Octopus Eggs Hatched

[ZBT3091]

My Octopus eggs that were laid around 4 weeks ago finally hatched. I think the cycle took so short because my tank temp is high (80 or so). It happened around 3 days ago. There were about 40 of them shooting around the tank or hanging onto the glass. They are about the size of the point of a thumbtack. They are visible, but definitely very small. The day after i bought a can of ZoPlan http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00025K1IY/?tag=reefs04-20
They dont seem to really be eating it, but for all i know they do when im not looking. Some have definitely died. I would say there are around 15 - all hanging onto the glass. The mother is still eating and seems to be doing fine, but still hides throughout the whole day unless food passes. Any advice on feeding would be appreciated.
Zach

 

[jaymo]

picks please

 

[ming]

Sounds like Staurocladia oahuensis

Pics please

 

[Josh]

Pics!

How many are left? I'd love to help try and raise them. If you can give me a few I can put them into a holding pen and give them live pods and fresh baby brine.

I'm sure Dom would want to give it a try as well! The more you spread them around the more likely someone will be able to keep one alive.

Congrats.

 

[jhale]

Zach,
just in case you did not know about it, look at http://www.tonmo.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=8 for more info on feeding them.

 

[ZBT3091]

Ill absolutely give a few out to help raise them. Im sure successes will be increased if I give to more experienced octo-keepers. I have no idea how to do any of this, so I'm gonna need alot of help. The babys dont look anything like the pic inserted. They are all coiled up and look like a pin head sized curled up octo.

 

[mray]

I think Ming put up that picture because he was doubting that your octopus had babies.

Good luck raising them!

 

[jhale]

that photo ming posted are not octopus.
I think it may be too late to try and save them. from browsing the website I linked to it looks like you need to be prepared well ahead of time to have any chance of raising the octopus. good luck though.

 

[jhale]

http://www.tonmo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13641

here's the article to read,
http://www.grupoinvestigacionacuicultura.org/ufiles/Iglesias et al_2007.pdf

 

[ming]

The picture I posted is Staurocladia oahuensis (a tiny jellyfish)
I posted it because it sounded like them from his description.

A video I saw of baby octopus had all the babies swimming (towards the light, and not holding onto the walls) and many hundreds of them but I'm sure different types of octopus will have different yields.

Good luck with raising the octo's

 

[jejton]

Can you give us some info on what led to this? i.e. species, age if known, how long you had it, was it mated before you bought it, etc, tank setup and params. You should try sending email to various aquariums, you might find someone with experience.

 

[Domboski]

Congrats on the hatching! You will need to feed pods to the Octopuses. I am going to be in your neighborhood Saturday (tomorrow) and can swing by and pick a few up for me and Josh. In the meantime, I'd try collecting as many as you can and put them into a seperate holding pen (stays in the same tank they were hatched in) so it is easier to feed them. You can try the breeding net they sell at the LFS too. As for pods, see if you can buy some or pull some from a fuge or filter sock. You can also hatch brine shrimp and feed them to the octopuses. They will need to eat a lot and frequently especially at the temperature of your tank. I'll send you a PM with my number so you can call me if you have any questions. I'm going to be at Jones Beach in the afternoon so I won't be online.

The links and site Jonathan posted will be a huge help. Identifying your octo will help too.

 

[jhale]

I read the article. there is a lot of good info you can get from it, some important facts to note are the octopus are extremely fragile at the paralarval stage, netting them may damage them. Their skin and arms are easily torn.
It's stated that pods are the preferred food to feed them, but they are the smaller copepods. "pods" is a term that should not be used as it covers so many species, in this case it's important to know which ones you need.

 

[Domboski]

Jonathan,

Do you have any links to Rich Ross' articles? I think he has kept newborn Cuttles and Octos in net habitats to raise them. It is fine using nets as long as you don't try and pull them off. You have to let them move off at their own leisure. The same goes for any other collection tool / material. Most pods you can buy in the LFS are the smaller ones anyway. Even Tigger Pods should be small enough.

 

[jhale]

this is one for cuttles, that's Rich's main focus,

http://www.stickycricket.com/cuttle/article_bandensis1/index.html

 

[Domboski]

Zach,

Is your tank set up an octopus only tank? What size and how long has it been up? How much live rock? As I'm thinking through this, maybe leaving them in the tank and moving the female out into the sump is an option. She is going to die soon (few weeks) and their is a possibility she will eat the babies.

I still feel it is best to seperate the babes and put them in a more manageable place to feed them. I would buy Tigger Pods. I'm not sure if Country Critters or Suffolk Fish and Reef carry them but maybe some other stores do. I'd call around to see if any near you or in Nassau (Pet Warehouse, Pets of New Hyde, etc) have them in stock. If not, you'll have to order them online. I'd hatch brine shrimp in the meantime. They usually hatch in a day. This can not be the primary source of food but it can hold the newborns over until you find a source of pods. Maybe you can check with sachs aquaculture and see if Paul Sachs has tiny amphipods in stock you can purchase.

 

[Domboski]

this is one for cuttles, that's Rich's main focus,

http://www.stickycricket.com/cuttle/article_bandensis1/index.html

This is perfect. The care is similar.:squid:

 

[cowfish]

The mother is still eating and seems to be doing fine, but still hides throughout the whole day unless food passes.

I'm amazed that the mother is still alive. I was under the impression that most octos in the hobby died shortly after laying eggs.

 

[jejton]

I had that discussion with Dom on his thread and decided to email the aquarium in Baltimore. Here was the response ( cant remember if I posted it there or not ) copied with the author's permission:
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']Eric,[/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif'] [/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']The answer to why octopuses die soon after reproduction is a mystery ? most likely it is due to the fact that octopuses tend to mate towards the end of their natural lifespan. The female will not eat while brooding her eggs, so this extended fast also contributes to the mother?s death after the eggs are laid. After mating the female lays about 200,000 eggs (this figure dramatically varies between families, genera, species and also individuals). The female cares for the eggs, guarding them against predators, and blows currents of water over them so that they get enough oxygen. The female does not eat during the variable one to six month period spent taking care of the unhatched eggs. Our females do lay infertile eggs even without mating. [/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif']There is no evidence to suggest that octopuses lives are extended by not mating, as I am not aware of any research on this subject. The giant Pacific octopuses in aquariums still only survive between 3.5 and 5 years, depending on the individual. There is no apparent detrimental effect from not mating. Our institution chooses not to mate our giant Pacific octopuses because of the high cost of each animal and the fact that these animals are cannibalistic, so by introducing a second animal into an exhibit we would be taking the chance that one animal would attack the other instead of mating. Captive breeding of giant Pacific octopuses has been successfully accomplished by many aquariums on the west coast- mainly institutions with unlimited access to animals from the Pacific ocean. Research has been done by other institutions involving removing an optic nerve in several species of octopuses. This nerve is thought to be one of the triggers in an octopus?s decline and eventual death. By removing this ?trigger? scientists were experimenting to find out if the animal?s life was extended for any amount of time. I am not certain of the conclusion of these experiments.[/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif'] [/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif'] Jaime Ramsay[/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif'] Aquarist[/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif'] National Aquarium in Baltimore[/FONT]
[FONT='Arial','sans-serif'] www.aqua.org[/FONT]

 

[Josh]

OK, Dom I can help if you get a handful. I can put a breeding net in my fuge and give them tigger pods, fresh brine hatches and the pods I can pull out of my sump. The fuge has a good stock of them so we should be good for a while.

Tell me as soon as you know that we can get them so I can start hatching the brine.

PM me or call if you need anything. I am pretty much free tomorrow if this happens.

-Josh