atlantic octopus

[bobrob]

i have a 300 gal. semi-live reef setup ( if that makes sense) , a buddy of mine runs offshore dive tours & about 3 months ago , he surprised me with a fairly good-sized octopus ( body was about size of a baseball w/ 12+ inch arms ) I had never owned an octopus before solely for the reason that everyone says how hard they are to keep & that they are great escape artists.......... well , at 1st was hard to get him to eat much , but i decided to throw a bunch of sand-fleas ( they are very abundant on beach here ) . He loved them , was very very very active day & nite , never tried to escape ( probably because he was so content with hunting sandfleas )
well , last week i woke up & he on his death bed ? just like that ! Is it possible my lionfish might have got him? they were very good around each other , but my lionfish gets moody @ feeding time. I read online that atlantic octopus only has average of 18 month life span , therefore i had no idea how old this one was when i got it , but seemed a little too sudden to a death by old-age!

 

[nick76]

Originally Posted by bobrob
i have a 300 gal. semi-live reef setup ( if that makes sense) , a buddy of mine runs offshore dive tours & about 3 months ago , he surprised me with a fairly good-sized octopus ( body was about size of a baseball w/ 12+ inch arms ) I had never owned an octopus before solely for the reason that everyone says how hard they are to keep & that they are great escape artists.......... well , at 1st was hard to get him to eat much , but i decided to throw a bunch of sand-fleas ( they are very abundant on beach here ) . He loved them , was very very very active day & nite , never tried to escape ( probably because he was so content with hunting sandfleas )
well , last week i woke up & he on his death bed ? just like that ! Is it possible my lionfish might have got him? they were very good around each other , but my lionfish gets moody @ feeding time. I read online that atlantic octopus only has average of 18 month life span , therefore i had no idea how old this one was when i got it , but seemed a little too sudden to a death by old-age!
Octopus are susposed to be housed alone, so yea its possible. Could be any# of things.

 

[jon321]

What are the average temperatures of the local water and that of your tank? Temperate species kept in tropical water super excellerates their activity and therefore significantly shortens their lifespan. This could explain both his high activity level and his short lifespan.
Jon

 

[bobrob]

that was the smartest answer i've heard , nothing against anyone else , but i never even thought of the temp difference. Our surface water here is usually low 80's , but where he was caught was in 90 feet of water , probably 15 degrees colder.
Thank you very much bro !