Cuttlefish
- Thread starter jimbo1177
- Start date
You really need to ask the marine fishkeeper guys this question, but I do know that they get pretty big and need a pool-sized tank.
They're not often kept in captivity because like all cephelopods, they're super-mega-ultra-uber sensitive to water conditions.
They're not often kept in captivity because like all cephelopods, they're super-mega-ultra-uber sensitive to water conditions.
Jason213
New Member
In April 2005, Aquarium Fish Magazine published a very well written article about keeping such cephalopods as Octupuses and CuttleFishes, this is the Jist of what they had to say.
The speific Gravity should be between 1.023-1.025 and a PH of 7.8-8.2. Unfortuneatley, these animals are quite pricey, and do not have a long lifespan. For cuttlefish, they are more difficult to keep than octopuses. They do not ship well and more than 80 percent of them shipped die in transit or soon after "delivery". Because of their short life span, they may be on their death bead as soon as they arrive, so they might be gone as short as a few weeks after you purchase one. Cuttlefishes will dig and move rocks, so smaller pieces of liverock would be better than large ones, to create a safe enviornment. Cuttlefish need hiding spaces, but not caves or such items as them, they tend to blend in with their enviornment to hide. THey should be kept in a quiet, non-active room to ensure their low stress levels. Cuttlefishes need a long tank because they are bottom dwellers which love to swim along the bottom of the ocean, they are easily startled and a slight tap on the glass might send them into a rampage in which they can speed into the sides of the aquarium or rocks, causing death. They eat live foods, which are nesscesary to entice their natural eating habits. Live ghost shrimp, fiddler crabs, and live marine fish are sufficient. with time they might not need live food, but gradualy replace with frozen meats. A good way to cycle a tank for a cuttlefish are Damsels, which when levels are constant and safe for about a month, become food for the cuttlefish. As for tank size, A 75 gallon tank would be acceptable for a smaller cuttlefish species. again, more surface area, meaning longer than tall. They do not do well in Coral enviornments because if they were to rest on one, or an anemone, they would get stung, and again send them flying across the tank. Live Rock and Live sand will act as an aid for keeping nitrogeneous waste products at acceptable levels. Also, they produce a large ammount of waste, including sheddings of their skin which can easily clog filters, an external filter is nessecary, as well as a protein skimmer. As their octupus cousins, Cuttlefish will Ink if they feel threatened, which contains toxic chemicals. Always use de-ionized water or reverse-osmosis water. Also have mixed sea water handy in case of an inking, you can do a partial water change and ensure proper chemistry of the water. They should be kept in FULL strength sea water, and do not do well in low-salinity enviornments. THey are sensitive to low dissolved oxygen levels, meaning air pumps are a nessesity. I have heard that they are messy eaters, which can also clog filters. You can find more information at these webpages...
www.nrcc.utmb.edu/cephhusbguid.htm
www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/july2003/invert.htm
Hope i was able to help you!
