[Octopus]: Unidentified Flying Octopus & Baby Cuttlefish

[Hahmlet]

Is this in the same tank with the cuttles, or do you have a separate tank? For best results for all parties, a separate tank for cephs is best from what I've seen!

The octopus? Yes in the same tank, I only have one tank, so yeah everything I have is together. except for the cuttlefish fries, a dolabella sea hare and a pencil urchin in my refugium and an emerald crab and a cleaner shrimp in my skimmer compartment of the sump.

I intend to banish all the shrimp to the skimmer compartment of my sump when I am able to catch them, then move my sea hare back to the tank. My shrimp keep digging my sea hare's anus for food and end up killing them.

If my cuttlefish grow up big enough, I suppose I would give them away to fellow hobbyists and keep a trio in the refugium. If my octopus happens to pass on in between, then they get the main tank.

Oh yeah, I still have an almost 2 month old cuttlefish in my main tank which I spot every other night and fail at catching. It won't leave the rockscape, so once I go near, it just slips inside the cracks. Still a mystery what it has been eating all this while in my main tank.


Cuttlefish Day 14 - 14 May 2023

• Total 37 fries (May 2nd +3, 3rd +5, 4th +9, 5th +4, 6th +2, 7th +9, 8th +4 - 1, 9th +2 -2, 10th +2, 11th +1, 14th -1, 15th -1)
• Refugium 30 fries
• Breeder box 6 fries
• I can't count how many fries are in the refugium, so I will only note the deaths that I am able to find.

Octopus Day 4 - 15 May 2023

• My octopus remained hidden in the cracks between my rocks and unlike my previous girl did not even poke an eye out to spy on me so I could not see it at all.
• I fed my corals tonight, and awhile later saw one of it's arms rummaging about. I drop a clam next to it's arm and it came out to eat. It didn't finish the clam, not a big eater it seems.

Here is a video of my cuttlefish fries and octopus eating. My cuttlefish seem constantly hungry, every time I drop in a few amphipods, they are eaten immediately. I managed to catch more than 6 amphipods at one go and fed the cuttlefish, but only 4 of them ate and the other 2 did not seem interested. I guess those 2 won't make it.

 

[Hahmlet]

Cuttlefish Day 16 - 16 May 2023

• Total 35 fries (May 2nd +3, 3rd +5, 4th +9, 5th +4, 6th +2, 7th +9, 8th +4 - 1, 9th +2 -2, 10th +2, 11th +1, 14th -1, 15th -1, 16th -1)
• Refugium 29 fries
• Breeder box 6 fries
• Another death in the refugium.

I managed to catch the fry that was roaming around in my main tank!
He was born end of March or early April and escaped the breeder box on 8 April, so that makes him 1.5 months old, or almost 2 months old. And it also means that he has been able to survive and grow in my main tank for over 1 month! The fish and shrimp do not seem to bother them at all, and for some reason my late octopus also didn't eat them.

0:00 ~ 0:06 - You can see the size difference between the first batch and second batch of fries.
0:07 ~ 0:14 - I fed an amphipod and he snatched it up before I even got my phone to record.
0:1 5~ 0:21 - The fry was chilling on the coral right next to this guy, so it was easy to catch.
0:22 ~ 0:31 - After that I came back and noticed... ANOTHER FRY IN THE MAIN TANK. I potentially have 2 fries in my main tank because on 8 April, 3 fries escaped the breeder box. I didn't catch him, and decided that maybe it's better to let him survive in there. They had the most survivability so far. It was interesting though what he was doing. Is it using it's elongated tentacles to search for food?
0:33 ~ 0:43 - Managed to video one of my second batch fries catching and eating an amphipod.
0:43 ~ 0:50 - Side by side comparison of my first batch and second batch. They are almost 3 times as big.
On the left, there are 2 fries from the second batch and on the right a fry from the first batch.

 

[tonmo]

very helpful break-down of the details, thank you!

 

[sedna]

I agree that separating the octopus from the cuttlefish is the best idea for all!

 

[Hadla]

Love that you found one of your first hatchlings! Sorry about the octo, it’s hard watching them get worse.

 

[Hahmlet]

Love that you found one of your first hatchlings! Sorry about the octo, it’s hard watching them get worse.

Thanks! For the first hatchlings, I found 2 out of 3 in my main tank while 8 of them in my breeder box died.
Currently my refugium is also almost out of amphipods. I've been searching for them in the chaeto and filter pads but couldn't find a single one today. I'm seriously beginning to consider transferring them to the main tank.

Cuttlefish Day 17 - 17 May 2023

• Total 33 fries (Wk1: +36 -1, Wk2 +5 -5, 17th: -2)
• Refugium 27 fries
• Breeder box 6 fries
• Most casualties are coming from the strong flow in the refugium pushing the fries against the filter pads, and the fries are unable to swim out against the current.

Octopus Day 6 - 17 May 2023

• I checked her third arm on the right, and this octopus seems to be a girl as well.
• I thought it might be a male, because it is very similar to the algae octopus female I had, yet with distinct differences such as a bigger head, but thinner arms, maroon coloration rather than brown, and a blue camouflage which I have not seen from my algae octopus female. I wonder if it may be a very close relative but a different species.
• I fed her only twice as she seems to come out of her cave once every 3 days. Even then she does not eat much. She only ate about 1/4 of her clam. Not sure if she's already going through senescence or if she's just skittish.

