They are so tiny at this stage, it is hard to see them hunt. I always just watched for activity (and that they were still alive...)
[Cuttlefish Eggs]: Jabba, Jool, Ziro, Zorba - S. Bandensis
- Thread starter DWhatley
- Start date
This is twice a day check
One hides better than the others (one of the first 3) and I hold my breath until I find it. I never know where/how it hides but think is it always the same one.
I'm sure it is the same one, they like to give you heart attacks trying to find them at this stage...
I saw my first mysis catch! 
. I swapped nets today to eliminate the brown algae starting to block the viewing. Photography is a major challenge even without the algae. The one that I see hovering and may have been the one I saw eating (larger/est of the 5) appeared to be hunting but no matter how I placed the camera he would move so that I could not get off a good shot. If I put on the video, he would stay still
. I swapped nets today to eliminate the brown algae starting to block the viewing. Photography is a major challenge even without the algae. The one that I see hovering and may have been the one I saw eating (larger/est of the 5) appeared to be hunting but no matter how I placed the camera he would move so that I could not get off a good shot. If I put on the video, he would stay still
They are annoying at this stage... 
So far so good. I ordered yet another batch of mysis . I offered a shore shrimp on a stick to a couple that seem to know food is coming when I stand in front of the tank but I could get no interest (it was really way too big). I broke down and gave the one that is most curious (the hoverer - working on his name) a
Opae ula but did not have the camera ready. He snatched it up in no time. I tried a second and another grabbed it just as I returned to the tank. I added 3 more and only saw one swimming after a few minutes and that one too was happily taken. I think they are ready for bigger food I am still feeding a couple of times a day (I think this may be important, perhaps more than what is fed).
After well over a year, my Hawaiian shrimp never multiplied and I am a bit sad to offer them. They won't last long but found a place I could buy 100 for about $1/each including shipping. I will mix offering the mysis until they are gone and the new shrimp arrive. My hope is that I can feed once a day and that they will grow big enough for shore shrimp when this batch is exhausted.
. I offered a shore shrimp on a stick to a couple that seem to know food is coming when I stand in front of the tank but I could get no interest (it was really way too big). I broke down and gave the one that is most curious (the hoverer - working on his name) aOpae ula but did not have the camera ready. He snatched it up in no time. I tried a second and another grabbed it just as I returned to the tank
. I added 3 more and only saw one swimming after a few minutes and that one too was happily taken. I think they are ready for bigger food I am still feeding a couple of times a day (I think this may be important, perhaps more than what is fed). After well over a year, my Hawaiian shrimp never multiplied and I am a bit sad to offer them. They won't last long but found a place I could buy 100 for about $1/each including shipping. I will mix offering the mysis until they are gone and the new shrimp arrive. My hope is that I can feed once a day and that they will grow big enough for shore shrimp when this batch is exhausted.
Not the greatest of videos but I finally caught, one eating, two fighting over a new catch and one catching shrimp today.
So cool Denise! They're so tiny and cute!
This is the kind of post I probably would not make if I was not a moderator. I lost one of the cuttles tonight through lack of proper attention when feeding. I usually move the cheato when I put in their food so they can see it clearly and everyone gets a shrimp. My daughter-in-laws parents came by so I fed a little early and fully removed the cheato rather than just pushing it aside. I noticed a white blob and removed it thinking it was trash in the chaeto. When I could not find one of the cuttles I assumed the little one had perished and was eaten. Only later did I think of the white dough that I had placed on top of the tank. Sadly, it was the fifth cuttle. I would like to think it was already dead since it did not react when I removed it but the color was healthy. 
Oh, I'm sorry to hear that D! I guess at that size they really are a challenge to keep track of!
It shouldn't be since they are in a small space but the Chaeto had white shells and other floatsome on it when it came (as does the patch in the now empty mysis tank) and I did not occur to me that this one was hiding in plain sight (bright white against dark green). Usually they are underneath the chaeto but one has been continually difficult to locate and just kind of "showed up" at feeding time. I suspect this is the one I have had to hunt for most days. 
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- Jan 9, 2010
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So sorry to hear about you losing one. Hoping the rest are doing well and are getting fatter! I could not get mine to eat.
Sorry D, it's hard to lose them, especially when you know it could have been prevented...
Fortunately they are eating like little pigs AND breaking the piggy bank. I found a start up company through eBay that can ship me some very small shore shrimp in bulk (500) so I am hoping there will be enough really small ones to grow the cuttles out enough for the bigger, less expensive food. In the past, I have avoided cuttles because the the cost of getting them to a decent size but had a spurt of insanity when I had no cephs in the house. The Hawaiian red shrimp I have been growing out for the last year were perfectly sized for a meal but the new ones are tiny (I had forgotten how small they were since I have had my originals for well over a year. I started a tank for them hoping they would propagate for eventual octopus hatchlings. They survived well and grew but never replicated) and two are needed for a meal (would have been good earlier, still expensive but much hardier than mysis and are not cannibalistic). At $4.00/day per cuttle, I need an alternative. I also found a place that has fw cherry shrimp culls (the brightly colored ones are sold for pets and far too expensive for feeders) that would likely have worked (fw glass shrimp have been used successfully) but the vendor of the shore shrimp cut me a deal that was better. FW shrimp propagate more easily though and I may try a tank in the future just to see if they are a sustainable aquacultured food. I am probably going to have to clean out and restart one or two of my 10 gallons when they arrive but will start them in a couple of smaller plastic "sweater box" tanks to separate them by size.
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Good luck with all this, D!
People wanting to keep a ceph should take note: it's always the food that requires extra money, extra effort, and even extra tanks!
Nancy
People wanting to keep a ceph should take note: it's always the food that requires extra money, extra effort, and even extra tanks!
Nancy
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