Cuttlefish mangrove tank.

[Ricksreeefs]

Hello everyone I would love to do a cuttlefish/mangrove tank but I hardly know anything about cuttlefish except they are hard to keep only eat live food. So I have some questions like what size tank do I need? How do I provide them with nutritious food? to name a few. I greatly appreciated all your advice!

 

[Ricksreeefs]

Anyone got any advice?

 

[Staghorn]

are you prepared to pay about $600+ per year in live food? Is there anyone around you that sells live shrimp? Cuttlefish have a short lifespan. If you can get them to reproduce you may be able to keep the aquarium running for some time. Otherwise plan on replacing them about once a year. With that being said if you can deal with the above and give them an aquarium with reef aquarium water quality then they would be amazing pets. Very interesting animals. In the future when I have more time and room for another aquarium I think I will keep a pair and try to breed them. Good luck

 

[Ricksreeefs]

are you prepared to pay about $600+ per year in live food? Is there anyone around you that sells live shrimp? Cuttlefish have a short lifespan. If you can get them to reproduce you may be able to keep the aquarium running for some time. Otherwise plan on replacing them about once a year. With that being said if you can deal with the above and give them an aquarium with reef aquarium water quality then they would be amazing pets. Very interesting animals. In the future when I have more time and room for another aquarium I think I will keep a pair and try to breed them. Good luck

My plan is to keep one for about a year or however long it lives and then take it from there. And I'm not sure if someone around me sells live shrimp. Do you know about tank size? And yes I plan to treat this tank like a reef.

 

[Biokabe]

are you prepared to pay about $600+ per year in live food? Is there anyone around you that sells live shrimp? Cuttlefish have a short lifespan. If you can get them to reproduce you may be able to keep the aquarium running for some time. Otherwise plan on replacing them about once a year. With that being said if you can deal with the above and give them an aquarium with reef aquarium water quality then they would be amazing pets. Very interesting animals. In the future when I have more time and room for another aquarium I think I will keep a pair and try to breed them. Good luck

+1 on this. Before I started keeping reef aquariums, I wanted to have an octopus tank. Obviously cuttlefish aren't octopodes, but they're similar. Once I realized that I'd have to basically get a new octopus every year, my enthusiasm left me.

In terms of husbandry, though, you will need a larger-than-expected tank and reef-quality filtration. They're sensitive to water quality and VERY messy eaters, which is not a good combo. I think for a single you'd need at least a 55g tank, probably a 90g or more if you want to keep more than one.

A little bit of searching turned up this article from a few years back. I don't know that it reflects the current best knowledge on cuttlefish, as it's no longer a niche I keep up on. But that might give you enough to point you in the right direction.

They're cool critters and I wish you luck... I just don't have the heart to go into something knowing that whatever I keep is going to be dead within 18 months no matter what I do. =)

 

[Ricksreeefs]

+1 on this. Before I started keeping reef aquariums, I wanted to have an octopus tank. Obviously cuttlefish aren't octopodes, but they're similar. Once I realized that I'd have to basically get a new octopus every year, my enthusiasm left me.

In terms of husbandry, though, you will need a larger-than-expected tank and reef-quality filtration. They're sensitive to water quality and VERY messy eaters, which is not a good combo. I think for a single you'd need at least a 55g tank, probably a 90g or more if you want to keep more than one.

A little bit of searching turned up this article from a few years back. I don't know that it reflects the current best knowledge on cuttlefish, as it's no longer a niche I keep up on. But that might give you enough to point you in the right direction.

They're cool critters and I wish you luck... I just don't have the heart to go into something knowing that whatever I keep is going to be dead within 18 months no matter what I do. =)

Thanks! Oh yeah, I already read that article but wasn't sure about the tank size. Man, 55 for one is a lot. I was thinking like 20 something for one. idk if I should still get one maybe I'll look at pipefish they are really neat little guys. Ig ill continue thinking about it. Thanks guys!

 

[NoahLikesFish]

Thanks! Oh yeah, I already read that article but wasn't sure about the tank size. Man, 55 for one is a lot. I was thinking like 20 something for one. idk if I should still get one maybe I'll look at pipefish they are really neat little guys. Ig ill continue thinking about it. Thanks guys!

