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Octopus laid Eggs 6/25/08 Crew, ? <?> I have searched the site and found some helpful information on rearing octopus eggs. My situation is a little different though. I bought an octopus 4 days ago, and while taking him <Uhh> out of the bag to put him into the tank, two tentacles came off. Fortunately, although? I am sure this is stressful for it, he has been eating about seven ghost shrimp the past 3 nights (I plan on changing to crabs shortly). This morning however, I found 4 "cocoons" hanging from one of the pvc "caves". The octopus, however, is not guarding the eggs in the same cave. <... a pic?> I saw a query from someone else on the site asking about rearing the baby octopi. The crew member gave a link from Dalhouse University, but it doesn't open on any computers I've tried on. The tank is a 30 gal, with 4 inches of sand and 3 pvc pipe caves. Other than that, the tank is empty. I have covered all filter intakes with foam. Other than that I see the tank as being bulletproof. My questions are: What do? I feed the octopi when hatched? How many octopi should I expect from the 4 cocoons? Is there anything I can do to prevent my Octopus from dying (ie. feeding with tweezers or baster)? <Mmm, no to the last... Please read here: http://www.tonmo.com/ <?Bob Fenner?> ?Thanks, ?Zach Re: Octopus laid Eggs... still not reading, still no pic   6/26/08 Bob, ?Sorry for being a little vague in the first email. I am almost sure the Octo is a Vulgaris. Based on online pics and forums (Tongo) the Octo looks the same, but the eggs don't look a lot alike the pics online. <... may not be... See my prev. email? Please send an image/pic...> The Octo is still eating. He ate yet again seven ghost shrimp last night. My new questions are: Should I be concerned with shrimp/crabs eating the eggs? <Yes...> How long should I expect before the eggs hatch? <Weeks...> Will the baby octopi be plankton or will they be visible. <... read... they're large enough to be seen, look like miniature adults...> Thanks, ?Zach <BobF> Re: Octopus laid Eggs  6/27/08 Bob, ?Here are pics of the Octo. I am pretty sure he is vulgaris, maybe I'm wrong. <Does look like Octopus vulgaris to me as well Zach...  the blurry pic of the cup... these do look like octopus eggs... See here: http://scienceblogs.com/ethicsandscience/2006/09/friday_sprog_blogging_syngnath.php BobF>

Re: Octopus laid Eggs – 06/28/08 The only other tank inhabitants are the feeder shrimp or crabs that stay in for about 4 hours before being eaten. A few nights ago I turned on the light in the middle of the night and saw the Octo holding more of the "eggs". I have looked at pics of eggs of Vulgaris and you're right, they don't look a lot like. Maybe they are infertile? deformed? ?Zach <Perhaps. B>

Rearing baby octopus
Hi there, <Hi Andrew, MacL here with you tonight.>
Recently my reef octopus has been refusing food and not coming out, I  suspected it was coming to an end and was laying some eggs, I was right, I have come home today and there are hundreds of babies swimming around my tank!! I don't know what to do!! Many have already been sucked up into the filtration system, I'm not sure what I can do to help them. I would like some to survive but I don't know how to go about it. Please help if you can. <Strangely enough I happened on this webpage just days ago. Take a look, it tells you exactly what to feed baby octopus http://www.dal.ca/~ceph/TCP/rearing.html  His advice,  use Mysid shrimp, amphipods, crustacean larvae, crustacean appendages, and small crabs. Hanlon (1985) reports that food should be from 1/3 to 2 times the mantle length. He also recommend that you not use Artemia. I would think that brine shrimp that was soaked in Selcon would work. And possibly live brine as well. He does recommend making sure that the food gets to the octopus with tweezers and or with a turkey baster. Please let me know how they do. MacL>
Thanks!!

