Octopus?!?!
- Thread starter lionfish99
- Start date
jon321
Member
the ONLY think octopuses wont eat are urchins and starfish, i have one large brittle star, and im going to get another 1 or 2 as soon as i see some good ones, aswell as various worms in the liverock/sand. I also do bi/tri-daily 5% water changes, aswell as a larger weekly 10% water change with vacuming. I also use 2 types of macro in the tank, grape caulerpa and some type of fern looking stuff, looks kinda like lettuce.
and TONMO seems to be down at the moment, i believe i got an email last week saying they were doing something and it might go down this week.
Jon
and TONMO seems to be down at the moment, i believe i got an email last week saying they were doing something and it might go down this week.
Jon
jon321
Member
i use one of thse eclipse hoods, as they are completely tight if you cover the cord outlet with plastic wrap. It has a sponge and lr rubble in the filter, its similar to a hang-on power filter such as aquaclear or penguin. I also use 25lbs lr and 20lbs ls in a 20g tank. I would certainly recommend a skimmer, and Ill probably end up getting one soon, but I need to figure out how to mod the hood while keeping it completely tight fitting.
Currently I do about 25% weekly water changes, over teh coarse of bi-daily just to keep the nitrates under 10, but its been over and month, the little guys noticably growing and eating from the hand, seems to be doing good, so well see what happens I suppose. Im no expert on octopus, Im kinda just learning as I go along.
Jon
Currently I do about 25% weekly water changes, over teh coarse of bi-daily just to keep the nitrates under 10, but its been over and month, the little guys noticably growing and eating from the hand, seems to be doing good, so well see what happens I suppose. Im no expert on octopus, Im kinda just learning as I go along.
Jon
kaotik
Member
That is awesome, cuz i was looking at that same exact setup in a 30gal. It looks perfect because the lid is so tight-fitting and i love the bio-wheel filtration systems. I am running a Penguin on my 55gal and the water has never been clearer!
How do you run your heater though? I was thinking about a submersible and just cutting small enough holes in the cover so that the wires can fit through. I was trying to find a less expensive skimmer to try and do a similar "modification." I havent actually looked at the Eclipse yet so I am hoping that there is a way to cut into it without ruining the filter. (you would know, since you have one)
How do you run your heater though? I was thinking about a submersible and just cutting small enough holes in the cover so that the wires can fit through. I was trying to find a less expensive skimmer to try and do a similar "modification." I havent actually looked at the Eclipse yet so I am hoping that there is a way to cut into it without ruining the filter. (you would know, since you have one)
bimac
Member
Originally Posted by nikolai
DO NOT BUY OCTOPI! The survival rate into the LFS is less than 1%, and of that 1%, only 1% will live, and usually only a year or so. PLEASE DO NOT BUY THESE!
Really it is not not at all. They will survive pretty well if you take precautions I'm not sure but it must be at least 25% If you are willing to feed live food give good water quality you can keep an octopus happy :happy: .
DO NOT BUY OCTOPI! The survival rate into the LFS is less than 1%, and of that 1%, only 1% will live, and usually only a year or so. PLEASE DO NOT BUY THESE!
Really it is not not at all. They will survive pretty well if you take precautions I'm not sure but it must be at least 25% If you are willing to feed live food give good water quality you can keep an octopus happy :happy: .
jon321
Member
The eclipse is perfect for octos, altho i took out the biowheel and put lr rubble in there, also took out the sponge and carbon adn put a smaller sponge as a prefilter. There is already an opening for cords, so you have to cover that with thick plastic wrap duct taped (you can get it at any hardware store). I just use a regular ebo jagar 50watt heater in the tank. The hood doesnt look like it can be easily moded, by me atleast, but i dont even have basic high school woods class under my belt! Octos generally are more cold water, even the tropical species prefer lower 70's, i keep mine at 75. As for price, it seems around $30-50AMD is about the norm, Im in Canada and the few Ive seen here were about $70CAD. One note: make sure you get a dwarf species, as many need as big as 250g and can get to like 50" arms, these species are sadly more common than you might think too! but the bimac maxes out at about 18" arms, and around 4" head.
heres a few pics of the basic setup:
filter:
back cord hole:
full tank shot:
and just so you know, they arent swimming around all the time, they hide quite a bit, similar to my old snowflake moray, active for maby 3-4 hours daily, mostly around feeding time. Plus they will need live foods at first, and you cannot use feeders cus if the feeders were ever treated with copper you octo WILL die, so you need small shrimp, snails, etc, maby order a invert package from this site? took me about a week to train onto frozen.
But im certainly enjoying my octo experience, amazing creatures for sure!
Jon
heres a few pics of the basic setup:
filter:
back cord hole:
full tank shot:
and just so you know, they arent swimming around all the time, they hide quite a bit, similar to my old snowflake moray, active for maby 3-4 hours daily, mostly around feeding time. Plus they will need live foods at first, and you cannot use feeders cus if the feeders were ever treated with copper you octo WILL die, so you need small shrimp, snails, etc, maby order a invert package from this site? took me about a week to train onto frozen.
But im certainly enjoying my octo experience, amazing creatures for sure!
Jon
jon321
Member
its clear without the carbon yes, but im also doing about 25% weekly water changes, so that definitely helps, but id certainly recommend carbon incase yours is an inker, i used enough carbon for like a 100g tank the first week i had him just incase. I use 2 types of macro algae, mostly for looks, its kept trimmed, but it also helps with organics, most noticably nitrates.
grape caulerpa:
fern macro:
Jon
oh and make sure to keep us updated on your progress
grape caulerpa:
fern macro:
Jon
oh and make sure to keep us updated on your progress
kaotik
Member
i definitely will keep you updated. I called octopets today and they said they should have hundreds of them ready for sale in about a month!! They are somewhat local so I can make the drive and actually see their facility and wont have to deal with stress (both me and octo
) and money for shipping!!! (when im ready, of course) Im going to get setup probably within a month and let er' run till its cycled and ready!!! Once cycled, Im thinking of putting 2/3 damsels in the tank to keep me occupied during the 3 month waiting process. I read that several people have damsels and they are fast enough to not get eatin! Should give the tank a little more color and action while bimac is hiding/sleeping!
jon321
Member
that is awsome! i wish i could see those facilities! the only problem with damels, is the aggression, apparently they sometimes nip at the octo and 'tease' them, chromis are much better. and the octos dont really 'sleep', its almost always visible, but sits there alot camoflauged. wat ive been doing is feeding several small meals a day, that was once he gets used to ur schedule, you can see him active atleast 3 times a day, i feed morning, late afternoon, and nite, but that will probably change once i go back to work on june 1st
Jon
Jon