plan for ahabs babies

[joefish84]

ive devised a well thought out plan for raising these planktonic young of ahabs... the way this will work is this...

step one.
unplug sump return just before eggs hatch. this way i wont have to worry about the young going through the filtration and skimmer. i will leave the skimmer running in the sump though.

step 2
only run 1 or 2 802 powerheads in the tank with the big cylinder filter on bottom of them to prevent the young from being sucked into the powerheads.

step 3
im getting the reefbugs this afternoon for the food source. i am also getting a large amount of acheatomorpha algea and kalearpa for the bugs to live and breed in.

step 4
once the eggs hatch i will used a hose with a similar filter that is being used on the bottom of the 802s to syphon off water for water changes. the water that is syphoned of will replace the still running sump water which will in turn be pumped into the tank. this way i can keep recycling the water and not have to worry about losing any young to filtration or at least keep it to a minimum. this will also allow the skimmer to clean the tank water still. once the syphoning is complete and all the sump water is moved to the tank and tank water to sump i will turn off the sump return again and repeat the process in a week. i will continue to do this untill the young become benthic then i will return to normal operation and just as a safety precaution i will put a sponge over the teeth of the overflow.

i will also try seperating some of the young while in both the planktonic stage and the benthic and put them in their own individual tanks to try and give them a little more personal attention.


hopefully by doing this i will keep most of the planktonic young alive and i will only have to worry about cannablism. (and the stupid cardinals if i cant catch them ... and if i cant i will keep them well fed enough that they wont want to mess with the babies). hopefully by doing this i will also be able to keep the water quality high enough that the tank wont crash...

anyway thats my plan so far and if anyone else has any suggestions please tell me. this will be a first time adventure for me and i just hope it works... i know its almost impossible to raise planktonic young but i think with these reefbugs ive actually got a chance at an ample food supply... anyway any input will be great.

 

[clownfish]

Another thing is, what are you going to do with the octopus that make it and grow? you would have several octopus in one tank. Also picking up a few lower GPH power heads would be a good idea to reduce the suction and lower the chances of getting an planktionic octopus sucked up. What about the oxygen level in you tank when the sump is off? Just a few thoughts. Best of luck!

 

[joefish84]

my friend that owns the fish store is willing to adopt the babies that i give up... also i wouldnt mind trying to keep 2 octos in 1 tank i think that would be interesting. as for the power heads i was planning on using two 802s for circulation and ive got a few small ones i can use on the surface to oxygenate the water. im not worried about the 802 suction power cause ive got those big cylinder filters on the bottom of them and im going to put those on the small pumps too

 

[joefish84]

i might also be willing to send the babies out to all of yall if yall want them.

 

[cuttlegirl]

Hey Joefish,

Are you close enough to the ocean to do plankton tows??? You can buy a cheap (well, relatively...) plankton net at http://www.acornnaturalists.com/store/product1.asp?SID=2&Product_ID=610. It would be a good idea to start supplementing your reef system with a variety of microscopic critters. You can also buy live plankton at http://aquaculturestore.com/swinverts.html. They are based in Florida so if you just did priority shipping, you would probably get it the next day (mysids took two days to Pennsylvania and they survived the trip...). Just some ideas since we have no clue what your little octos are going to want to snack on...

 

[Nancy]

Joefish, I'd beware of two octos in one tank.

In most cases, octopuses being territorial and cannibalistic, one kills the other. One becomes dominant by getting more food, while the second one remains smaller. TONMO members have experienced this.

I have read of experiments where two octopuses of different species were kept together. Also, where several vulgarises were kept in a large tank, but their "living quarters" were rearranged each day to keep them from claiming territory.

Octos are often hatched out in large tanks but no one keeps records of how many become victims.

Nancy