Moma Briareus and her new babies......

[sharkbait]

I am goin to keep this journal as a record of my experience.Tuesday morning my 2 kids and I were goin down in the fishroom to check to see if any of the eggs had hatched over night like we had been doin for the past week and as we gazed upon the eggs and seen how active the little ones were inside,we spent a few more minutes extra and to are amasement the first egg started to hatch.My little girl(3) turns to me and says "here they come daddy".We sat and watched untill the Broke free and started jetting around all over the tank.In about the 20 minutes or so we watched this one 3 more came popping out of the cave.2 1/2 hours later there was about 2 dozen. As of tonight there are about 35 or so that have hatched and about 30 or 40 left to go.I thought it was kinda odd that it is taking this long for all of them to hatch,but I don't know anything about it so maybe it is normal.I have taken about 2 dozen to a friend who owns the LFS and he put about half of them in a ecosystem and the other half in a 120 gallon tank all to themselvesand the rest I have split up between 2-20 gallon longs that have been setup empty (thriving with pods)just for them,and the eggs that are still unhatched are goin to stay in where they are at.Momma is still eating very well,She eats a crawdad or sometimes a emerald or sallylightfoot crab every other day with assorted frozen foods soaked in selcon on the other days.So far I have only lost 2;one got caught in the overflow prefilter and when i went to take the filter off to get it out I guess I smushed it(felt really bad) and the other was killed by a bristle worm (witnessed with my very eyes)that rubbed up against it(as soon as the bristle worm touched it,it rolled up in a little ball and about 4 or 5 seconds later it quit pulsing).That is all for now........

 

[sharkbait]

I almost forgot,Here is a picture of one.....

 

[Nancy]

Congratulations and the very best of luck to you in your attempts to raise these hatchlings! It may be a long time before you know whether any survived. The one hatchling that survived from the 6 briareus hatchings in my 19 gallon tank hid for 4 months. She hid so well that I thought all had died.

It's normal that all the eggs don't hatch at once - may even take a couple of days.

We've found that many of the mothers do continue eating if you provide them food. Most don't last more than a couple of weeks beyond the eggs hatchings, but then we've had exceptions, too.

Nancy

 

[chrono_war01]

Brstile worms? They kill baby octos from touch? Can i have a photo of the worm thing so I know what not to buy since its all in Chinese here.

 

[corw314]

How exciting!!! Congrats!! Please keep updating!!! Also your 3 yr. old is having quite an adventure she will always remember! I think that's a wonderful enriching experience for kids!

Carol

 

[Nancy]

I've never heard of anyone buying a bristleworm! They come uninvited on your live rock. You'll recognize them - they have lots of bristles.

Nancy

 

[chrono_war01]

Dunno, I wonder do they have it in HK?

 

[Colin]

They will appear in any tank...

Good luck on rearing the babies, Sharkbait!!! Please keep us all up to date

 

[chrono_war01]

Good luck with the baby octos.

 

[sharkbait]

Ok,all of the eggs had hatched by thursday morning and I estimate between 60 and 70 babies and I have passed out about half of them to be reared by other people.They all jetted around in the water column for days after they hatched and as of saturday afternoon ,they have all disappeared into the rock.This tank is loaded with pods thanks to all my friends who donated sand out of their aquariums.I guess now I'll just wait and see what happens.....I'll keep you informed on any future sightings.....

 

[corw314]

Excellent!!! Please update us frequently!!!! Good luck!

 

[chrono_war01]

Congrats. Happy to hear that they're out.

 

[Nancy]

Looks like things are going well for the babies. By giving them to other people as well, it increases the chances that some will live. But remember, you may not see any young octo for a LONG TIME - it was 4 months for me. Make sure there are tiny hermits and other things for them to eat as they grow. After about three months, I noticed that my amphipod population was declining. A litte later, a hermit crab "died" as well as a small snail or two. I still didn't realize I had a little octopus until we were cleaning the tank, and an angry red little briareus came out of the rock.

Nancy

 

[Adiver]

wow...so if i find a bristle worm in live rock i should take it out? even if i have a larger octo?

 

[Nancy]

No, bristle worms are actually beneficial.

From what I've observed, octos are annoyed if bristleworms are in their den, and don't tolerate bristle worms around their eggs. My bimac killed bristle worms after she laid eggs.

Nancy