roughly 3 weeks. I can't tell them apart physically (lots of color and texture changes) but always know who is who by their behavior.

Winkin' is not shy and stays visible most of the time. She (arbitrary) does not even hide when I put the pipette in the tank and squeeze the cyclop-eeze right on top of her.

Blinkin' is a scardy cat and will duck under the live rock if he (also arbitratry) sees me looking into the net. He inks frequently and will put out a cloud if he see me peering at him from underneath when he thinks he has avoided my observation.

The difference in behaviour is consistent.

 

[sorseress]

I love the way the personality traits worked out to "she" and "he".

 

[DWhatley]

Sorseress,
In this case, I think I subconciously compared them to Jennifers three. If personality traits have any real merit for determining sex then I definitely have a male and female and since Baby A was the most interactive I have labeled Winkin a girl (or to be totally honest, I have decided that the most friendly one is Winkin' since they were given names before I could tell them apart).