The speific Gravity should be between 1.023-1.025 and a PH of 7.8-8.2. Unfortuneatley, these animals are quite pricey, and do not have a long lifespan. For cuttlefish, they are more difficult to keep than octopuses. They do not ship well and more than 80 percent of them shipped die in transit or soon after "delivery". Because of their short life span, they may be on their death bead as soon as they arrive, so they might be gone as short as a few weeks after you purchase one. Cuttlefishes will dig and move rocks, so smaller pieces of liverock would be better than large ones, to create a safe enviornment. Cuttlefish need hiding spaces, but not caves or such items as them, they tend to blend in with their enviornment to hide. THey should be kept in a quiet, non-active room to ensure their low stress levels. Cuttlefishes need a long tank because they are bottom dwellers which love to swim along the bottom of the ocean, they are easily startled and a slight tap on the glass might send them into a rampage in which they can speed into the sides of the aquarium or rocks, causing death. They eat live foods, which are nesscesary to entice their natural eating habits. Live ghost shrimp, fiddler crabs, and live marine fish are sufficient. with time they might not need live food, but gradualy replace with frozen meats. A good way to cycle a tank for a cuttlefish are Damsels, which when levels are constant and safe for about a month, become food for the cuttlefish. As for tank size, A 75 gallon tank would be acceptable for a smaller cuttlefish species. again, more surface area, meaning longer than tall. They do not do well in Coral enviornments because if they were to rest on one, or an anemone, they would get stung, and again send them flying across the tank. Live Rock and Live sand will act as an aid for keeping nitrogeneous waste products at acceptable levels. Also, they produce a large ammount of waste, including sheddings of their skin which can easily clog filters, an external filter is nessecary, as well as a protein skimmer. As their octupus cousins, Cuttlefish will Ink if they feel threatened, which contains toxic chemicals. Always use de-ionized water or reverse-osmosis water. Also have mixed sea water handy in case of an inking, you can do a partial water change and ensure proper chemistry of the water. They should be kept in FULL strength sea water, and do not do well in low-salinity enviornments. THey are sensitive to low dissolved oxygen levels, meaning air pumps are a nessesity. I have heard that they are messy eaters, which can also clog filters. You can find more information at these webpages...
www.nrcc.utmb.edu/cephhusbguid.htm
www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/july2003/invert.htm
Hope i was able to help you!
Navarre
Marine Moderator
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cuttle fish pose no real problems to an experienced marine keeper, i would not say they need enormous tanks either as they dont grow as large as squids or octupus. Its true, they need perfect water conditions as they are extremly senitive to them, they also need to be kept in tanks on their own as they will kill anything in the tank they can grab, fish, crabs etc are definately a No No 
They are very short lived so you can expect them to last about 10 months in captivity usually.. their lifespan is about 2 years and if you consider that they would be caught a good few months into thier lives this means it doesn leave alot left.
Gorgeous things to watch though with the ever changing colours and pattern but alas the very fact that 99.99% of marine hobbiests do keep them should indicate that they really are not a viable option for a home tank.
)
They are very short lived so you can expect them to last about 10 months in captivity usually.. their lifespan is about 2 years and if you consider that they would be caught a good few months into thier lives this means it doesn leave alot left.
Gorgeous things to watch though with the ever changing colours and pattern but alas the very fact that 99.99% of marine hobbiests do keep them should indicate that they really are not a viable option for a home tank.
)
Opcn
Big fish
Some species do grow large, the giant cuttle fish of australia grows to 3 feet, so be sure of which one you buy, which can be difficult because you cannot judge them by coloor due to there camelion abilities.
A better option would be cephalopods from the Order Sepiolida , Euprymna scolopes http
/is.dal.ca/~ceph/TCP/taxa.html they are very much like cuttle fish but dwell in shallow waters and grow to very small sizes (35 mm) they are endemic to hawaii and unfortunately Noctournal but I do believe that they are aquacultures, I see to recall Live Aquaria Having some, they still have the picture up over aquacultured inverts but only octopusses in there 
Good luck,
A better option would be cephalopods from the Order Sepiolida , Euprymna scolopes http
/is.dal.ca/~ceph/TCP/taxa.html they are very much like cuttle fish but dwell in shallow waters and grow to very small sizes (35 mm) they are endemic to hawaii and unfortunately Noctournal but I do believe that they are aquacultures, I see to recall Live Aquaria Having some, they still have the picture up over aquacultured inverts but only octopusses in there Good luck,Dragonscales
Fishaholic
I agree, alot of species of cuttlefish don't need a huge tank, much less a swimming pool sized one. A great place to start researching is www.tonmo.com. They are an excellent source of info for both cuttles and octopi. Like any sensative fish, extensive researching and thought is needed before the buying should commence, but it is wholly possible to keep these animals quite successfully, given the right amount of care and consideration. Good luck!
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