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Cuttlefish

Fyn

By Fyn,
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cornyfish Newbie

cornyfish

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Well, I've kept cuttlefish before..

Websites and books tend to describe them as very delicate creatures, but in my experience, my cuttlefish was quite hardy.. Very interesting fella, especially during feeding time... When it spots its prey, its body colour will change in a rippling manner, with a whole myriad of colours sweeping along its entire body like waves, very beautiful.

It will then swim slowly over to the prey, and when it is close enough, will shoot out 2 very long tentacles to grab the prey, lightning fast, very fascinating. :rolleyes:

That is why i recommend anyone keeping cuttlefish to try feeding it live food, in order to witness this very fascinating behaviour. I used to feed him live freshwater glass shrimp as well as live mollies, which he absolutely loves.

One thing about keeping cuttlefishes.. you must provide them with live rocks and shelter for them to hide.. cos they get frightened very easily, such as when you suddenly switch on the lights. Mine squirted ink when i switch on the room lights, not even the tank lights. And regular water changes are a must, or else i think the ink when accumulated in the water will kill the cuttlefish.

Another thing... if you keep a cuttlefish, it absolutely has to be kept alone... it will eat ANY other fish/shrimp/crab that is small enough for it to eat, and will probably get stressed to death by any fish that it cannot eat and which harresses it.

Oh, and other than at feeding time, it is a very inactive creature. It will change into the colour of either the sand or the live rock, and stay there hardly moving at all.. until it sees food, that is. I sometimes have trouble spotting it when it is camouflaged. :P

Btw, may i ask where you saw the cuttlefish? I got mine from Pasir Ris fish farm for $12 some months back..

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Panzz Enthusiast

Panzz

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just to add on that it is true that the ink from the cuttlefish will harm the cuttlefish but also any livestock from the tank, but with a good skimmer all this would be not a problem.

Cuttle( in short ) produces two types of ink, either diluted( which is as though in the water column) or some sort of thick and sticky ink which. both have their own way of being removed, for the diluted one, a skimmer will do( a powerful one of cos) and for the sticky type jus used a normal fish net will do.

another thing to look out for when keeping cuttle is that they are indeed quite sensitive to water conditions and especially to the amount of dissolved oxygen. so you must always make sure you tank is well circulated.

one last thing will be the acclimatisation period for cuttles , unlike normal livestock acclemtisation, they are defintely more sensitive and will squart ink to death if acclimatising is not done properly. cuttles need not only to the temp acclimatising but to the salinity of your tank as well so I will suggest you do a drip acclimatisation first before even thinking of putting it in your tank.

if you are interested and really wants to keep one you can visit this site which everyone there is really there to know and teach others about the keeping of cuttle and octopus.

www.tonmo.com

by the way, if I am not wrong the cuttle you are going to get is most like Sepia Bandensis, which is in its common name the Dwaft Cuttlefish as Singapore seldom import other type of cuttles.

hope this give you a rough idea of keeping cuttles.( there is much much much (actually so much that I cannot stop) more to learn about when keeping cuttlefishes and this same goes for any reef creatures you keep. :D

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FuEl Newbie

FuEl

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Cuttlefish can be kept with others of the same species. They do need a fine sand bed (Grade 0 works well) as they tend to rest buried in the sand. Small crabs or prawns are perhaps good food items. Keep carbon running at all times and replace them often.

Always something more important than fish.

http://reefbuilders.com/2012/03/08/sps-pico-reef/

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dkk08 Newbie

dkk08

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on that note have anyone seen any for sale at LFS? I've caught quite a few tiny ones (Abt 1-2cm) at sentosa... :P

“Frogs have it easy, they can eat what bugs them”

"If you have no critics you'll likely have no success."

- Malcolm X

Glory Glory Man Utd!

DeZ aka Desmond

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Fyn Newbie

Fyn

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hey bros, thanx for the replies... but the thot of not being able to keep it with other fishes... abit sian ah... hahaha...

bro cornyfish, I saw one at pasir ris farm too... very tempted... haha... looks totally cool lor...

bro dkk08, where in sentosa u found them? hahaha...

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dkk08 Newbie

dkk08

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hey bros, thanx for the replies... but the thot of not being able to keep it with other fishes... abit sian ah... hahaha...

bro cornyfish, I saw one at pasir ris farm too... very tempted... haha... looks totally cool lor...

bro dkk08, where in sentosa u found them? hahaha...

Me and my GF was at Palawan beach... she's really good at catching them and other small fishes... with her bare hands somemore :shock:

“Frogs have it easy, they can eat what bugs them”

"If you have no critics you'll likely have no success."

