Sepia O. feeding and behaviour

[Emo]

Greetings,

I have made my first foray into Cephs with a 1.5"(not including head\arms) Sepia O. It has been doing very well in a 60g cube for about 2 weeks now. Upon reaching 3-4" it will be moved to a 60x24x18 currently in waiting. From my original research done about a year ago this size should be adequate for an adult Sepoia O..

From previous research I learned that these guys are good at training newbie owners to overfeed them. I certainly believe it now as mine is as voracious as any creature I had in my 3 years of salt and 10 of fresh. Currently feeding 1 @1" goldfish or guppy a day along with one or two ghost shrimp. The cuttle also eats a couple of thawed mysis a day. The plan is to switch over to frozen silversides and krill daily as soon as possible with a live SW crab(theres a mithrax in the tank at the moment that will get grabbed by the cuttle a couple times a day and carried around the tank for a it then dropped to scurry off under a rock) at least once a week.
So Im wondering if there is a rule of thumb to feeding Officianalis. I figured I would increase its feeding 1:1 with its growth...3" = 3" of fish\crab\shrimp a day, 4" =4" of critters until about 6" when it becomes roughly 1:0.5. Any input here will be very useful.

Behaviour: This being my first cuttle I have been very cautious when around or working in the tank. My little Sepia O. is occasionaly startled and will take a quick 6" jet away before taking a hover and turning dark, no inking incidences yet...hoping to keep it that way. This usually happens when I walk toward the tank and the cuttle is occupied with something else then notices me. The majority of the time when I walk up to the tank the cuttle will move to the front of the glass if not already there, or hover a few inches off the sandbed and do the tail to head alternating banding or turn its head and arms dark, while moving its arms as if it wants to grab me. I was wondering if this is a threat display, and if I should alter the way I approach the tank. The cuttle will also hover just a 1/4" with its arms on the sandbed and sway side to side occasionaly. Then again, sometimes it just hangs out on the sandbed and watches me as I clean the skimmer, clean the glass, or stare at him up close. Also I have a mirror on a pc in the same room as his tank that will watch him with while facing the monitor. He may haved laid on the sandbed for 10 or 20 minutes but as soon as I turn my head to the tank he will jump up and begin hovering around the front glass.
Sorry if I ramble but I just want to be certain I am not stressing this awesome creature.

Ok, one more thing: currently running a total of 60 wimpy watts of NO on this tank. This tank is slowly being turned into a softy/button/shroom tank with a 150w 20000K HQI pendant Im just itching to put on it. Any pointers on acclimating the cuttle to the new light. Also, if the cuttle does ever ink in this tank is there anything I can do to lessen the damage? I would of course do a succesion of water changes along with carbon and poly-filter that I normally run, but are there any possible long term effects on my 6" DSB of LR?

Thanks in advance!

[OctoMonkey]

as for the inking, at that size the ink shouldnt make much impact on a tank, it would normally just be a blob similar in size to the cuttle.

Its when they get 6" plus that inking becomes a real problem when they are small a fine net can catch it.

I would wait until the cuttle is out of teh tank before switching on the MH. I believe it hurts their eyes to be under them and certainly makes them hide in the darkest corner they can.

I think that sometimes the displays are threats or at the very least a 'cautious' display. Then again, i vae seen them go through every display they know in a quiet bit of the tank for no apparant reason, so i guess you'll just need to learn what your wee guy is trying to tell you

Unlike some octopuses i have had, a cuttle will not chase and catch food if it is not hungry. It will just swim about until it gets hungry.

I think that the diet you are offering wont do him/her for very long. At six inches i was feeding cuttles approx 2-3 2" wide crabs per day as well as prawns shrimps etc. I also only ever used goldfish and mollies in emergencies when food ran out. There is a lot of evidence to suggest that feeding cephs on freshwater food is harmfull. ALSO, these feeder fish may have been treated with a copper based medication before you get them... that would be lethal.

Basically, I fed mine until they had a crab each and did that several times a day if they were looking for more, if they are satisfied they will bury in the sand.

Remember, they can increase in mass by 25% per week if fed right. Crustaceans, preferably fresh, is the way to go

hope this counter ramble helps

[Emo]

Yes, very helpful OctoMonkey, thanks for you input!

I am currently doing my best to get this guy to consume previously frozen marine shrimp, crabs and krill with occasional success. The feeding stick I use to make food look as lifelike as possible helps a little.

In the meantime I am looking for a supplier of cheap live marine crabs, shrimp etc... its getting expensive making the daily run to the LFS for $5 crabs.

The cuttle has almost doubled in size in the past 3 weeks, and is becoming much more gregarious. Its truly a pleasure to house this creature if not costly at the moment. In fact the new game we play is "Find the Cuttlefish". I have about 15 shells sitting on the sandbed with different colorations and patterns, and it can be difficult to pick out the camoflauged cuttle in their midst(the only rule is you cant look for eyes).

Thanks again

[cephalopoder]

A great food for all ceps is crayfish. There was a reprort done years ago that showed the nutritional value of crayfish was actully very close to marine crustacea. You can buy them live cheap in bulk from online crawfish companies for human consumption. They will even screen out small ones for you. I have always gut loaded mine with a product like cyclop-eeze that is high in HUFAs to give them a boost. Another way to go and probably the best food available is P.vanamaei marine shrimp. They are cultured for human consumption but there are also sold for seahorse and ceph food. I have used them alot and have been very pleased with them. They are live and raised in full strength seawater on a diet of cyclop-eeze and plankton. The person who raises them is george and can be emaild for sizes and prices. A lot of people buy them for cuttles. Just tell him the size you want. He is a great guy. shrimp@pahrump.com

[Emo]

Wow, that is great news! I cook up a few lbs of crayfish weekly when they are in season and have many local sources(when in season). A quick google search also showed some local (Texas) P.vannamei farms, but I will certainly email your recommended shrimp guy as well.

I know of a few places within 15 minutes drive time where I used to catch crayfish as a kid. These all come from Lake Austin, and the fish are not recommended for human consumption. I assume this rules out crayfish for my cuttle also? Im not sure exactly what pollution is the reason for the fish recommendation but could probly find out....in any case probly not suitable for cuttles if not for you and I.

Now time to research turning my spare 20g QT into a crayfish holding tank! Thanks Cephalopoder

[OctoMonkey]

remember, you could also get a stack of crayfish and freeze some of them.. i used to do that during the winter here with shore crabs when the weather was not as much fun for going in rockpools!