Take a look at my cold water octopus tank

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Chilly Willie

AC Members
May 19, 2009
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San Diego, Ca, USA
I set up a 60 gallon cold water tank about a year ago for the purpose of keeping a local southern California octopus (O. Bimaculoides). I also have some strawberry anemone, and two gorgonians. (yes, it's all legal)

Here are some pictures

163.jpg IMG_0825.JPG 187.JPG IMG_0824.JPG IMG_0858.JPG IMG_0843.JPG IMG_1713.JPG IMG_0876.JPG
 

Ace25

www.centralcoastreefclub. com
Oct 3, 2005
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www.centralcoastreefclub.com
Awesome.. always wanted to do something like that living just a few miles from the Santa Barbara beaches.. just never got around to getting scuba certified. Cold water reef tanks are so "exotic" compared to warm water.. and such a small niche of people doing it. Thanks for sharing!
 

kyryah

Getting my mojo back....
Feb 3, 2009
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tortnet.darchorizons.com
That octopus is the neatest thing EVER, your tank is just gorgeous!

What do you feed him?

Kristina
 

Chilly Willie

AC Members
May 19, 2009
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San Diego, Ca, USA
How big do they grow? Lovely ppics :)
They are so rubbery it is difficult to measure a live one, so they are usually sized by telling the size of their "mantle", which is the bag that you would think of as their head. When I caught my octopus, a female I named "Lefty", she had a mantle size of about two inches. When she was fully grown her mantle was about 3 3/4 inches, and if she really wanted to, she could probably manage an arm span of about 30 inches. Experienced octopus keepers say that a 50 gallon tank is minimum for a bimac. I agree, but bigger is better.
A few weeks ago I was looking around at low tide and a caught a much larger one, with a mantle about 5" long, and an arm span of probably 4 feet. I'm glad Lefty never got that big. I've heard of some around here that are much larger (6 foot span?). There are two species here, that look almost identical (O. Bimaculatus and O. Bimaculoides (like Lefty)). Bimaculoides lives a little shallower, and tends to be smaller, so the really big ones I've heard about are probably Bimaculatus.


What do you feed him?

Kristina
She gets a small piece (about 4 cc) of thawed frozen shrimp, or scallop every two days. Some octos won't take dead food, but Lefty does, so it is cheap and easy. When I go to the beach at low tide I try to grab a little shore crab for her. Octopus are smart (probably about as smart as a mouse which is brilliant for a mollusk) and they get bored easily, so they like to hunt live food. Plus, the variety improves the diet.
 
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