cuttles & tube anemones

[catherlee]

Hi - I have not had good luck with the 3 cuttles that I got from a lfs. I am heart broken The only thing I am wondering about is the two tube anemones I have in there. I've heard that those nematocysts can float around... but two of my doomed cuttles were almost dead in the bag when I got home. I've a 125G with a lot of carbon and good skimming, cool (72 degrees), subdued lighting, slow current.

Now if only I had a couple cuttles, my life would be perfect!

 

[Colin]

Hi Catherlee

If you got these from a LFS then Im sorry but you may have been doomed from the start!

The most commonly imported species is Sepia bandensis from Indonesia and it travels very poorly and even worse... they are normally full grown adults that are offered for sale which may only have days or weeks to live at most!

So, it possibly isnt anything you have done but a mix of things out of your control... many people have tried to keep them, even very experienced cephalopod keepers like Chris with very little luck.

So probably best not to take any more from your LFS. They are probably destined to go the same way, sorry to be the bearer of bad news!

Now if only someone in the USA started breeding S. officinals!

Apart from that, anemones are never a good idea with cephs as they most deffinetly sting! Espcially ones liek tube anemone sthat are quite voracious. i have see them eat clown fish and shrimps!



C

 

[rrtanton]

This just reinforces my wish that I could try breeding cuttles. I have to presume there's enough demand, and surely it'd be a service to US cephkeepers. There's NO way this is an option for me, but someday...I'm quite willing to give this a go when time and living space would permit.

I was surprised to hear even of these cuttles being imported...all I'd ever heard of was Colin's descriptions of individuals arranging to send some overseas through miles of Customs office red tape.

rusty