 

[Hadla]

Can you get a live fiddler crab to try? It seems most can’t resist a live crab

 

[Hahmlet]

Can you get a live fiddler crab to try? It seems most can’t resist a live crab

The crabs they sell in the LFS here are all quite expensive. I will give it a try if she doesn't come out in another 3 days.

 

[Hahmlet]

Cuttlefish Day 18 - 18 May 2023

• Total 29 fries (Wk1: +36 -1, Wk2 +5 -5, 17th: -2, 18th: -4)
• Refugium 23 fries
• Breeder box 6 fries
• Within a few hours, I found 6 fries stuck on the filter padding being pushed against the flow. 2 of them were still alive, 4 were already dead. Ordered some filter sponge so that I can DIY something there that won't let them get stuck.

 

[Hahmlet]

Can you get a live fiddler crab to try? It seems most can’t resist a live crab

Cuttlefish Day 21 - 21 May 2023

• Total 27 fries (Wk1: +36 -1, Wk2 +5 -5, 17th: -2, 18th: -4. 19th: -2)
• Refugium 21 fries
• Breeder box 6 fries
• Again 2 casualties to the flow. The 2 month old fry from the first batch is still alive in the tank.
• My refugium is almost out of amphipods. I still see very tiny ones, but big ones, I might only get to spot 1~2 a day, let alone catch them. I've decided to leave them for my fries in the refugium, it might even be insufficient for them.
• Before my last resort of letting them all out in the main tank, I decided to try freshwater dwarf shrimp.
• Crystal Red Shrimp are one of the smallest, but die almost immediately in saltwater, and they cost like $5 each.
• Cherry Shrimp are bigger so only the brave ones tend to eat them, they last a little longer in saltwater than Crystal Red Shrimp and cost about $1 each.
• I also tried clown killifish as they were quite tiny, but the cuttlefish do not seem interested at all, and they lasted less than 10 minutes in saltwater.
• Rili Shrimp! Almost as small as Crystal Red Shrimp, and lasts very long in saltwater! They were all eaten up before I could see how long they lasted, but I've seen them last as long as an hour before being eaten. Price wise $2.00 each so not too bad.
• Just ordered 60 of them. Just the 2 month old fry eats 4~5 a day, so they cost more to feed than myself now.

Octopus Day 10 - 21 May 2023

• @Hadla the fiddler crab seems to work. I saw a few crab legs in the sand the next day, so I assume it was eaten by the octopus. But they do cost $10 each.
• She came out of her cave last night, so I fed her a clam again, and yeah only 1/4 eaten.
• Apart from her size, and sometimes walking around the sand with an elongated mantle and a white stripe down the middle, there are some differences with my previous algae octopus girl. One big one, it seems like she's nocturnal. 10 days and not once have I seen her during the day.

 

[Hadla]

Wow that’s expensive. They’re $4 here when they’re available. The stores haven’t been able to get any for a few weeks. The good thing is they can live in saltwater even though my googling said they can’t!

 

[Hahmlet]

Wow that’s expensive. They’re $4 here when they’re available. The stores haven’t been able to get any for a few weeks. The good thing is they can live in saltwater even though my googling said they can’t!

I read that they would thrive in brackish water. Could survive in saltwater, but maybe not as long.

 

[Hahmlet]

Cuttlefish Day 23 - 23 May 2023

• Total 25 fries (Wk1: +36 -1, Wk2 +5 -5, Wk3: -10)
• Refugium 19 fries
• Breeder box 6 fries
• Again 2 casualties to the flow, but I finally set up a safety net for them so they should be fine from now onwards I hope.
• Only 4 of the fries in the breeder box seem to take the rili shrimps. The other 2 do not seem to even attempt to eat them and one of them is extremely small. I feel he may be passing soon. He is the smaller one in the middle right side of the picture. 3 of them each have a shrimp in their mouth.

Octopus Day 12 - 23 May 2023

• She only comes out at night once every 3 days and hides somewhere visible.
• Then she takes a clam but does not finish it.

 

[Hahmlet]

1st Batch Cuttlefish Day 55 - 25 May 2023

• 1 in main tank still alive and kicking. Last spotted 25 May.
• 1 in breeder box started eating less rili shrimp. From 3 a day to 2 a day to 1 a day and none today.
• Looks fine, but just sitting still in the corner all day.

Cuttlefish Day 25 - 25 May 2023

• Total 24 fries (Wk1: +36 -1, Wk2 +5 -5, Wk3: -10, 25th -1)
• Refugium 19 fries
• Breeder box 5 fries
• One fry from the breeder box passed on today likely due to starvation. You can see how small it is compared to one right next to it. I also fed them a lot of rili shrimplets, but it never even went after the shrimplets.
• The rest seem to take about 1/3 to half a rili shrimp a day, and the leftover are fed to my corals.
• Rili shrimps can last in saltwater for about 4 hours on average.

Octopus Day 14 - 25 May 2023

• My octopus girl came out every night now for the past 4 nights. It really does seem like she is nocturnal and may not be an algae octopus, since algae octopus should be diurnal.
• She refused a clam last night.
• Tonight she was eating something.
• I thought it might be a snail.
• Then she moved to another spot and I found my white tail kole tang dead with a hole on it's side all the way to its vertebra...
• That's a $215 meal... and she still only ate a bit... It's as if she only likes the stomach or liver and doesn't touch the rest, just like what she does with the clam.

 

[Hadla]

Geez she lives on the fancy side of things haha sorry for your loss. Love that the first baby is still there!