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HELP!! Octopus laid eggs!!

Here is a photo from today. Unfortunately I do not see any black dots in the eggs yet. She's been trying to move rocks in order to cover the exposed photo area. \She'll move in order for me to snap a quick shot, then quickly returns.
 

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Giar,
Please introduce yourself to Octo.. on his Raising Octos from eggs thread . He is going to attempt Abdopus hatchlings simultaneous to your attempt so note comparison may help both of you (and the rest of us :biggrin2:).

I was surprised the eggs were out in the open. I have several videos of animals securing their dens to keep the eggs well hidden. The most extreme case was with Kooah and I never would have believed she could move that rock through the tube. The funniest was Maya as she planted a "tree" outside her den.
 
My Abdopus keeps so many shells in front of her den you cant see into it at all. I have to add a crab in the tank so she leaves then shine a flashlight in, then get a 3 second look before she gives you the eye and blocks it all up.
 
Thanks D!
My order from ebay arrived today! Looks good.

Hello Octo!

My girl is trying to rearrange the live rocks. She swims away allowing me to photograph her for about 10 secs. As you can see in the photo, the rocks are placed against the glass which I cover with a black shirt. I think it keeps her from being frightened. Octo do you have any pictures of the eggs? Do they look anything like the ones in my photo? I'm just trying to figure out if they're fertile.
 
D,

Maya's Video is amazing! Today she pulled in more rock trying to prevent me from my occasional peek. She usually completely covers the eggs but when i move the shirt it she takes off for a few secs. I think once she realizes its me she returns.
 
Unfortunately with the eggs this small, you are not going to see much development with the naked eye (it was hard to see with the larger eggs but with those, the camera picked up a lot that the eye did not see. You may be able to see something under a magnifying glass and more likely under a microscope if you want to remove a small number but time will tell without doing that and, even knowing that none will survive, I have a hard time doing this. I did move a cluster of Cassy's eggs to the front (they were outside the area she was protecting and abandoned) but they did not develop. Patience is required while the paint dries :biggrin2:

Maya's eggs were not fertile and they disappeared very quickly. I removed all of LittleBit's eggs knowing they could not be fertile. I had hoped that she would discontinue the brood behavior. Sadly that only worked for a day or two. They are sitting in an open container filled with only saltwater still look like they did when she laid them several months ago (albeit the container has evaporated a few times and the salt maybe preserving them) so I believe Maya either ate them or allowed them to be eaten. Roy has seen similar evidence that infertile eggs disappear and suggests that female consumption is a high possibility.

If you looked at some of the pictures of Kaysoh's feat (scroll down from the link for a few others) you will understand why it is so amazing. That is a rather large rock and she moved it from one side of the tank, through the 6" tube and placed it on the other side.
 
giar;190883 said:
Thanks D!
My order from ebay arrived today! Looks good.

Hello Octo!

My girl is trying to rearrange the live rocks. She swims away allowing me to photograph her for about 10 secs. As you can see in the photo, the rocks are placed against the glass which I cover with a black shirt. I think it keeps her from being frightened. Octo do you have any pictures of the eggs? Do they look anything like the ones in my photo? I'm just trying to figure out if they're fertile.
No I dont have any pictures she is extremely protective with her eggs she only leaves at night and the eggs are in the back of a Cichilid home slanted down so You can barely see them with a flash light. She jets back to her den as soon as you turn on the light. Im trying to get a good picture but so far what I get is this
 

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Octo,

My girl is also extremely protective as well.

D,

My girl completely moved pretty darn large pieces of live rock completely blocking my view and photo ops. I'm not even sure how the rock placement is possible.

I'm going to keep the reef soup mix at my buds LFS. I think I need to order another pack just to insure theres a abundance of food. Anyone ever see these things http://www.ebay.com/itm/26105966371...d=link&campid=5338967513&toolid=20001&mkevt=1 ? 1/4" shrimp. My LFS seems to have some sort of microscopic shrimps breeding in his tank. If the eggs hatch i think i'll drop some little ones in there.
 
My girl completely moved pretty darn large pieces of live rock completely blocking my view and photo ops. I'm not even sure how the rock placement is possible.

I was looking a photos of Cassy for a picture for Google+ and realized that she too had moved large rocks through that same tunnel. In fact I think it was Cassy that moved two. One took her several days and I was afraid it was wedged in so tightly that it would not come out.

I am surprised to see the red shrimp! I used to order them from Hawaii regularly (as seahorse food) but over time shipping costs and legal surcharges made them too expensive. Sadly the people that were being stopped from shipping them cultured their own and were careful to keep full breeding populations in their ponds. They were not the people responsible for the low populations and nothing was being done to address the real problems (using the natural breeding grounds for decorative fish that ate them). They should make excellent food and can actually be cultured in an aquarium. They will be too large to start with though. If I thought you had any chance of success I would suggest culturing them for the second month of pelagic living. If finances were better I would get some myself for future large egg and young octos to be honest.

You might just ask them about octo availability as I see they are actually IN Hawaii and not just selling Hawaiian shrimp. I looks like they primarily raise clown fish but you never know until you ask.
 
Hello D!

I think the eggs are fertile!!! I could be imagining things but I think I see shimmers of gold!?! Fools gold probably, but non the less I'm still pretty excited. I will try a post pics soon. Mom is being super protective of her den. I will ask about octopus availability alwell.
 
Gold is an odd color but you may be seeing some kind of reflection that would indicate changing embryos. :fingerscrossed: The fact that there are still eggs is a positive sign from what I have experienced. Just keep trying to watch the paint, it will dry eventually :wink:
 
Eggs have little black dots now. Does anyone know approximately how much longer till they hatch? I will need to order some more reef soup. The Hawaiian shrimp are on there way! I was thinking of putting a few hatchings in the reef. I will try and get some photos tomorrow.
 
Does anyone know approximately how much longer till they hatch?
Unfortunately, no. Hatching, even after eye detection can vary considerably within a species and to my recollection, we have not had a Macropus hatching (or even viable eggs) even though we have had numerous animals that look to be the same Macropus species. I went back to Cassy's hatching and tried to come up with a possible percentage go by. I saw eyes just under 1/2 (40% of total brood to hatching time) way through the process. If the eggs are 10 days old and this has any relevance at all :roll: the hatchlings would hatch in two weeks. Maybe we should start a pool :wink:
 
Heading to the LFS to grab some micro algaes and plants. I'm hoping the "Reef soup's" little critter will thrive and be plentiful for our little friends. I tried snapping a photo of the eggs, but honestly they look all the same. My camera can't capture fine detail.
 

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