Sepia Bandensis in Europe

[Zizik]

Hello,
I am thrilled that I have found this forum. Breeding of Sepias is my long live dream. I live in Czech Republic in center of the Europe and my country does not have a sea. Since I was a kid I was fascinated by the sea and the sea-live in general and I have also seen all the sea-documentaries on TV.
I am engaged in sea-fish aquaristic since 1993. I have a tank of 1500 liters, with homemade LED lighting, skimmer Octupus with sulphur destilation.
My levels of ammonia and nitrate are very close to 0.In my aquarium I have SPS and LPS corals and a few fish. Availability of sea animals got better, but there is no way to get sepias or their eggs in the Europe. Catching some sepia myself is unrealistic because of transportation problems, mostly because of the restrictions on animal transportation between states. Also the only sea within reasonable distance is the Mediterranean Sea, where Sepia Officionalis lives. However this sepia is unsuitable for breeding because of its size when it reaches adult age. Also there is the problem with the cold water temperature. I have seen this species while diving in Croatia and I was completely fascinated by it.
Recently I have tried (with some luck) breed the seahorses and some fish (Amphiprion Clarki). After reading some articles on this forum, I realized that Sepia bandensis might be perfect for me. I do have the quality of water and space required.
I have tried to buy some eggs of Sepia bandensis, but I could not find any shop that would sell them. I wrote an email at [email protected], that claimes to sold them, but I got no reply. I am asking this community, if anyone would be so kind and able to send me the eggs by airmail.
Also I have a question about feeding it in the first month. It is also impossible to buy a living krill a tour country. Is it possible to feed the small baby of Sepia by Artemii Salinas, small fish or freshwater shrimp?
I also work as an external advisor for ZOOlogical Garden in Děčín, so I would like other people in our country to see this beautiful animal.

 

[sirreal]

Welcome. I would love to help you but I know very little about these but there are plenty of people on here that do. You must have good water to be able to breed Clarkis. I look forward to reading your posts and wish you luck.

 

[A. Cuttlefish]

Actually, of you read other forums and/or articles, you will see that feeding baby cuttlefish live brine and small fish, enriched or otherwise, is not particularly successful. Mysis shrimp would be best, but you probably already knew that.

 

[DWhatley]

@Zizik!
I try to remember to request that all new members consider adding their location to their profile, especially members outside the US. Having this under your avatar helps members who may not see your introduction make recommendations.

We have no cuttlefish native to our waters in the US so the bandensis we raise are imported, most are from the Philippines. If your Zoological Garden (would we call that a zoo or an aquarium or both? A zoo keeps land animals and a public aquarium keeps water animals for display) imports or buys from wholesale suppliers in this region, they may be able to order eggs. However finding an appropriate food source for the first few months would be critical to any attempt.

Unfortunately, as mentioned, brine shrimp (Artemia Salinas) have proven over and over again not to be successful. The hatchlings will eat them but ultimately die of starvation. There have been a few successes with unidentified tiny saltwater shrimps but not enough to suggest an alternate to mysis. I am currently keeping 4 but have stayed away from trying to raise bandensis over the years because of the expense. Once they are large enough for small feeder shrimp, they do well but are hard to find at this age.

 

[Zizik]

Thank you for your response.
Sorry for my English, I use Google Translate.
We really ZOO, primarily land animals. from the sea we have 1 large aquarium - 6000 liters (1,580 gallons) fish and soft corals, 4 aquariums - 800 liters (211 gallons), 4 aquarium 400 liters (105 gallons). We are a small zoo, direct purchases are not possible for us. They are mostly interchangeable action through international cooperation. Traders with seafood of course I asked. Sell (bring) I can not cuttlefish eggs. The zoo by the sea sepia officionalis mostly behave - that is too big for us.
So I turned to your forum. Can you recommend a seller - even from the Philippines. Feeding for the first two months I can provide - Live Mysis - Croatia or Italy. I have not found anyone from Europe who would sepia bandensi raised or bred. We mainly enthusiasts - we do this heart. The nearest sea we have 800 km, over two foreign countries. Your forum is for us a gold mine of information.
Once again, please - send me someone to contact seller?

 

[DWhatley]

Unfortunately, sending anything live to other countries requires expensive permits. We do not buy directly from the exporter. We buy from companies that import and have licenses to bring the animals to the US. You probably have the same limitations. Finding an importer in the Czech Republic may be the only way to obtain foreign animals.

So far so good with Google translator. The sentence structure and some words are awkward but the meaning is clear. Thanks for adding your location to your profile and for including both gallons and liters

 

[Zizik]

I am concerned that your dream I'll have to give up. From European suppliers've got to offer
Sepia Apama - Apama squid
Sepia latimanus - Latimanus squid
Sepia latimanus - Latimanus squid egg
Sepia prashadi - Prashad squid
They are not suitable for my purposes - they are too big.

 

[DWhatley]

Unfortunately, they are too big for most. Sometimes they are listed as "dwarf" cuttlefish (but not dwarf squid).

 

[cuttlegirl]

Do you need a permit to import cuttlefish in your country?

 

[Zizik]

permission is not required,
only for CITES animals

 

[Zizik]

entering the country must view wildlife veterinarian
Other conditions also apply for the import and trade for own use

 

[Zizik]

I would like to ask
cuttlefish eggs leave at rest or in motion as the Monterey Bay Aquarium?

 

[DWhatley]

Because bandensis naturally lay their eggs in rocks, tumbling is not necessary but they do need a gentle current to keep algae away. I did tumble mine for a short time after communicating with @Bret Grasse MBA . One thing the article in the Monterey example does not make clear is that they stop tumbling them when they are close to hatching.

 

[cuttlegirl]

How long would they be help up while the veterinarian checks them?

 

[cuttlegirl]

Could this place help you? http://www.rybickyakvarijni.cz/ Looks like they only have freshwater fish, but maybe they could import Sepia bandensis.