Octopus setup?

[acuraman2]

Alright Ive decided I want and octopus and Ive even decided which one I want to get I have a 30 gallon setup with DSB (live sand) and a couple powerheads moving the water. Ive read alot of stuff but I wanna know what kinda filtration people have used with these creatures. Im debating on getting live rock or just some PVC, Im not too worried about looks as Im thinking its gonna be more of a pet than a looks type deal. I know pretty much everything else about them except what kinda filtration to use I know they dont live long and they require a special diet. I just am intriqued with their intellegence.

 

[grouperhead]

if i were doing this, id do lr as i like a more natural type setup. make sure your powerhads have sponge covers so your octopus cant go up them. as for a filter, id use an intermediate size wet dry (maybe the smaller emperor model). id add pvc to the lr for comfort. the key is dark hiding spaces where the octpus can feel safe. bo

 

[acuraman2]

would about 20 pounds of LR do the trick I assume it would have filtration benefits.

 

[acuraman2]

Today when I was at the grocery I saw a bag of live mussels for like 4 bucks do you think I could feed them to an octopus

 

[grouperhead]

you could probably feed him mussels. i also have heard of people feeding crawfish and ghost shrimp. octopi arent very picky eaters. id do about 20-25 pounds of lr, and lots of hiding spaces. bo

 

[acuraman2]

Im using a eclipse hood which basically is an emperor filter in it. Should i ditch the mechanical carbon filter unit thing and just keep the bio-wheel? Oh yeah I found these straps to hold down hoods for reptiles so I think im gonna use them.

 

[mal]

A skimmer is a must. They produce a lot of waste. You may want a few smaller pieces of lr for it to play around with too. It will rearrange whatever is in the tank to it's own desire. Do a web search for the cephalopod pages. Every question you may have is pretty much covered there. You may want to consider adding a sump or a refugium, if for nothing else you would add water volume to the system making water quality a bit more stable for the octo.
[ November 29, 2001: Message edited by: mal ]