Octopus
Hi Bob,
I've seen you reply to a lot of questions by people
online and I was wandering if you could possibly help
me. I have a dwarf octopus that has had babies (4)
they seem to be doing fine but I don't know what or how
to feed them? 
(Do you know the species? You should look on the Net and quick re their care... Yes to being able to raise them...)
Next I need to know if I should separate
them from the mother? 
(Yes... there is a chance the mother may eat them... or that her imminent death (very common) will cause their loss from water pollution)
Lastly do you think there is a
chance of them surviving?
thanks
Bill Nickens
(Please see the Cephalopod coverage and related FAQs file posted on our website: www.WetWebMedia.com for more general information and references. Bob Fenner, in Cabo till tomorrow)

Re: long term planning (size of tank, foods, mandarin, cephalopod FAQs>
The mail maintenance demons ate the original message, but your response
to my comment that a 180 tank was not that much larger than a 120 was
(to paraphrase) "that I should hang out there more often". 
<Bizarre... reminds me of the "altered translation dictionary" skits of comedy teams>
I was just
curious (not offended, just curious, the short comings of email, you
can't hear the tone of my voice) what exactly you meant. Oh, and I
agree, your replies aren't short, they're concise. And if you're curious,
I'm trying to assure my wife that my hobby won't eat our house.
<I understand (methinks) all the way around... half again as big is "bigger" as in "I wish you were about to help me count my money">
And on a whole nother topic, I thought this might apply to the recent
posting that mandarin fish take roe, please feel free to snip the next
section and post it separately if you'd like.
<Okay, will do so, thank you>
Re Mandarin Tip:
"Hatchling cephalopods require live food. While Sepia officinalis is the
only cephalopod species that has been reared through their youth on
Artemia, I do not recommend using Artemia unless there are no other
options as many of the cuttlefish will die and the growth rates of the
survivors
will be retarded. Mysid shrimp, small marine fish, amphipods, isopods,
and other small live marine crustaceans and fish are ideal first foods.
Bill
Mebane, a scientist at the Marine Biological Lab at Wood's Hole, has had
great success using newly hatched killifish (Fundulus grandis, sorry
killifish lovers!) to feed hatchling cuttlefish. Killifish eggs can be
ordered from Gulf Coast Minnows; their address is at the end of this
article. The
eggs can be shipped damp, are inexpensive, and are an especially great
option for land locked aquarists. Essentially they are the Artemia of
the fish world. I've heard that some aquarium stores are starting to regularly
offer live amphipods (also known as scuds, hoppers, or beach fleas) for sale;
these are the main food I have using to fed my hatchling cuttlefish. "
From Dr. James Wood article on breeding cuttlefish,
URL for Dr. Wood's article: www.nhm.ac.uk/hosted_sites/tcp/cuttle4.html
While I don't have anything but gut instinct to back me up, I imagine
that killifish eggs would make good mandarin food if they are taking
roe, and easier to get if you don't have access to a market that carries
roe.
Here's the URL for Gulf Coast Minnows:
http://www.bayoubusiness.com/minnows/about.htm
Hope this helps!
Mike
<Hmm, will post on the cephalopod FAQs section, "foods/feeding/nutrition" as well. Again, thank you. Bob Fenner>

Octopus eggs! (03/20/03)
Hi guys
<Hi! Ananda here tonight...>
I have an octopus that laid eggs about 45 days ago (we had one about a year ago that stopped eating after it laid eggs and died) this time I caught it in time so make sure her food is right near her and she is eating every day.
<Wow... very cool.>
That solved that problem, the main reason I write today is I believe the eggs may actually hatch this time, they are becoming very clear from their original white color and you can see the baby octopi in the eggs. If the hatch do I need to separate them from the mother, and do you know what I should begin feeding them?
<I would definitely separate them from the mother. There's a bit more info here about cephalopods: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/cephalop1.htm ... and you must check out "The Octopus News Magazine Online" at http://www.tonmo.com/ -- some of the people on their message board may have experience with this.>
Thanks for any help you may have
You guys rock best on the web!!!!!
Bill
<Thanks so much for your kind words. --Ananda>