how many mysids do baby cuttlefish eat every day?

[fishkid6692]

i was just curious how many they eat a day?

 

[gjbarord]

A LOT!!!!!!!!! I have always fed juvenile cuttlefish until they do not eat anymore. This may be 5-15 (6 times a day), approximately.

Greg

 

[shipposhack]

I fed mine 2-4 per day each. After about a month you can try weening them on to frozen food.

 

[fishkid6692]

ok

ok can i just order like 2000 and then keep them in like a 14g tank and feed them artemia every day? if i do that how much artemia cysts should i hatch to feed the mysids?

 

[shipposhack]

How many cuttles are you planning on having? The bad thing about mysids is they are cannibalistic, so if you order 2000 you may only get to feed 1500 of them because the other 500 will get eaten by the survivors. Because this is the case, it may be a good idea to order 300-500 at a time so you lose less due to cannibalism. Then you would be ordering more times but in the long run it will likely save you money. You can give them some cyclop-eeze every couple of days for food. You can keep them in a very small space but make sure that the only water movement is by an airstone because they will get sucked up super easily by any intake.

 

[DWhatley]

I would say that shipposhack's estimate of the numbers you will have to feed is highly optimistic and agree that you should start with a much smaller order to see how long they will last.

 

[Paradox]

Not sure if my experience was unique, but I didnt experience much canabolism with my mysids.

I purchased from http://www.aquaculturestore.com/swinverts.html and held them in a pretty small chamber. Probably a 2-3 gallons. I fed cyclopeeze.

 

[gjbarord]

As is the case with many animals, including cephalopods, with the food source is limited cannibalism will take control. As long as you can provide enough food for the mysid, you should not experience dramatic cannibalism.

Greg

 

[fishkid6692]

ok

so if i feed them like 70,000 artemia every day they will be ok? and is that to much to feed them or to little? how often should i feed them the artemia?

 

[gjbarord]

Good luck counting...

Rather than using numbers, a number of people use volumes. Now this is a little different depending on what size container you hatch your Artemia from, but it is fairly close and can be modified if need be.

For a 10 gallon tank, I would feed about 10 ml of the artemia/water, twice daily. Keep in mind that the more feeding you do, the more water changes you may have to do because of uneaten food and the increases in nitrogenous waste products. You just have to play around with it for a bit to see what works best for your personal setup.

Greg