Hi Everyone! First Post! New Setup Recommendations?! Please?

[CuttlefishCurious]

I have been fascinated by cephs for some time now, and finally have the financial ability to purchase the tank and prepare it..then 3 months of tank life until i can buy a little cute cuttlefish
I am about to buy the tank, looking at this one
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2338453577

I believe it is the most well-thought out tank, and he seems extremely knowledgeable about cephs (including the diff. between the cuddlefish i was referring to and the more elusiveness of vulgaris' and other octi!)
he offers lids for it as well. What do you guys think?
After I get a tank it's just another 3 months of sustaining ecological harmony UNTIL i can even buy a ceph..grrr..
Well, going to make the best of it and stock it with a few seahorses..probably 10 or 12 mixed colors...my girlfirend has thing for seahorses..but they will obviously require another tank...this stuff does get expensive..

ANYway....hopefully I can be of service to the community in the months to come. i have a very high resolution digital video camera with sturdy tripod and direct firewire computer connection, maybe some full 1200x1600 full frame rate clips?

I would like to find a reputable / knowledgeable seller of young cuttlefish? though it is some time away, i would like to find out availability.

Again, thank you all for your generous knowledge.

 

[joel_ang]

Hi and to TONMO.com
Btw, where do you stay? ceph availibility varies from around the world (Colin should touch up on that ). Keeping cuttles or octopuses with seahorses isn't really a good choice as the ceph might eat the horses. Though this has worked for me , many people say that cephs should only be kept in species tanks.

Do you by any chance know the volume and or dimensions of the tank? And yes pics and vids will be nice.

 

[Nancy]

Hi
and welcome to TONMO.com!

Now that you've introduced yourself, we can answer your questions over on the Ceph Care Forum.

It is very important to know where you live, since the advice might be different depending on the part of the world you're in.

Glad to have you with us,

Nancy

 

[CuttlefishCurious]

I live in austin, texas (southern USA). and, yes, i do plan on getting another tank for the seahorses once I'm ready for the ceph..
i've been doing a lot of searching, and unless i can get a cuttlefish from broodstock breeder here state-side, i might be s.o.l. for a while. but, it might not be a bad thing, i'm open to all the cephs, though i have no intention of trying the blue rings..yikes.
still waiting to hear back on a smaller tank, though i'm still avidly searching for a great deal on a full-proof system. i like the seaclear 2 (50 gallon with sump in back), gotta look around for a few more days until i make decision...
i HAVe found a few very nice tanks for the seahorses, i know they enjoy a more vertical environment with sea plants that extend up...very elegant little creatures

 

[dbbga]

Welcome to TONMO!!!!!!! I saw the tank you are thinking of getting, and not to be a killjoy, but I have heard of so many people getting a large acrylic tank only to have the seams split :? . Is this tank a formed tank or does it have seems? Something to think about.
And YES!!!! another Texan taking the plunge into Cephs!!!!!! Welcome aboard 8)

 

[joel_ang]

Sad to say Curious, there are no species of cuttle native to the USa.that means that all availible cuttles are imported. Most of the imported species come are Sp Bandensis' which come all the way from Indonesia.

To make things worse they do not ship well and often arrive as a 3-4 inch adult. As cephs have short lifespans, this won't be good as they would only have a short while more to live.

 

[Nancy]

Hi again,

I investigated acrylic vs glass tanks and ended up getting glass. You have to be careful with an acrylic tank about scratches, and you'll find that the great majority of tanks sold are glass.

Before you take the plunge, have a look at Oceanic Systems tanks - they are made here in Dallas, so you'll probably find them in Austin, too. The freshwater lid (with one light) on the reef-ready tank makes a good combination for an octo.

Nice to have another Texan interested in cephs - there are many of us!

Nancy

 

[Colin]

acrylic tends to cost a bit more too!

 

[Steve O'Shea]

Let me tell you about it!!! A 2.2 metre diameter, 2 metre high cylinder costs NZ$50,000!!!!

That's a lot of red wine!

 

[WhiteKiboko]

That's a lot of red wine!

of course you could fit well over 11000 bottles of wine in that tank.... which means you could have the contents of the tank for the same price as the tank....that is if you could find a wine thats NZD$ 4.48 a bottle (2.60 USD)....



i wonder, would the red wine stain the acrylic?

 

[CuttlefishCurious]

hmm..many things to consider

yeah, upon everything i've read this week, any species of cuttle will be hard to come by...especially the sepia offic. that inhabit the W.european shores....but, i have sent a few kind emails to those that are/will-be raising them from broodstock, you never know..

if not, though, a baby bimac (lab raised) from fishsupply.com will probably be the best pet (best bet...hehe)!

As far as tanks go, i'm reconsidering acrylic. i went to petsmart and petco today and checked everything out. if i was to get a50 gallon acrylic with built in sump, the sump area takes away about 10 gallons~ which means 40 gallons space for ceph.
INSTEAD, I'm now considering a 55 gallon glass aquarium (made by Top Fin) $99 including lids with florescent lights (lights are removeable because the ballasts are seperate of the lids, and have glass that seperates bulb from tank area so no danger of Ceph messing with them..phew..one less thing to worry about.

Also, an all in one Wet/Dry Sump will also be bought. For 55 gallons, i figure a 75 gallon system will be fine. i've found one with rio 600 pump and venturi protein skimmer, 10 gallon sump area with full chem/bio balls.....I like the all in one designs that have one input and one output from tank, with protein skimmer hanging on back of tank and leading to the wet/dry sump that will be hidden in aqarium stand...

Decided to go with Instant Ocean brand synthetic sea salt, based on all the research i've done

If all goes well, i'll be picking the aquarium up tomorrow, i appreciate everyone's help. Stil have no clue what i'm going to fill it with for the first few months..i like crabs/shrimp and the like, but i don't want to mess with them unless i can easily propagate them for ceph-food.
though, i'm still toying with the idea of keeping a second pentagonal (corner) tank for a bunch of live rock (growing) , seahorses, and small-medium seabed dwellers, maybe a few small schools of non-aggressive fish. all are possibilities

 

[Colin]

Hi again

if you have future set up questions make sure you post them in the CephCare section

How much marine experice do you two have? I only ask because keeping seahorses properly can be more difficult than cephkeeping LOL

C

 

[CuttlefishCurious]

i don't have much experience with salt water aquariums, but i'm very familiar with water properties (ph, ec, total dissolved salts, air concentration (miniscus surface disruption and air diffusion), etc.etc.)
i'm very thorough in my hobbies, that's one of the reasons i didn't start a tank the last time i was a short-live member here.
i'll make sure to due a sum up post in the tank maintenance and setup section and and ceph ques. in appropriates spots...thanx guys!

 

[Armstrong]

Good luck