Cuttlefish hatching

1979fishgeek · Jul 5, 2016

I thought I would share photos of my baby cuttlefish which hatched last night. Feeling a very proud mummy....especially as they were rescued from certain death.
Started hunting mysis shrimp almost immediately and their camouflage is fascinating, going crossed eyed watching them. Plus got to be the cutest critters ever!

eliramos · Jul 5, 2016

Omg[emoji7]

Baby Ray · Jul 5, 2016

I could die right now and be happy they are so cute!!!

I have always wanted pet cuttlefish. Congrats on being a baby mommy! Keep us posted

Robink · Jul 5, 2016

Wow!! Very cool!

1979fishgeek · Jul 5, 2016

Few more eggs yet to hatch, hoping they will. Was surprised the first four did. One egg is transparent and lacking the ink coating the others have but amazing to see baby inside moving about.

jmags080307 · Jul 5, 2016

That's just awesome!!

jenjen · Jul 5, 2016

So cool.. Thanks for sharing!

Baby Ray · Jul 6, 2016

How are your little babies doing?

1979fishgeek · Jul 6, 2016

They are doing fantastic, have at least six maybe seven but they are so hard to spot when camouflaged. They are getting the hang of hunting now and look to have grown over night.

Davesgt · Jul 6, 2016

Awesome are they hard to hatch and what's the lifespan if you don't mind me asking

Baby Ray · Jul 6, 2016

Davesgt said:
Awesome are they hard to hatch and what's the lifespan if you don't mind me asking

As long as the eggs have a circulation of water they should hatch (I think)
Lifespan is 13 months or shorter

1979fishgeek · Jul 6, 2016

These eggs were dropped in my garden by a bird (I presume that's how they ended up there!?) they hatched kept in a unheated well matured tank with a flow enough to softly tumble them about.

I think these are common cuttlefish Sepia officinalis which can live up to 2 years, but that is dependant on temp. I know in cooler water they can reach 45cm and live the longest, in warmer conditions max 25C they will be about 30cm and live a year to 18 months.

nitro · Jul 6, 2016

Awesome for sure, gotta follow this.
Nitro

Baby Ray · Jul 6, 2016

1979fishgeek said:
These eggs were dropped in my garden by a bird (I presume that's how they ended up there!?) they hatched kept in a unheated well matured tank with a flow enough to softly tumble them about.

I think these are common cuttlefish Sepia officinalis which can live up to 2 years, but that is dependant on temp. I know in cooler water they can reach 45cm and live the longest, in warmer conditions max 25C they will be about 30cm and live a year to 18 months.

Sorry, I thought that they were dwarf cuttle fish

1979fishgeek · Jul 6, 2016

There are smaller native cuttlefish species but these are most likely common species will not know till they get bigger.

Roboson · Jul 6, 2016

Do they reproduce in an aquarium? Or do the eggs come from the ocean and the cuddlefish just live in our tanks?

Baby Ray · Jul 6, 2016

Roboson said:
Do they reproduce in an aquarium? Or do the eggs come from the ocean and the cuddlefish just live in our tanks?

They will reproduce in aquariums. It can be difficult at some points because they will often fight in tanks because of the small spaces. They can live in aquariums. The most common species in the hobby is the dwarf cuttlefish because they only reach 4 inches and can live in 20 gallon aquariums (29 gallon is better because they like tall tanks). Some stores have started carrying captive bred cuttlefish and captive cuttlefish eggs.

Roboson · Jul 6, 2016

Now that sounds super interesting. A cool cool creature. What do they eat? And can they be housed in a reef tank with other livestock?

Baby Ray · Jul 6, 2016

Roboson said:
Now that sounds super interesting. A cool cool creature. What do they eat? And can they be housed in a reef tank with other livestock?

They can be kept will corals that don't sting (leathers, GSP etc….) but I would not keep them in a community tank at all. The will eat pretty much any fish that is there size and they will eat crabs and shrimp. They don't eat snails though. They are defiantly meant for species only tanks. Most people who keep them try to wean them onto frozen foods like silver side, squid, fish, scallops and so on, but until then they feed them live inverts like crabs and shrimp. You can feed them live fish as a treat but they do not contain the nutrients that the cuttlefish need to survive so they can not live on them alone. They are primarily invert eaters. People who live by the water can collect grass shrimp and crabs to feed their cuttlefish whenever they want as long as the water isn't polluted.
Hope this helps