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Cuttlefish Eggs!

My water temp changes from 77 at night to 79/80 during the day. It's pretty consistent in that.

I wonder what the native temps are for the eggs. I'm working on a completely separate system for my next batch so I can more closely monitor things and see if I can get better results.

The one hatchling I have is almost 3 weeks old now and appears strong and healthy. He's started paying attention to me when I approach the tank which is pretty cool. Food continues to be no problem. I'm keeping pods in the net with him but the few small grass shrimp that I put in have disappeared as well, so he seems to be able to take some larger foods already.
 
Last night I released my solitary cuttle into the refugium. He seemed to want out of the net really bad and he's over a month old now, so I figured he was responsible enough to handle it. Well right off the small grass-shrimp I had in there went for him! They are about his size so figured they could pick on him I guess. He didn't take too kindly to all the attention and smacked a few of them around pretty good. He didn't eat them but he didn't take any crap either! I fished out the shrimp that were too large and left cuttle-man to clean up the rest. The bigger shrimp went into the octo-tank. They weren't there this afternoon when I got home. Hmmmm.....

So this evening I go looking for Mr. Cuttle and he's nowhere to be found. I started to panic until I saw him in the overflow box! I guess he isn't quite as big as I thought. I thought for sure he wouldn't fit thru the teeth of the OFB. During the process of retrieving him from the OFB and putting him back in the tank, I got some good up-close time with him and he sure has a lot of attitude for a little guy. Looking at me and waving his arms about, funny stuff.

Can't wait till I get more eggs!!! The other tank that I'll run at a cooler temp is setup and ready to go.
 
I am betting on the shore shrimp showing up alive. Look in the tank with a flashlight at night. They are not an easy target for octos and rarely get caught (unless they get too nosey).
 
My first cuttle is doing quite well. He's taking down shrimp as long as he is and is quite the character. Since none of the other eggs from his batch hatched, he's been a loner.

Until today!!! My LFS store got in 4 more eggs which I immediately picked up. Turns out 1 of them hatched in the bag and the other 3 are fat and healthy looking with obvious cuttles inside. They are all nice and comfy in the tank (seperate from the first cuttle) and hopefully I'll have 4 newbies shortly.

Has anyone mixed cuttles of different ages? We're about a 1 1/2 months apart on these guys, so what would be the recommended age to introduce them to each other? Or is that just a bad idea? I know the size difference right now is too great, but I'm thinking in a few months when the younger guys catch up we may be able to put them all together. Gotta get some eggs ya know!

And can you believe my LFS actually had the nerve to raise the price on me!?!? The first dozen eggs were $25. These 4 were $6 each!!! Highway robbery I tell ya!!! Just kidding of course, it's still an awesome deal. I told him he was too cheap the first time. He's doing good by me and hoping to have more eggs in soon.
 
So the problem wasn't my camera. Big surprise!

The first pic is my original cuttle, alone in the fuge. The second pic is the new neighbors and then a pic of the 30g tank I have them in.
 

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My newest cuttle gave me quite the scare. I couldn't find him in the breeder net for 3 days so last night I pulled out the blue plastic frame to see if I could find a carcass. Even with the frame out and just the 3 eggs in the net I didn't see him. So I start to put the frame back in the net and there he is!!! Sneaky little bastard!

I caught a few mysis shrimp last night in the ICW and put them in with him. He's a week old so expect he should be eating. He didn't hit any immediately so I'll check the breeder net when I get home to see if he's snacking when I'm not looking.

The first cuttle is still in the fuge and doing great. He's a monster! I moved the chaeto he was hiding under and he lunged at me like he was going to attack! Not the stick I was using but actually at the glass like he wanted a piece of me! So cool.
 
No one quite knows why the do it, but bumping the glass is damaging. Try to avoid any movements that start them attacking the glass. We have seen them damage themselves this way, leaving permenant patches of white skin that can no longer color.
 
Thanks D. He hasn't been hitting the glass so much as coming at me when I have something in the tank (i.e. scrapper, tongs, etc).

So we were gone for the long weekend and when I got home last night I found two more of the eggs had hatched! Now I have 3 hatchlings and the original cuttle which is almost 2 months old.

Does anyone have any good experience mixing cuttles in the same tank from different batches of eggs? Obviously I have to wait until they are the same size, but I'm thinking of putting them all in my 110g tank when they are all fully grown. Suggestions?
 
My 2 newest hatchlings seem a bit deformed compared to what I've seen. One especially looks weird. His eyes are bugged out a bit and he has a more hour-glass shape to his body. They are both considerably larger than my other 2 but and swimming around but I haven't seen them eat yet.

I say deformed because the look nothing like my other 2 bandensis. I supposed they could be a different species but the eggs all looked identical. Also, these eggs were not attached to each other. They were shipped in seperate bags, 1 egg per bag.

Anyone else run into this?
 
cuttlegirl;162931 said:
Is the hourglass shape because the animal is indented right behind the head (between the head and the cuttlebone)?

You are correct. However when I got home today both of the 2 new guys had passed. The first hatchling from this bunch is still kicking, but he's not impressing me. I'm making sure to have food in there, but he's just not acting right.
 
Reef Geek, i have a quick question for you? Were you pleased with what you recieved from nyaquatics.com? I just checked it out and you can buy an egg individually or 3 eggs? Correct me if im wrong. Did any of these hatch for you? From my understanding one did? Would you recommend them to me when the time came to get them? My LFS dont seem to understand what im talking about, or act like they can get them for me :frown:... only one said he got them in once and they died because he didnt know what to feed. What he was describing seemed like Bandensis eggs though. Idk, i just want a quality source, and eggs that will be healthy and hatch. BTW do you still have any of them? If so, update with pics and info please?
Thanks
 
HI guys I am new to the site. I have got a lot of information from you guys but just joined today. I have a pair of dawrf cuttlefish. The other day I woke up with these 2 sacks in my tank. They don't look like what I see cuttle eggs online, I know they look more like grape clusters. There are like 3 or 4 balls in each one. Could these possibly be eggs? Any info would help me a lot.
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