Is anyone keeping nautalises?

[runn3rb3an]

I havent visited the forums in a while but recently I went to my lfs and saw a nautalise there for the first time ever.

I was always extremly interested in them but because I have never even seen oe in about 5 years of going to lfs's all over I abandoned the idea.

so I was thinking about setting up a tank for them and would like to know whos keeping them and some basic info. Right now I have a 90 gallon tank with skimmer and 45 gallon fuge/sump.anybody know what water temp? what type of chiller will I need? lighting? flow? tankmates and feeding? I already have nancys book but would like to know a little bit more.

another thing is how do they usually behave, are they a rewarding species to keep? are they active or just suck on the glass all day? any stories pictures anything to share? thanks so much!

 

[OB]

I fear they are not the most lively of critters... The Nautilus, that I take it you're referring to? Mostly kept for research purposes, as for pets, they are a far cry from octopus or cuttles.

 

[CaptFish]

I would love to have one! I am always on the look out a nautilus but have never seen one ever, ever, ever ever ever. I would love to grab one but all my tanks are full at the moment.

What size tank is acceptable for a Nautilus?

 

[DWhatley]

My short lived LFS of a couple of years ago had one and I wanted so badly to rescue it but I could not provide a proper environment and hoped the purchaser (if there was one) would be able to do better than I could. I visited it twice. They need a cold water, deep tank with limited lighting and are nocturnal (or at least live fulltime in the dark). Robyn did her PHD work with them and I see she has been lurking so perhaps she will join the discussion. Before you consider one, search for nautilus and her name to read through some of her reasons why they should not be kept at home, starting with a max success aquarium life of 18 months for an animal that should live that many years. Unfortunate because I too think they are special.

 

[snowmaker]

Perhaps they should only be kept as fossils in coffee tables... Built by me a couple years ago.

 

[DWhatley]

With all the great fossils our fossile guys find, I keep thinking I would love to have a fireplace done in ceph fossils.

 

[CaptFish]

these aren't ceph fossil but instead fish fossil fireplaces

 

[gjbarord]

I think nautilus are awesome! I don't know about keeping them in a home aquarium though? They require the same system setups as most cephalopods but they also REQUIRE a chiller to keep water temperatures around 17 C. Adam Daw and I wrote and article on nautilus husbandry for home aquariums last year. I would not recommend anymore than one nautilus at a time in a home aquarium. Having said all that, nautilus are not as "pet friendly" as other cephalopods so do not expect similar behaviors to octopus but nautilus do have their own interesting behaviors.

Bottom line: No chiller, no nautilus.

Greg