zeus has laid eggs

[elusya]

Hi all,
I posted earlier today about zeus not doing so well. We came home tonight and it looks like she laid eggs!!!! We have only so far seen two strands on her arms...looks like she was cradling them...now she is in a different position..can't find the eggs but we will try to take pics tomorrow..we've only had (her) for two weeks but it seems that by all accounts the period for the hatchlings is 60? days..we think she is an aculeatus..is this a small egg species?..and i suppose she will die soon after?

we would love to be able to raise at least one of these guys..can we leave them in the 7 gallon tank...

thanks so much
dominika

 

[Colin]

Hi dominika...

Well, IF it is aculeatus then the eggs will be small. That is that the larvae will be planktonic an extremely difficult to raise but there's no harm in trying. Also true if the octopus is any one of the horridus complex... species like delfippi etc

You should look through back posts on egg laying and larvae rearing on TONMO.com for more info. Its something that has happened often.

 

[tonmo]

Wow, that must have been a surprise! Congratulations!

Good luck with those eggs, keep us posted. As Colin said, try a search for "eggs" by using the Search function in the upper-right corner -- lots of good info here.

 

[elusya]

hi,
so i have done a lot of searches and also read jim nieberd's site on raising his eggs..sooo very informative...i would love to find and see some pics of the different ways you can build the nurseries for the eggs..i went on james woods site and he had a great article on building some from pvc but no pics..also because they are of the small variety, will they be able to get through most screen and mesh if i did build that kind?

as for the food, the eggs are small
so what size of critter would be good for them to eat..would that be the copepods?
i guess i would try to creat the kind of food chain that jim had done for his starting with the microalgee...

and if she is an aculeatus is the gestation period going to be around 60 days as well?

i realize this is a herculean task but i really really want to try so any more links or info will be a huge help...thanks so much again everyone...

dominika

 

[elusya]

pics of zeus and her eggs

hi guys,

these are pics of zeus and her eggs... wow o wow

 

[elusya]

here is a closeup,
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[tonmo]

Fantastic picture elusya!

 

[elusya]

o thank you ..i was hoping there would be more but i think she is still in the process of laying her eggs...her mantle,the bottom part is still completely full of white stuff..(i'm assuming the eggs) ..
we figure if there are more there might be a better chance of at least one surviving..