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new to this game

Joined
Oct 29, 2005
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9
hey guys im new here and have been keeping marines now for bout 4 years i also work with them here in the uk, however recently a guy has been coming in and saying hes breeding sea horses which yes i was interested in but, then on a mailing list i saw that they had sepia officicanalis for sale (yes i know i can go and catch them in the sea off cornwall ) however i was a wondering what the minimum tank size is to have a male and female and 2= is it a diferent size to get them to spawn.

how do they spawn are there any good books i can get that tells me how to keep and brred thse beautiful little critters

and also what equipment would i need to a = keep the parents
and b= keep the babies (minimum and maximum )

Are there any web sites on how to breed them does any one here know how to breed them

how long do they live for and does anyone think there is a market there to make it financially viable for me to do this as im not going to do it if there worth only £20 ( iam going to keep them even if there isnt a market )

i have read the cuttlefish care and FAQ questions but im after a little more and deadly serious bout bredding them if i can please help me out guys as i love these little critters

sorry if these seem like dumb questions but hey if im gonna do this im gunna do it properly so please help me cheers guys
 
Hi and welcome to TONMO.com! :welcome:

A good start for you would be to read some of the Ceph Care articles. You'll find these by clicking on the Ceph Care button above, then scrolling down a bit. Keeping Cephalopods in Captivity and Before You Buy a Cuttlefish are two good ones.

Also, read past posts on Cuttlefish Q&A. Recently more people have been keeping S. bandensis, but earlier only S. officinalis was available.

Nancy
 
cheers nancy

yeah i have read the care posts etc cheers and they are great for info i am having trouble taking it in so ill keep reading them what do you think bout breeding them is it possible ? and do you know of any books etc (including isbn numbers) cheers
 
It's possible to breed them, but not easy because of the food and conditions required. Those who breed them spend a lot of time talking with other breeders and do a lot of planning before starting.

Nancy
 
Have you read the article by Righty ? His article is probably the most in depth that I have seen on cuttle breeding and raising young, and it is very well written.

Cuttle

This details s. Bandensis, however I would have thought that they are quite similar in requirements. It is a good place to start anyway.
He does mention s. Officinalis, such as tank size reccommended- 200 gallons for a single individual!

Maybe he might be able to point you in the right direction.
 
cheers guys

no i havnt read the article righty has written but as soon as ive posted this i soon will cheers feelers. as for the food its not so much of a problem as here in the uk i live bout 15 minuetes from the coast so i can pick up live crabs shrimps and sand eels for them if i have to for free but thanx for the message nancy.
 
Hi there, is it aqualogistix's site you seen the officinalis for sale on?

Yeah cuttlefish can be bred quite easily as long as you have a big enough set up. I'd suggest a minimum of a 6x2x2 for a pair and with somewhere else suitale to stick the female into in case she gets bullied too much.

getting a pair might be tricky and best bet would be to buy a small group and sex them out when you can... maybe a public aquarium down your neck of the woods would take spares? My spares went to Ireland.

Getting food from the beach is exactly what i do too, no problems so far
 
Colin said:
Getting food from the beach is exactly what i do too, no problems so far

Just make sure to remove the bikini's first...they can choke on the little plastic bits.
 
cool thanx colin would a diet of crabs and sand eels be enough or would you suggest something else also what other species would you suggest trying to keep as these do get big maybe the dwarf species ? and also where you think i could get them from cheers for the info
and yes cthulhu77 i will take the bikinis off dont want them to choke
 
no i havnt seen them on aqaulogistix i didnt even know of that site but cheers any way do you have the address ? also im only thinking of it at the mo so im hoping to get setup in the next year or two so. What other equipment would you suggest having other than the usual marine stuff cheers mate
 
Hi Matt

yeah crabs especially will be great and if you are going to the hassle of looking for sand eels then a shrimp callled crangon can be found in the same areas which is even better

If you PM Mikey, he might still have some eggs from bandensis but think he already may have sold them all... not sure?

Also, if you have kept reefs then cephalopods should be fairly straight forward, just remember they produce a lot more waste and to use a filter to catch solid waste.

Big skimmer is good too :smile:

cheers
Colin
 
cheers colin well where i live i can drive 10 minuetes to the coast and buy a bucket full of sand eels for bout £2.50 for loads and i mean loads and they keep them in seperated sizes so i think thatll be ideal also there are plenty of rock pools around there to so could kill to birds with one stone. Im also thinking of setting up a couple of 'feeder' tanks to keep the eels and crabs alive (2 seperated of course) what do you think of that ? I do like s bandensis they look so cool and cute , however i have been looking at some of the red species from japan like sepia erostrata, sepia kobiensis, sepia mestus, and sepia peterseni also metasepia pfefferi what do you think and where could i get them from ? also what do you think of bobtail squids ive seen a few (euprymna berryi and euprymna tasmanica) are they redilly available or will i have to speak to a local public aquarium etc what do you think ? cheers mate for all the info
 
Hi Matt, sorry for delay in replying

I haven't used sand eels I wouldn't rely on them as being a suitable food for the cuttles long term, but ten minute from the beach has you on easy street... aim for crabs and shrimps.

I have a feeder tank set up for shrimps and crabs - its a 4x2x2 with an aquamedic 1000 and a couple chunks of live rock. I feed the shrimps and crabs on good quality fish flakes before i use them for the cuttles to pass on that in their diet. its a great idea to have feeder tanks and it doesn't need to be all that big, even one of those opaque tubs from B&Q will do, the ones sold as storage tubs.

I have only ever seen one from your list for sale and that was Metasepia - they are silly money and about £100 - 200!!!! Bear in mind that they might be a full grown adult with weeks to live too! Not worth it unless you can get eggs which I wouldn't guess are available anywhere... not yet

You could try Keith at Aqualogistix for Rossia if you like the bobtails etc

cheers
Colin
 
cheers yaeh will think bout that have you got the web address for aqualogistix. as for the feeder tanks i was thinking a 36x18x18 with the new tmc v2 skimmers obviously a large one and some live rock (seperate system ) and one each for crabs and shrimps if i can find them do you have a pic of the ones you get or a descripition of where best to find them. what do you think and do you keep the crabs with the shrimps ? may be a silly question but gotta ask

thanx for getting back to me colin i really appreciate it
 

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