Octopus has eggs - any info or tips?
- Thread starter mc-nuggs
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BubblesandSqueak
Valuable Member
yes, please keep posting. what are you doing for lighting? Surprised she's even eating anything. I didn't look back at the thread but do you have something in place so they don't go through the filtration upon hatching? What's your plan with them if it's a success? They will kill each other in the same tank eventually.
First off - welcome to Reef2Reef!
Second, do you know what species of two-spot you're thinking of getting? (Octopus bimaculoides or Octopus bimaculatus) - I ask because O. bimaculoides is a large egg species (relatively easy to rear the young), and O. bimaculatus is a small egg species (very difficult to rear the young at this point).
Hadla
Well-Known Member
She looks to be a mercatoris which is what blooper was. She has that classic merc pose, the two arms in front like she’s ready to fight lol I never saw bloopers eggs since they were hidden in her shell den last year. I only noticed tiny babies later on in the ten gallon! I was so surprised! Here’s a pic of her, before I knew she had laid eggs
Hadla
Well-Known Member
If yours do hatch. I’d suggest splitting them up into at least two 10 gallons for now, mine ate brine shrimp almost right away but I was trying to get them onto something more nutritious when I put the last 5ish survivors into another ten gallon with live rock in it. I lost track of them after and I still regret it! I should have only put sand and one or two small shells or live rock pieces so I could better find and watch them. 
I’d love to get another female merc who’s storing sperm and waiting but it’s impossible to tell unless you find eggs or babies. Very hard to determine gender also unfortunately unless you know what to look for. Like someone else suggested, go to tonmo.com! I’m hadla on there also and I had posted about the babies this was their hastily set up nursery once I found the first few! You can see just how many there were at first! Their tiny inks were adorable
I’d love to get another female merc who’s storing sperm and waiting but it’s impossible to tell unless you find eggs or babies. Very hard to determine gender also unfortunately unless you know what to look for. Like someone else suggested, go to tonmo.com! I’m hadla on there also and I had posted about the babies this was their hastily set up nursery once I found the first few! You can see just how many there were at first! Their tiny inks were adorable 
NuclearCorals
New Member
way cool.. wish better survivval was possible. Id love to keep one.. but i wont try til i get stationary and have like a 90 gallon cube
Thereefdoc
Active Member
Very exciting stuff! There are two types of octopuses, large egged species and small egged species. Large egged can be raised in an aquarium. Small egg species like Pygmy octopuses hatch and have a planktonic stage which is impossible to replicate in an aquarium. Your octopus looks like a small egged species but I would still try feeding them live mysis once they hatch and separate them after a day or two because they will eat each other. If the octo-mom passes before they hatch try to keep the eggs in an area with good flow and keep the lights off. Good luck!
slingfox
Well-Known Member
Regardless of whether the baby octopus hatch and survive, you are providing the mother an opportunity to spend her last days doing what she was meant to do. That is a fitting ending to a full octopus life.
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mc-nuggs
Community Member
Saturday night (28 OCTOBER) I noticed eye spots are visible within the neglected eggs on the wall. Attached is the best picture I could take of them. The tank temperature is now around 78 - 80 degrees F on average. The heatwave is over, and although I could run the tank cooler... everything seems to be progressing perfectly. It ain't broke, so I ain't fixing it, and I've set the heater at 78.
I bought a 14 gallon tote over the weekend which I'm bootstrapping as a shrimp breeder tank. I've got amphipods and brine shrimp in there currently. It only uses air pump filters. I've ordered some mysid shrimp-- will put them into this tank when they arrive. I may also put some octopus hatchlings (paralarvae) in here. The problem is these feeder shrimp don't have the complete nutrients octopus paralarvae require which is why the morality rate is so high when they are fed nothing but enriched shrimp.
I also bought a small plastic "bead storage" craft container which I'm going to try and use as an octopus hotel for 18 of the paralarvae. I'm doing this for 2 reasons: 1) to keep them from eating each other and 2) to track who is regularly feeding, inking, and who is still alive. I blacked out the walls of each compartment so they don't scare each other and I'm going to drill 1" holes in the front and back of each compartment to cover with 200 micron mesh for water flow. Each compartment will have some tubes and rock for the paralarvae to hide in. If any of them ink, hopefully the mesh will catch it (wishful thinking). Nugward has never inked that I know of, hopefully the babies will be that mellow
Really nervous for when these octopus eggs start hatching. All the literature suggests I'll be "successful" if 5% survive 60 days.
I bought a 14 gallon tote over the weekend which I'm bootstrapping as a shrimp breeder tank. I've got amphipods and brine shrimp in there currently. It only uses air pump filters. I've ordered some mysid shrimp-- will put them into this tank when they arrive. I may also put some octopus hatchlings (paralarvae) in here. The problem is these feeder shrimp don't have the complete nutrients octopus paralarvae require which is why the morality rate is so high when they are fed nothing but enriched shrimp.
I also bought a small plastic "bead storage" craft container which I'm going to try and use as an octopus hotel for 18 of the paralarvae. I'm doing this for 2 reasons: 1) to keep them from eating each other and 2) to track who is regularly feeding, inking, and who is still alive. I blacked out the walls of each compartment so they don't scare each other and I'm going to drill 1" holes in the front and back of each compartment to cover with 200 micron mesh for water flow. Each compartment will have some tubes and rock for the paralarvae to hide in. If any of them ink, hopefully the mesh will catch it (wishful thinking). Nugward has never inked that I know of, hopefully the babies will be that mellow
Really nervous for when these octopus eggs start hatching. All the literature suggests I'll be "successful" if 5% survive 60 days.
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mc-nuggs
Community Member
Mantle is about 1.25 inches (3 cm) long. Arm span is about 4 inches (10 cm) across. Rough estimates.
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mc-nuggs
Community Member
New pics of the eggs. Took these on Wed, November 1st (22 days old). Judging from the amount of yolk remaining, I'm guessing they will start hatching in about 2 weeks. Nugward has been rejecting meals more consistently now. Last two meals were both 4 days apart. I've backed off from feeding regularly and am largely leaving Nugward undisturbed, which is probably what she prefers.
I have a tank full of mysid shrimp now. I had the idea to feed the mysid shrimp crab meat, since it might be a way to get the octopus paralarvae to indirectly ingest crab. The mysid shrimp did not seem to readily eat crab. I even tried throwing some crab meat in a blender to get "mysid-sized" crab pieces, still no real feeding response.
I also have another tank full of ghost shrimp-- they might be too big. We'll see. I pulled a gnarly isopod parasite off of one. Kinda creeped me out TBH. No idea if others are infected or what that might do feeding them to octopus paralarvae.
I have a tank full of mysid shrimp now. I had the idea to feed the mysid shrimp crab meat, since it might be a way to get the octopus paralarvae to indirectly ingest crab. The mysid shrimp did not seem to readily eat crab. I even tried throwing some crab meat in a blender to get "mysid-sized" crab pieces, still no real feeding response.
I also have another tank full of ghost shrimp-- they might be too big. We'll see. I pulled a gnarly isopod parasite off of one. Kinda creeped me out TBH. No idea if others are infected or what that might do feeding them to octopus paralarvae.
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Just to make sure, are you culturing the mysid shrimp and ghost shrimp?
I’d probably try to check the rest of the shrimp for parasites too - while I doubt it would impact their usefulness as feeders too greatly, it’s still a good idea to ensure their in top shape for use.
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