- Malcolm X

Glory Glory Man Utd!

DeZ aka Desmond

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Elune Newbie

Elune

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Me and my GF was at Palawan beach... she's really good at catching them and other small fishes... with her bare hands somemore

Your GF must be a mermaid in her past life... :ooh:

Regarding Pasir Ris farmway, I haven seen Cuttles but saw them selling Octopus (about 3 of them)... on Sunday, and also last evening (Weds)... at $8 each. Its head is about the size of a toddler's fist (excluding tentacles).

Anyways, IMO, these Cuttles and Octopus are predatory in nature, so they are definately not recommendable for your tank if you are keeping any prized fishes...

my 1 cents... :)

dancing_girl2.gifSpirit.gif
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Mr CRABS Newbie

Mr CRABS

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I DO that too...very fun,the fishes got different colour body parts...only 1 part is in colour and the rest are transparent.

AG_fishjumping.gif

3.5 X 2.5 X 2.5 Reef Coming up :))

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cornyfish Newbie

cornyfish

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Your GF must be a mermaid in her past life... :ooh:

Regarding Pasir Ris farmway, I haven seen Cuttles but saw them selling Octopus (about 3 of them)... on Sunday, and also last evening (Weds)... at $8 each. Its head is about the size of a toddler's fist (excluding tentacles).

Anyways, IMO, these Cuttles and Octopus are predatory in nature, so they are definately not recommendable for your tank if you are keeping any prized fishes...

my 1 cents... :)

Octopuses are worse... they're forever trying to escape from the tank. :P

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Maxstar81 Newbie

Maxstar81

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Saw an octopus once during low tide.

Was really amazed at its dexterity while

i stood watching it mutitask using all its

tenticles at the same time probing every

piston shrimp hole in the vincinty. Those

piston shrimps simply had no chance.

Octopuses are worse... they're forever trying to escape from the tank.

:P I agree totally.

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dkk08 Newbie

dkk08

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Your GF must be a mermaid in her past life... :ooh:

Regarding Pasir Ris farmway, I haven seen Cuttles but saw them selling Octopus (about 3 of them)... on Sunday, and also last evening (Weds)... at $8 each. Its head is about the size of a toddler's fist (excluding tentacles).

Anyways, IMO, these Cuttles and Octopus are predatory in nature, so they are definately not recommendable for your tank if you are keeping any prized fishes...

my 1 cents... :)

I sometimes wish she wld be a permanent mermaid hehe that way I'll have more fishes :D

Dun worry I'm thinking of keeping them in a FOWLR tank... Maybe try and breed the cuttles... as for octopus, they're just simply amazing to watch!

Any kind soul can help me get some cuttles and octopus as Pasir Ris farms are simply too far away, pls PM me if any one is kind enough to help me get :thanks:

“Frogs have it easy, they can eat what bugs them”

"If you have no critics you'll likely have no success."

- Malcolm X

Glory Glory Man Utd!

DeZ aka Desmond

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dkk08 Newbie

dkk08

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bro dkk08, if u manage to keep them in fowlr tanks without any prob must let us noe leh!!! hahaha...

Den i try... :lol::lol::lol:

Hey bro Fyn... that's if I can get my hands on any :D

“Frogs have it easy, they can eat what bugs them”

"If you have no critics you'll likely have no success."

- Malcolm X

Glory Glory Man Utd!

DeZ aka Desmond

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cornyfish Newbie

cornyfish

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Any kind soul can help me get some cuttles and octopus as Pasir Ris farms are simply too far away, pls PM me if any one is kind enough to help me get :thanks:

No cuttlefish or octopus at Ah Beng's (pasir ris) this week though... i think these creatures are very seasonal one..

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dkk08 Newbie

dkk08

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No cuttlefish or octopus at Ah Beng's (pasir ris) this week though... i think these creatures are very seasonal one..

Thanks Cornyfish! Do keep me updated and of coz if can help me get better still :yeah:

“Frogs have it easy, they can eat what bugs them”

"If you have no critics you'll likely have no success."

- Malcolm X

Glory Glory Man Utd!

DeZ aka Desmond

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FuEl Newbie

FuEl

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Err.. i went on both thursday and yesterday (friday), didn't see any leh.. at the big tubs where they usually put the cuttlefish there were instead longhorn cowfishes and 3 big porcupine puffers.

In a floating basket in the fish tank section in front of the sea fan section. Even laid eggs in the basket.

Always something more important than fish.

http://reefbuilders.com/2012/03/08/sps-pico-reef/

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