Octopus mercatoris

innsmouth

Member
This is the newest member of my ever growing creature collection. A pygmy species from the Florida/Carribean area. He's been here for about a month now and is finally getting comfortable enough to come out for extended periods. Really cool little guy. A shame they don't live longer. Sorry for the bad pics. I don't have a macro function on my camera.
 

oceandream

Member
That is so cool! How big is his tank? What does he eat? How long do they live?
lol, sorry for all the questions :)
 

aidos

Member
fantastic, i hoping that when i eventually finish with my 19 gallon QT that i will make it a home for a pygmy species of octupus that inhabits parts of Western Australia. LFS has one and its fantastic, only live for upto 2 years though.
 

chandler04

Active Member
Yea, where'd u get yers from? Ill bet that I can keep one, and it would be cool. Not as sweet as the blue rings, but then again, not as deadly neither!!:D Wat do u feed it as well?
 

robchuck

Active Member
Innsmouth,
Nice octo! Just out of curiousity, can you say a little more about this setup (size, filtration, lighting, how the tank is sealed)? Is it safe to assume that there are no other tank mates?
Originally posted by Magic_Carp
iv seen a video that had some guys octo come out of the tank, crawl up the dresser and steal a gold fish from a FW tank and when back to the tank, it was our of the water for like 5 minutes, i love those guys!

Magic_Carp,
Is this video online anywhere?
 

innsmouth

Member
That video is a re-enactment.
Okay to try and answer the questions. I paid $25 for him and had him shipped from Florida but I'm afraid I can't say more because the seller is a competitor of this fine website :) . The tank is a 12 gallon JBJ NanoCube that has been fallow for a couple of months after I had a heater malfunction and cooked my seahorse and some of his buddies. I did some research and found that O. mercatoris does well in a tank this size as does O. joubini although they are harder to come by.
I pulled all the filter media out of the back of the tank and added LR rubble in poly mesh bags and I run ChemiPure back there also in case he inks. Lighting is standard and even though he's nocturnal he's gotten used to the lights and comes out fairly often.
I feed him fiddler crabs and the occasional emerald crab for a treat. Amazingly I added two chromis to the tank and he ate one immediatley and the other is still alive after 2 weeks! I do however see the octopus stalking him sometimes. Don't know if it's just playing or he just can't catch the little guy.
So far I haven't proofed the tank as he doesn't show any interest in leaving but he does climb in the back filtration area sometimes but comes out if I open the lid and lift the LR bag he's hiding under. I think he goes back there to eat amphipods as there are literally hundreds in this little tank from sitting with nothing in it for a long time except for 16 lbs of LR.
Thanks for your interest everyone. More pictures soon.
 

innsmouth

Member
Tankmates really aren't a good idea as most things eat or are eaten by cephalopods. I can't believe that chromis is still alive and I'm sure it's just a matter of time
 

lovethesea

Active Member
very cool. It will be interesting to see how smart he gets in trying to test the exits. :nervous:
more pics when you get them :yes:
 
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