Do scorpionfish they are cool

 

[Northwest_Scapes_]

I heard the best way to get the max amount of life out of them to is to buy the eggs and raise them from there on, but I don't know how ideal that is since I've never kept them. If you have Instagram, I highly recommend reaching out to tobis_reef , he's super knowledgeable about cuttlefish in general, he took care of some species a while ago but now he's breeding / raising some Flamboyant Cuttlefish so I bet he can answer any question you have

 

[Ricksreeefs]

I heard the best way to get the max amount of life out of them to is to buy the eggs and raise them from there on, but I don't know how ideal that is since I've never kept them. If you have Instagram, I highly recommend reaching out to tobis_reef , he's super knowledgeable about cuttlefish in general, he took care of some species a while ago but now he's breeding / raising some Flamboyant Cuttlefish so I bet he can answer any question you have

Awesome ill definitely look into it! Love Flamboyant Cuttlefish! Thank you!

 

[TerraFerma]

Flamboyant Cuttlefish are very expensive and you have no idea how old they are when you get them. Can get one and it does great for a month and then dies of old age.

Live food cost can be brought down if your willing to breed SW grass shrimp (they breed in aquaria).

 

[Ricksreeefs]

Flamboyant Cuttlefish are very expensive and you have no idea how old they are when you get them. Can get one and it does great for a month and then dies of old age.

Live food cost can be brought down if your willing to breed SW grass shrimp (they breed in aquaria).

I asked my lfs if they could get me some possibly and they said they easily could but yeah I'm not sure about the age also I was planning to breed the shrimp

 

[Fish man]

All of the above plus Some species get as big as 20" That takes a pretty large tank!

 

[lion king]

If you like a high maintenance project, cuttlefish may be for you; I did a hatching a few years back and it wasn't for me.. I thought a I did a thread on my whole experience, but I guess not. Here's an update thread which is weird why i can't find the original thread. A few pointers; hatch a clutch yourself, as stated earlier, they have a short lifespan, and unless you have money to burn, the flamboyant may not be worth it. The hatch out tank can be done in a 10g, just make sure to start separating them when a size difference starts happening, they will canibilize each other. Stock the tank with amphipods and copepods, they can live off of amphipods until they can eat ghost shrimp, guppies, or molly babies.

Cuttlefish update | REEF2REEF Saltwater and Reef Aquarium Forum

 

[Ricksreeefs]

All of the above plus Some species get as big as 20" That takes a pretty large tank!

wow that's huge lol I'm planning to get one that maybe gets 3-4"

 

[Ricksreeefs]

If you like a high maintenance project, cuttlefish may be for you; I did a hatching a few years back and it wasn't for me.. I thought a I did a thread on my whole experience, but I guess not. Here's an update thread which is weird why i can't find the original thread. A few pointers; hatch a clutch yourself, as stated earlier, they have a short lifespan, and unless you have money to burn, the flamboyant may not be worth it. The hatch out tank can be done in a 10g, just make sure to start separating them when a size difference starts happening, they will canibilize each other. Stock the tank with amphipods and copepods, they can live off of amphipods until they can eat ghost shrimp, guppies, or molly babies.

Cuttlefish update | REEF2REEF Saltwater and Reef Aquarium Forum

yeah I'm looking for something that's high maintenance Ill look into your thread right now!

 

[ClearRain]

Mangroves need bright light, and cuttlefish are nocturnal... I doubt the cuttle will appreciate all that light. Maybe it's just me, but these 2 don't seem to go together :/

 

[Ricksreeefs]

Mangroves need bright light, and cuttlefish are nocturnal... I doubt the cuttle will appreciate all that light. Maybe it's just me, but these 2 don't seem to go together :/

good point. would he still not like it if the tank was really filled up with macro algae so that's there's tons of shaded hiding places?

 

[lion king]

Have your lfs order you some of these; Cuttlefish Egg - Sepia spp./Sepia bandensis (bluezooaquatics.com)
I think I got 4 to hatch out of 5 eggs.

 

[ClearRain]

good point. would he still not like it if the tank was really filled up with macro algae so that's there's tons of shaded hiding places?

I honestly don't know I've never kept cuttlefish, I just know some things don't like bright light. A dimly lit tank usually works better for nocturnals

 

[Ricksreeefs]

Have your lfs order you some of these; Cuttlefish Egg - Sepia spp./Sepia bandensis (bluezooaquatics.com)
I think I got 4 to hatch out of 5 eggs.

yeah, I asked about that too and they said yup. How hard was it to hatch them? What did you have to do?