Refugiam prep, tank make over, and a new chapter!

[DWhatley]

I'm not sure as I keep very few corals in my tank. I have noticed that most coral tanks do best when there are fish in the tank and suspect the detritus and fish food are appreciated by the corals. Before you try supplements, you might try grinding up and feeding a tiny amount of finely ground regular table shrimp and moving the mushroom or lighting to where it gets more light. I do add a tiny amount of vitamin B and iodine no more than once a month but sometimes I think even that has a slight negative impact.

 

[KD5054]

Starting to move onto a little bigger meals for them. Trying shore shrimp.

 

[KD5054]

My little guys are slowly growing. They are now about as bit as my pinking. So maybe just under an inch. "
I am thinking by next week I will graduate them from their nursery to the main tank. They are eating shore shrimp currently though I pick out the smaller ones for them and the mysid shrimp they almost ignore due to they seem so small now in size.

Thoughts?

 

[tonmo]

nice - looking great!

 

[KD5054]

With them growing to about an inch of size and seeming to be at the point of too big for their nursery- I finally moved them into the main tank which is a 30 gallon.

This was done last Thursday.
Since then I've hit a few issues I'm not sure how the address:
The main one being that they seem to wish to stay at the very back of the tank. I was hoping they would explore a little more. Maybe this is normal.
Also- I'm not quite sure how to be certain they are eating. I feel as if I've read a lot of people who say their cuttlefish come to to the front for'begging' behavior but I have not witnessed that.
I do know they are eating as I fed and they accepted food the day I moved them in plus I added a few shore shrimp (saltwater acclimated) and they have since dissapeared.

Suggestions?

 

[KD5054]

Update on my cuttlefish- all are still doing great and have now come to recognize their 'caretaker'. Which is a lot of fun.
Every time I clean their tank (weekly) they enjoy watching me. I caught a great picture of their curiosity in the act.

 

[KD5054]

Sadly I am now down to just one little guy left. He is now exactly 1 year and 2 months old and still seems to be going fairly strong.
Along with this news- I am looking to continue to pursue my goal of entering a field in the aquatic and fish department.
With this I was approached by an aquarium that is currently being built in my local town (Yippie!) They had heard about my success with my own cuttlefish and asked if I could help them with theirs. ( BIG EYED MOMENT!)

They ordered in their eggs and I picked them up on Tues. I have a few questions I'm hoping to get some help on:
They ordered 20 eggs from which roughly 6 hatched upon arrival. I just got in my mysid shrimp (live) in today and put a few of them in with the new hatchlings. But they do not seem interested in catching them. Should this be a concern? They appear healthy otherwise and even flash a little color when I check on them. But my paranoid self wants to check to see if this is an okay thing and they will catch on when they are ready or if there is something I need to do.

I also was questioning the health of the majority of the eggs that came in as the majority of them appear small and less filled as I am used to. Is this a sign of infertile eggs? Or damaged eggs? These odd eggs are currently housed in a different baby tank then the hatchlings.

 

[KD5054]

Here are some pictures

 

[DWhatley]

Keeping the chaeto in the nursery seems to be helpful for the little hatchlings to hunt but other than that, the results seem to be mixed. Feeding multiple times a day may also result in better eating but everything seems to be anecdotal. @Thales?

 

[KD5054]

I lost two today. Very sad. I have a few mysid shrimp in there with the hatchlings but no interest what do ever. I'm wondering if putting some copepods in with them would be recommended? They just some seem to be interested in eating the mysid. My first group was not nearly this picky.

 

[DWhatley]

You might try experimenting with lighting at the time of feeding. Many people seemed to think that theirs would initially only eat at night. Getting them to eat at this stage does seem to be the most common issue with getting them to survive.

 

[KD5054]

I have a number of mysid shrimp in with them that I have put in there with them and its roughly dark in the tank (night time for me).
I do notice that of the 4 I have left- 2 look more normal in activity and seem to show more color while the other two look almost preemie-like. They are super small and almost all white.
They did not hatch in my tank but during transport. Is there any record or possibility that they could have hatched too early? I know the ones that I started with on my own were in their eggs for awhile before they hatched in my tank.

 

[DWhatley]

My impression from memory (without going through our posts) is that hatchings that occur during shipping fare worse than tank hatched but that is only an impression. You should be able to tell premature hatching by noticing a yellow ball held in the tentacles. This yolk sack should be fully consumed before hatching and seems to give them a couple of days of a full gut as they begin their new life.

 

[KD5054]

Updated photos of two of them. I'm hoping these two make it. I am not certain but I possibly think a few mysid shrimp are missing. But hard to tell.
Curious of others opinion- I'm thinking they look like their bellies are full?